Municipal elections in India's troubled Jammu and Kashmir state are under way amid condemnation from separatists who believe the poll will only serve to deepen New Delhi's hold over the region.

 

Separatists have urged voters to boycott the ballot and polling figures available early on Monday suggested turnout was low.

 

The elections come just weeks after some of the worst protests against Indian rule in the country's only Muslim state.

The president of the EU Commission says the bloc must achieve "unprecedented" co-operation with Asia if the global economic crisis is to be resolved.

Australia's idea for an Asia-Pacific free trade zone and community is likely to be fleshed out at an APEC summit in Lima next month, Peru's presidential office says.

Pakistan has secured China's help to build two new nuclear-power reactors in a deal being touted as a counterweight to rival India's recently concluded nuclear pact with the U.S. But in his first official visit to Beijing last week, new Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari apparently failed to nail down a firm Chinese commitment for another urgent need