WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama's administration is under pressure from Congress to emphasize labor rights, democratic values and market reforms in talks to forge a trans-Pacific trade deal.

JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesian counter-terrorism forces on Tuesday killed a man believed to have been one of the masterminds of the 2002 Bali bombings, during a raid in the capital Jakarta, police and reports said.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 (AFP) – A Malaysian sultan has revived calls for a new bridge to be built between Malaysia and Singapore, a report said, after the plan was scrapped in 2006 due to rows between the neighbours. Malaysia ditched plans to replace an ageing causeway linking the countries, saying Singapore's demands for airspace access and sand for reclamation projects in return for its ...

Malaysia's former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has lost his final court battle to declare as unlawful his dramatic sacking in 1998, his lawyer says.

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysia's former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has lost his final court battle to declare as unlawful his dramatic sacking in 1998, his lawyer said Monday.

Catholic authorities in Malaysia on Sunday accepted an apology from a Muslim magazine after its writers took part in a Catholic service and allegedly desecrated the communion wafer.

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Not long ago, Malaysia Airlines was on life support, forced to sell off its headquarters and firing thousands of staff to avoid bankruptcy, but analysts are now bullish about its prospects.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 7, 2010 (AFP) - Catholic authorities in Malaysia on Sunday accepted an apology from a Muslim magazine after its writers took part in a Catholic service and allegedly desecrated the communion wafer.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A senior US official will head Sunday on a trip through Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, part of the Obama administration's renewed focus on Southeast Asia.

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysian cyclist Anuar Manan won the fifth stage of the Tour de Langkawi on Friday while German Tobias Erler maintained the overall lead.

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysia has defended a decision not to prosecute two Muslim journalists accused of desecrating a communion wafer in a Catholic church, saying they acted out of "sheer ignorance".

SINGAPORE, Malaysia and Indonesia have stepped up security in the Strait of Malacca after receiving warnings of terror attacks against oil tankers in the busy waterway. The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) has pushed out extra ships to patrol the Strait, while the Police Coast Guard has also beefed up security in Singapore waters to prevent an attack on the island.

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - A Muslim Malaysian woman sentenced to be caned for drinking beer was granted a royal audience Wednesday but her fate remains unclear six months after the punishment was suspended, her spokesman said.

SYDNEY (AFP) - A man convicted of killing one of Australia's top heart surgeons was Wednesday on his way back to Malaysia after serving an 18-year prison term.

A man convicted of killing one of Australia's top heart surgeons was Wednesday on his way back to Malaysia after serving an 18-year prison term.

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysia's opposition is putting a brave face on a spate of defections and in-fighting that has hit just as its leader Anwar Ibrahim fights sodomy charges that could end his career.

A man convicted of one of Australia's most shocking murders will be extradited to Malaysia on Wednesday after 18 years in prison, an official told AFP on Tuesday.

TOKYO (AFP) - Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani has said that talks over a huge oil development deal with a Japanese energy consortium had broken down, a leading Japanese newspaper reported Tuesday.

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - South African Jay Thomson, representing his national team, won the Tour de Langkawi's second stage in Malaysia Tuesday with German Tobias Erler of Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling taking second place.

SINGAPORE (AFP) - British insurer Prudential is tapping sovereign wealth funds in China and Singapore to help finance its 35.5 billion dollar buyout of US insurance giant AIG's Asian arm, a report said Tuesday.