Asia Pacific

Forty of Australia's brightest and best undergraduates have been awarded scholarships this year to live, study and work in Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong under the Canberra government's New Colombo Plan.

Business confidence in India has taken an upward bounce since the new government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office on May 26. A survey by the Confederation of Indian Industry found that confidence rose to 53.

The Indian Summer Arts Society (ISAS) is hosting an arts festival dedicated to promoting South Asian arts in Vancouver

India's minister for commerce and industry, Nirmala Sitharaman, will meet her Pakistani counterpart, Khurram Dastgir Khan, later this month to start drawing up a fresh road map for trade liberalization between the two countries.

South Korea's Woori Bank thinks it's found a way into the 10-nation, 500-million-population Association of Southeast Asian Nations market, which is due to become fully integrated next year. The Woori Bank has bought, for $4.

The new Australian government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott is taking another stab at solving the problem of a steady stream of “boat people” economic refugees.

Sri Lanka's government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella has told local reporters Columbo has a secret deal with Washington allowing it to import Iranian oil without running afoul of United States sanctions.

China may lust to occupy Taiwan, but Beijing shows little generosity towards what it regards as its rebellious children.

The Philippines' Estrada family has a hard time keeping out of jail.

An education conference in Jakarta has heard that failings in the country's education system are encouraging violence and intolerance. Teachers and education administrators warned that unless the next government, due to be elected next month, oversees comprehensive reform, Indonesia faces a social crisis.