Bahrain is in talks with banks about potentially issuing an international bond this year, two sources aware of the matter said, as the Gulf country seeks to raise funds to cover a budget deficit created by cheap oil.

Founders of Asia's largest budget carrier, AirAsia, are sounding out investors to take the company private in a management-led buyout, after a critical research report knocked its shares to a seven-year low, people familiar with the matter said.

Sony Corp said it will split off its semiconductors operations in a bid to bolster growth in devices such as image sensors, which have helped lead a turnaround at the Japanese electronics maker.

Thailand's military government has asked state-run telecoms operator TOT to seek 72 billion baht ($1.99 billion) in compensation from a telecoms firm founded by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra over changes to concession contracts.

A top adviser to Philippine President Benigno Aquino is facing a corruption investigation, a government agency said, a potential blow for the president who has built a reputation as a graft fighter.

Foreign investors could pull up to another billion dollars out of embattled Malaysia's bond markets, pushing the country a step closer to a currency reserves crisis that would send shudders across the region.

Indonesia has sent nearly 21,000 personnel to fight forest fires raging in its northern islands, the disaster management agency said, but smoke cloaks much of the region with pollution readings in the "very unhealthy" region in neighboring Singapore.

The rural heartland of Thailand's deposed leader Yingluck Shinawatra and her exiled billionaire brother Thaksin is hurting as a result of the military government's economic policies, stirring discontent and the threat of protests.

Vietnam received an estimated record $9.65 billion in actual foreign direct investment (FDI) so far this year, with strong inflows going to the manufacturing sector, a key driver for the country's economic growth.

Kakao Corp, the operator of South Korea's largest mobile messaging app, said Tencent Holdings Ltd and eBay Inc have joined its bid for a new South Korean Internet bank license.