News on Malaysia

US breaks up vast China, Malaysia smuggling ring

2010-03-19T11:16:34Z

<div><p>US authorities said Friday they brought charges against nine people over a vast smuggling ring that brought in hundreds of thousands of counterfeit shoes and handbags from China and Malaysia.</p><p>The network also extended to Britain, where authorities on Thursday seized another six people in the Pakistani cricket team left Friday for matches in Malaysia and Singapore, becoming the country's first physically challenged cricketers to embark on a foreign tour.</p><p>"We are on a history-making tour," Salim Karim, fou...

Indigenous Malaysians protest proposed land bill

2010-03-17T04:16:03Z

<div><p>Some 500 indigenous Malaysians on Wednesday mounted an unprecedented protest over a government bill they say will deprive them of land.</p><p>Activists for the Orang Asli, the term for the native tribes in peninsular Malaysia, say the legislation expected to be tabled this July will give them only 50,000 hectares (123,550 acres) of the 129,000 they claim.</p><p>"Who are you to give the land when it is alr...

Coca-Cola to build Malaysian bottling plant

2010-03-16T09:16:44Z

<div><p>Coca-Cola announced Tuesday it will invest 301 million dollars in Malaysia over the next five years, creating up to 9,000 jobs to further tap into the Southeast Asian market.</p><p>The US-based drinks giant company unveiled plans for a bottling plant on a 123,000-square metre (30-acre) p...

Malaysian minister rejects child marriage reform

2010-03-16T04:15:38Z

<div><p>Malaysia's religion minister on Tuesday defended Islamic laws that allow girls under 16 to marry, amid a controversy over two youngsters who were married off to middle-aged men.</p><p>The issue has flared in Malaysia after reports that two girls aged 10 and 11 were wed in the conservative northern state of Kelantan last month. They have now been removed from their husba...

Malaysian minister: Probe child marriage claims

2010-03-14T23:30:07Z

<div><p>An 11-year-old Malaysian girl was hospitalized in a state of shock after allegedly being abducted by a man who persuaded her parents to let him marry her, an official said Monday.</p><p>She is one of two recent cases of suspected child marriages in Malaysia, a majority Muslim country where girls under the age of 16 need special permission from Islamic courts to marry.</p><p>But approval is not commonly gr...

Malaysia 'detains 93 Myanmar boat people'

2010-03-14T04:15:12Z

<div><p>Malaysian maritime authorities said Sunday they had picked up 93 members of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority who had drifted aboard a boat for 30 days after fleeing their country.</p><p>The boat, packed with refugees, was found off Langkawi island off the northwest coast on Wednesday after a tip-off from fishing vessels, said the northern regional head of the Malaysia's 112-year-old colonial landmark the Carcosa Seri Negara has been handed a stay of execution, the hotel's manager said Sunday.</p><p>The Carcosa closed its doors at the end of last year after the government opened bids to redevelop the boutique hotel, once home to Britain's colonial rulers.</p><p>"The Carcosa Seri Negara is once again op...

Malaysia state probes child marriages: report

2010-03-12T10:16:05Z

<div><p>Malaysian religious officials in the northern state of Kelantan are investigating two cases of child marriage involving girls under the age of 12, according to reports Friday.</p><p>Mohammad Salleh Mat Jusoh, deputy head of the religious department in Kelantan, said they were investigating whether the marriages had been authorised by Islamic authorities, the Peter Gade, who still clings to the dream that at the age 33 he can win another All-England title, reached the men's singles quarter-final for the seventh time on Thursday.</p><p>Gade's hard-fought 24-22, 21-18 win over Simon Santoso earned him a meeting with an even better known Indonesian, Taufik Hi...

Lee Chong Wei secures badminton quarter-final berth

2010-03-11T13:15:53Z

<div><p>Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei beat Sony Dwi of Indonesia on Thursday to become the first player to book their place in the quarter-finals of the men's singles at the All-England Open.</p><p>The world number one from Malaysia came through 21-11, 21-17 against the Indonesian, a dangerous former winner of Olympic bronz...

Glazers will resist Red Knights takeover bid - Gill

2010-03-11T11:16:24Z

<div><p>Manchester United chief executive David Gill insists the Glazer family will not be forced out of Old Trafford by fan discontent and a potential takeover bid from the Red Knights.</p><p>United fans have shown their opposition to the Glazers' reign, and the massive debts the American famil...

Malaysia studying new regional trade pact with US

2010-03-11T09:16:54Z

<div><p>Malaysia said Thursday that negotiations towards a bilateral trade pact with the United States have been shelved and it is now considering joining a regional deal promoted by the US.</p><p>Prime Minister Najib Razak said Washington had "p...

Lotus returns to F1 with dreams of world championship

2010-03-10T22:15:53Z

<div><p>The iconic Lotus name returns to Formula One at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend, with modest ambitions for this year but big plans to seize a future world championship.</p><p>The Malaysia-backed team, wrapped in green and yellow livery recalling the marque's 1960s heyd...

Religion News in Brief

2010-03-10T11:30:48Z

<div id="subtitle">Religion News in Brief</div><div><p>A campaign to give elderly Netherlands residents the right to assisted suicide has gathered more than 100,000 signatures, enough to force a parliamentary debate on the matter.</p><p>Though the idea faces a host of ethical and practical challenges, the campaign is noteworthy in a country that first legalized voluntary euthanasia for the terminally ill, u...

The Open - International Final Qualifying Asia

2010-03-10T01:31:07Z

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - MARCH 10: Noh Seung-Yul of South Korea watches his 2nd shot on the 8th hole during Asian International Final Qualifying for The Open at Saujana Golf and Country Club on March 10, 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Photo by Stanley Chou/Getty Images)

Malaysian turtles face extinction: WWF

2010-03-10T00:17:47Z

<div><p>Conservationists warned Wednesday that Malaysians' voracious appetite for turtle eggs could drive the marine creatures to extinction on its shores.</p><p>Turtle eggs are sold openly in markets in parts of Malaysia. Turtles once arrived in their thousands to lay eggs on Malaysian beaches, but are now increasingly rare due to poaching and coastal development.</p><p>Environmental group WWF released a report ...

Malaysia eyes growth in palm oil exports for 2010

2010-03-09T11:16:21Z

<div><p>Malaysia, the world's second-largest palm oil producer, said Tuesday it expects exports to rise in 2010 thanks to higher prices and an increase in the amount of land devoted to the commodity.</p><p>"Yes, we can surpass last year's exports," plantation industries and commodities minister Bernard Dompok told reporters on the sidelines of a palm oil industry ga...

Maybank Malaysian Open - Final Round

2010-03-07T01:45:12Z

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - MARCH 07: Mohd Najib Tun Razak, The Prime Minister of Malasia presents Noh Seung-Yul of Korea with the winners trophy after the final round of the Maybank Malaysia Open at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country on March 7, 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Malaysia opposition fires MP in 'Allah' dispute, losing 4th lawmaker in less than a month</div><div><p>Malaysia's opposition has fired an outspoken lawmaker who broke ranks with his party in a religious dispute over the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims, party officials said Sunday.</p><p>The move follows weeks of turmoil in opposition leader