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.

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".

An official says Malaysia is urging people to take precautions against dengue fever after a rise in deaths from the mosquito-borne virus.

Iran has pledged to cooperate with Malaysia to crack down on drug trafficking after a spike in the number of alleged Iranian smugglers caught here.

Malaysia won't prosecute two Muslims who pretended to be Roman Catholics and took Communion, a decision a church leader said Thursday undermines peace at a time of rising tensions between Muslims and the country's religious minorities.

The Philippine government and a Muslim separatist group engaged in a decades-long rebellion hope to sign an interim peace agreement in coming months, a Malaysian official facilitating peace talks said Thursday.

Malaysia's largest English-language newspaper has refused to publish a prominent commentator's column on the caning of three Muslim women, weeks after it got into trouble with the government over a similar article by one of its editors.

Malaysia's largest English-language newspaper has spiked a prominent commentator's column on the caning of three Muslim women, weeks after it got into trouble with the government over a similar article by one of its editors.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's lawyer accused Malaysian judges on Thursday of trying to fast-track his client's sodomy trial, which government critics say is part of a political conspiracy.

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.

Police will not monitor or question a Malaysian man convicted in the murder of a renowned Australian surgeon who has been released on parole after serving 18 years and was deported Wednesday.

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.

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.

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.

A Malaysian model who was sentenced to be caned for drinking beer will have a royal audience Wednesday to discuss her fate, six months after the thrashing was suspended, her father said.

Malaysia's government has confirmed the country's first death linked to swine flu in nearly half-a-year.

Malaysian-led peace monitors have returned to the troubled southern Philippines for the first time since Muslim rebels launched a wave of deadly attacks in 2008, officials said Monday.

A lawmaker resigned from the main opposition party Monday amid speculation of a coming wave of defections to the ruling coalition _ a blow to the political bloc of Anwar Ibrahim as he faces trial on sodomy charges.

The Malaysian government has threatened action against the country's biggest English-language daily over an article criticizing the caning of three Muslim women, an official said Thursday.