BANGKOK -- The Thai government said the activities related to the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn will start on April 6 with people nationwide collecting water for monks to bless on April 8-9, local media reported on Wednesday.

According to Thai PBS, all blessed water will be sent to Suthat Thepwararam Rachaworamaha Viharn Temple in Bangkok for a grand blessing ceremony on April 19. (Thailand-King-Coronation)

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NEW DELHI -- A local court in India's northeastern state of Assam on Wednesday sentenced to life 10 people including chief of a militant outfit, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), Ranjan Daimary in the 2008 serial blasts case, officials said.

The court on Monday held Daimary and 13 others guilty in the case that left over 80 people dead and around 500 wounded. (India-Assam blasts-Sentence)

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HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's value of total retail sales in 2018 rose by 8.8 percent from a year earlier to 485.2 billion HK dollars (62.21 billion U.S. dollars), statistics showed on Wednesday.

Thanks to the robust growth in the first half of 2018, retail sales value rose by 8.8 percent for the year as a whole, a government spokesman said. (Hong Kong-Retail sales)

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KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia's exports rose 6.7 percent to 998.01 billion ringgit (242.9 U.S. dollars) in 2018, surpassing government's earlier forecast of 4.4 percent, with China as its largest trading partner for 10th consecutive year, according to official data released Wednesday

The Minister Of International Trade And Industry said in a statement that Malaysia's total trade expanded 5.9 percent to 1.876 trillion ringgit, driven mainly by higher trade with China. (Malaysia-Exports)

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MANILA -- Philippine military authorities have taken custody of four people, including two teenagers, caught on surveillance camera shortly after Sunday's twin blasts that hit a cathedral in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, a military spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Col. Gerry Besana, the spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Western Mindanao Command, said the four turned themselves in to the authorities on Wednesday to clear their names. (Philippines-Blasts-Arrest) Enditem

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