TOKYO - Japanese lawmakers have moved closer to fixing the nation's own "fiscal cliff", agreeing to pass a bond bill crucial to financing a huge chunk of this year's public spending. Japan's Jiji Press news agency reported that the opposition and lawmakers in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan had reached a deal to pass the bill in the lower house of parliament. But it remained unclear whether the bill would pass in the opposition-controlled upper house. AFP
JAKARTA - An Indonesian man convicted of terror offences escaped from a high-security jail by wearing a smuggled burqa to disguise himself as a woman. Roki Aprisdianto, 29, who was serving six years for involvement with an Islamic militant group, walked out of the prison with a group of burqa-clad women visitors. AFP
HANOI - Vietnam has apparently dropped its objections to a dam that Laos is constructing on the Mekong River, saying its neighbour has made changes in the design to mitigate any negative downstream impacts. Vietnam last year proposed a 10-year moratorium on any dams on the Mekong, expressing concern that the Xaburi dam would kill fish and affect livelihoods along its stretch. AP