Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1600 GMT, Jan. 18

Vuong Dinh Hue, chairman of Vietnam’s National Assembly, signed an announcement on behalf of the NA’s Standing Committee about the new position of Xuan during an extraordinary meeting of the 15th NA held on Wednesday, it said. MANILA– An offshore earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 jolted the southern Philippines on Wednesday afternoon, the…

HANOI — Vietnamese Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan was named as the acting president on Wednesday, a day after former President Nguyen Xuan Phuc resigned, the official Vietnam News Agency reported.

Vuong Dinh Hue, chairman of Vietnam’s National Assembly (NA), signed an announcement on behalf of the NA’s Standing Committee about the new position of Xuan during an extraordinary meeting of the 15th NA held on Wednesday, it said. (Vietnam-Acting President)

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MANILA — An offshore earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 jolted the southern Philippines on Wednesday afternoon, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said, and no damage or casualties were reported yet.

The institute said the quake, which occurred at 2:06 p.m. local time (0606 GMT), hit at a depth of 64 km, about 352 km southeast of Sarangani town in Davao Occidental province. (Philippines-Earthquake)

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DHAKA — Merely a couple of days after increasing electricity prices, the Bangladeshi government Wednesday hiked gas prices for commercial users in an apparent bid to unlock funding from the IMF or the International Monetary Fund.

The overall rate of increase is from a minimum 14.49 percent to a maximum 178.88 percent. (Bangladesh-Gas Price)

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BANGKOK — The death toll of an oil tanker explosion in central Thailand’s Samut Songkhram province rose to eight as more bodies of victims were recovered from the wreckage, local authorities said Wednesday.

One Thai national and seven Myanmar nationals were killed in the incident, Samut Songkhram governor Somnuk Phromkeaw told reporters after the end of the rescue. (Thailand-Explosion-Death Toll) Enditem