A Chinese film festival will be launched in both Myanmar's new capital of Nay Pyi Taw and the former capital of Yangon next month under the culture exchange program of Myanmar and China. The Chinese film week, which will last from June 11 to 17, will be the first since 2006.

India's version of the X factor has launched with performances ranging from the amazing to the downright atrocious. What marks out the Indian version of the show is the country's rich and diverse musical heritage, which saw performers try their hand at everything from Bollywood to Bhangra.

Obama's morale-boosting stop-off, together with Queen Elizabeth's historic state visit just days earlier, have given Irish tourism a boost it desperately needed after three years of recession saw revenues and visitors drop by about a third.

Korea, China and Japan will establish tourism routes linking the countries, as agreed in a trilateral tourism ministers' meeting. They also agreed to cooperate in minimizing the effects of natural disasters and terrorism, and develop a crisis management manual and tourism promotion programs.

A World War II submarine, a bridge, a seaside pier, a castle conservatory and a cathedral are to share £11m of funding for heritage projects. The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grants will allow the sites to undertake restoration and repair work, and make them more accessible to visitors.

The Little Red Dot will become the focus of the film world when movie icons such as Tom Hanks, Oliver Stone and Zhang Ziyi descend on the city-state for the first-ever ScreenSingapore. The cinema event hopes to establish the city-state as a regional hub of the global film industry.

While the story of the goofy panda who sets out to be a kung fu master enthralled audiences three years ago, the second edition of this animated feature has run into controversy with the Chinese public. Many feel that the film twists the premise and base of Chinese culture to its convenience.

To attract foreign students and academics, the Taiwan Parliament approved spending $197 million over four years to make its higher education system more competitive globally. Funds will go to creating more English-language degree programs and internship programs for foreign students.