AFP

updated 8.40pm Non-Muslim religious groups say that the government was also refusing to issue new visas for foreign priests.

The government has announced that it will increase the quota for subsidised cooking oil to overcome a nationwide shortage of the vital commodity.

Roti canai may be off the menu due a flour shortage that has hit on the heels of a cooking oil drought.

A Singaporean artist today said he had ended a five-day hunger strike in support of the five Hindraf leaders detained under a tough security law.

The government has slapped restrictions on cooking oil purchases after panic-buying triggered by rumours of price hikes caused severe shortages.

The girl was hospitalised for scratches and cuts to her back, neck and mouth after the leopard grabbed the collar of her dress

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank is negotiating to buy a 25 percent stake in RHB Capital, the fourth largest banking group in Malaysia.

The leaders of Malaysia and Thailand opened a new bridge across their shared border in the latest effort to boost the economy of a region hit by years of insurgent violence.

The second wave of floods is expected to start tomorrow and worsen early next week following the high-tide phenomenon.

Australian flag carrier Qantas announces an aircraft maintenance joint venture with Malaysia Airlines subsidiary MAS Aerospace Engineering (MAE).

Meteorological officials expect more rain to pound the north eastern states during the monsoon, a climatic phenomenon that occurs between November and February every year.

Forecasters have raised the alert level for Johor and Pahang to red, its highest.

People will make their protests known in whatever way they deem fit, says a Bersih committee member, if the government extends the tenure of the EC chief.

Three labs in Johor capable of churning out four million pirated discs a year were raided by the authorities last week, says an industry official.

Malaysia's manufacturing sales, a key component of the economy, fell 2.0 percent from a year earlier to RM44.41 billion in October.

Floods have not receded from the eastern states nor the front-pages.

Hindraf supporters gathered near the Kamunting detention camp where the government is holding five of the movement's leaders and freed pigeons to demand their freedom.

In Kelantan alone, 11 people were killed due to the monsoonal floods, while some 4,110 people were forced to flee their homes.

Deep in the Borneo jungle, 70-year-old Ara Potong stiches a rattan mat and wonders how much longer he can continue to survive on the bounty of the fast-disappearing forest.

The United States has demanded that Malaysia provide fair treatment to five Hindraf leaders held under ISA which allows for indefinite detention without trial.

Crocodiles are becoming a menace in flood-hit southern Malaysia as the death toll from the floods rose to 13 and authorities struggled to cope with 33,000 evacuees.

Foreign Affairs Minister Syed Hamid Albar says Malaysia was merely applying its laws, under which police permits are required for public assemblies of five or more people.

It called on the Malaysian government to allow freedom of expression and assembly as Abdullah widened its crackdown on dissent.

December 10 is International Human Rights Day, but it appears that the government is no mood to celebrate the event.