MANILA -- Firefighters on Wednesday placed under control a blaze that tore through a residential area in Manila City, Philippines, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of families and destroying dozens of houses.
The fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon and quickly spread across closely packed homes, affecting an estimated 600 families in the area, the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said. (Philippines-Manila-Fire)
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SEOUL -- A special counsel in South Korea said on Wednesday it had appealed the life sentence imposed on former President Yoon Suk-yeol over his insurrection verdict stemming from his martial law declaration.
The special counsel said that the decision was made after reviewing the first-instance rulings, citing concerns over the court's fact-finding and legal interpretations, Yonhap News Agency reported. (South Korea-Yoon-Appeal)
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BANGKOK -- Thailand's central bank slashed its key interest rate on Wednesday as policymakers seek to support the economic recovery, ease debt burdens for small businesses and households, and anchor medium-term inflation expectations.
The Bank of Thailand's monetary policy committee voted 4-2 to lower the one-day repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 1 percent during its first meeting of the year, bringing the borrowing cost to the lowest level since September 2022. (Thailand-Policy Rate)
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PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia has so far deported more than 30,000 suspected foreign scammers, as over 210,000 others have voluntarily left the kingdom after operations against online scams have intensified since June last year, Interior Minister Sar Sokha said on Wednesday.
"In our anti-online scam campaign, until this hour, more than 210,000 foreigners have departed Cambodia voluntarily and more than 30,000 foreign suspects have been arrested and deported back to their birth countries," he said at an Anti-Human Trafficking event in Phnom Penh. (Cambodia-Online Scam) ■
