Hazlin Hassan

Muslims must take effective measures to deconstruct the intellectual and ideological foundations of religious extremism and sectarianism, says the premier.

In one segment, a baby boy is shown growing up and graduating from university, turning to militant activities and dying in conflict.

Admiral Thomas B Fargo says "there have been no deadlines or datelines established" but that two months was probably long enough for the main military aid effort.

The government introduces tough measures to combat an explosion of dengue fever, fining companies and homeowners who fail to control breeding grounds of mosquitoes responsible for a disease.

The floods have been described as the worst in 40 years in a region regularly hit by monsoon rains at this time of the year.

Freed politician Anwar Ibrahim will be the star speaker in a major new nationwide campaign against the detention without trial of alleged Islamic militants and others in Malaysia.

OIC delegates feel that stability will have to first return to the war-torn country before investors from Musim countries start investing.

These mothers undergo various traditional confinement regimes to remain in good health and to regain pre-pregnancy figure.

The crowd spilled out of the living room of Anwar's house, with people standing on the walls trying to catch a glimpse of him as traffic backed up for a couple of kilometres after word spread that he had been released.

The release from jail of Anwar Ibrahim signals that the era of former strongman Dr Mahathir Mohamad is finally over and Malaysia's new leader is charting his own course.

Will Anwar walk free tomorrow? On the anniversary of his shock sacking by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Sept 2, 1998, the country's highest court is due to deliver its verdict on his last-chance sodomy appeal.

The Chinese announcement - which said the H5N1 strain of avian influenza had been found in pigs as far back as last year - could have ominous implications for efforts to restrict the disease's spread to humans.

Malaysian producers who supplied 130,000 live chickens, 20,000 ducks and millions of eggs a day to neighbouring Singapore had already lost millions of ringgit since the city state banned imports on Wednesday.

Malaysian scientists today said they had discovered ecological treasures on remote islands in the piracy-prone Malacca Straits, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and a focus of terrorism fears.

Record high oil prices are a double-edged sword for Malaysia, boosting its oil earnings but potentially also damaging the global economy and so its major export markets.

Few women in Asia physically torture their maids, as a wealthy Malaysian housewife is alleged to have done recently, but many are accused of treating them like slaves.

The government rejects US anti-terrorism patrols in the Malacca Straits and criticised Singapore for apparently suggesting it was incapable of protecting the crucial waterway.

Malaysia's exports are expected to continue their upward thrust, buoyed by strong external demand and recovery of the global electronics sector, says Minister of International Trade and Industry Rafidah Aziz.

The Bali bombers believed they were acting on the wishes of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden when they killed more than 200 people on the tourist island in October 2002, says a repentant Malaysian in a television interview.

The government is considering publicly whipping child rapists amid public anger over the rape and murder of two 10-year-old girls in a fortnight.

India looked back in the running to win part of a multi-billion dollar rail contract through new negotiations with the government after being cut out of the deal in favour of a local group.

The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition triumphantly celebrated its 50th anniversary at the weekend, setting its sights on another election victory, while the man once tipped as the next prime minister quietly marked his fifth year in jail.

Going to the movies in Malaysia usually meant popping the latest pirated Hollywood blockbuster into your VCD or DVD and plopping down on the couch in the comfort of your own home. But those days are over, for the moment at least.