Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1000 GMT, April 27

TOKYO -- The Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Friday opted to keep its monetary policy steady but abandoned a time frame it had set for hitting an inflation target in a move purportedly not to rattle markets about stimulus expectations if a hard deadline was maintained.

Following a two-day policy board meeting, the central bank opted to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy as its lofty 2 percent inflation goal remains some way off, despite the economy experiencing a relatively steady uptick. (Japan-Economy)

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COLOMBO -- The World Bank on Friday approved a loan of 100 million U.S. dollars to support and modernize Sri Lanka's education system, the bank said in a statement.

The General Education Modernization Project (GEM), for which the loan has been approved, will modernize and diversify the curriculum of general education, keeping with the transformation taking place in Sri Lanka's society and economy. (Sri Lanka-World Bank-Education)

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PHNOM PENH -- The World Bank has approved 90 million U.S. dollars in financing to support Cambodia's efforts in improving the quality of higher education and research in the country and broadening access to higher education for disadvantaged students, according to its statement on Friday.

"We welcome World Bank support in higher education and research, which is well aligned with the priorities of our Industrial Development Policy for 2015-2025," Cambodian Economy and Finance Minister Aun Pornmoniroth said in the statement. (Cambodia-World Bank)

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KABUL -- The Afghan Special Operations Forces killed three Islamic State (IS) militants and captured three insurgent suspects in two separate operations, the command of special forces said Friday.

Three members of IS terrorist group were killed following Special Operations Forces-related airstrikes in Shaygal and Shultan districts of eastern Kunar province on Thursday, Operational Coordination Group Afghanistan said in a statement. (Afghanistan-IS) Enditem