KUALA LUMPUR:  The MCA central committee (CC) maintained that the party constitution compels its wings, Youth and Wanita, to proceed with their respective annual general meetings - despite protests from the latter.

MCA secretary-general Datuk Wong Foon Meng announced that the party CC members today met and unanimously elected the secretary-general to convene an extraordinary general meeting of the MCA general assembly to hold a fresh election to elect new CC members.

The EGM has been fixed for March 28.

KUALA LUMPUR -- Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail has decided not to press charges against the two reporters who wrote an article about the church and Islam in a magazine.
He said taking stern action would not be in the interest of justice, peace and harmony at this particular time.
"I have previously decided similarly in other cases where the circumstances were quite similar involving other religions, under those circumstances taking serious action would not be in the interest of justice at that particular time," he said in a statement, here today.

KUALA LUMPUR: Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has dismissed reports implying that Malaysian armed forces were involved in terror activities in Aceh, Indonesia.

He also called on the Indonesian authorities to investigate the matter thoroughly.

Ahmad Zahid was commenting on reports about a raid in Aceh last week in which Indonesian police were said to have confiscated bayonets, money, DVDs as well as "Malaysian military uniforms".

Zahid said Malaysia had never interfered in any conflicts in neighbouring countries.

SIBU: It was a rude shock for the wife of state DAP chairman when a motorcyclist splashed her with an unknown liquid after sending her children to school at about 6.30am today.

Irene Chang, a lawyer, was about to open the door of her car, which was parked at Sanyan Road near the Sanyan building, when two men on a motorcycle passed by.

One of them suddenly splashed the liquid on her and sped away.

Chang's husband Wong Ho Leng, who is the Bukit Assek assemblyman, said his wife was alright but shaken.

BAGHDAD: An Iraqi court sentenced Ali Hassan al-Majeed, the Saddam Hussein-era official widely known
as "Chemical Ali", on Sunday to death by hanging for a 1988 gas attack that killed about 5,000 Kurds, a court official said.

Majeed, a cousin of Saddam's who earned his nickname because of his use of poison gas, already faces death sentences in several other cases.

The Iraqi High Tribunal also sentenced former Defence Minister Sultan Hashem to 15 years in prison for the attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja.

PETALING JAYA: The court martial of the former KD Sri Inderapura crew members held liable for the damage  suffered by the vessel in a catastrophic fire last October, is expected to begin by the end of this month.

It will be held at the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) base in Lumut, Perak, where the personnel are stationed.

RMN chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar, in an email response to The Malay Mail, confirmed that the court martial  will be held by the end of the month.

PETALING JAYA: The Immigration Department will step up operations to track down 39,046 Indian nationals said to be in the country but "missing".

Its director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman said efforts were being made to ensure that the Indians, whose visas or work permits had expired, were found and deported.

"We are working very hard to curb this problem," he said in reference to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's concern over the "missing" foreigners.

BUTTERWORTH: Police seized 74 illegally modified cars in a swoop on illegal racers at the Butterworth Outer Ring Road, a favourite hang out of illegal racers, here early Sunday.

The race started at around midnight with the drivers showing off their skills including the "drift" driving technique.

But it was not for long as police had been watching them all along after spying on their activities for a week.

SHAH ALAM: UiTM vice-chancellor Datuk Prof Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar said he wants to change the approach of the university -- from merely creating employees to creating more business people.

At the moment,he said, UiTM was renowned for its ability to produce graduates who had the skills needed by the employment sector.

To face the challenge of globalisation, however, the university should advance a notch higher by creating more "taukeh" (business people), he said after opening a one-day "Malaysia at Crossroads" seminar here today.

LAS VEGAS: Motorola Inc demonstrated a prototype media tablet that could  be ready commercially by the fourth quarter, though whether it goes to market partly depends on an advanced mobile network being built by Verizon Wireless.

NEW YORK: US stocks ended mostly higher yesterday as traders awaited the December unemployment
and nonfarm payrolls report to gauge the strength of the  government-backed recovery from recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 31.97 points (0.30 per cent) to 10,605.65 at the market close.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 1.04 points (0.05 per cent) to 2,300.05, while the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 4.39 points (0.39 per cent) to a preliminary close at 1,141.53.

NILAI: Customs officers seized ketamine weighing 169kg worth RM3.04 million at Port Klang and the KL International Airport (KLIA), Sepang last Tuesday.

Its director-general, Datuk Sri Ibrahim Jaapar said in the first incident, a container suspected of containing drugs was detained by the Customs at Klang Port.

He said it was taken to Customs Narcotics Branch here the next day and inspected in the presence of its shipping agent last Thursday.

PENANG -- The High Court today acquitted and discharged a restaurant operator without calling for his defence on a drug-trafficking charge after deciding the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case
against him.

Judicial commissioner Chew Soo Ho decided that there were too many doubts and contradictions in the testimonies of witnesses and felt that Ahmad Abdul Razak, 29, should not have been accused of the crime.

KUALA LUMPUR: Alea Yahya, 7, was all enthusiastic about starting school — until she got to her classroom at SK Wangsa Maju R10 here this morning.

"She was so excited when we went out to shop for her school necessities during the holiday season but today, she just broke down when we reached her school and refused to enter her classroom," mother Izeta Ahmad said.

PETALING JAYA: Pas is disappointed with the High Court's decision to allow the Herald to use the the word Allah in its Catholic weekly publication but its leaders have urged Muslims to remain calm and to allow the legal process to take its course.

Its vice-president, Datuk Mahfuz Omar, said: "Muslims should bear in mind that the Dec 30 court ruling is not final."

READ THE MALAY MAIL THIS AFTERNOON FOR MORE DETAILS.

MELBOURNE: Several elite schools here are embroiled in a race hate scandal as many of their students join a Facebook group calling for immigrants to get out of Australia, the `"Sunday Herald Sun' newspaper reports.

The group's page, which features a picture of the Australian flag with expletive words written across it, tells non-English speakers "if you wanna speak your crappy language, go back to were (sic) you came from".

The Facebook group is called "Mate speak english, you're in australia now" and has more than 5000 members from across the nation.

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) is proposing to the government to include mentally ill individuals under the disabled persons category.

NIOSH chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said in previous years, mental health had been a topic of low priority for the government and community as compared to other health problems but increasingly as reflected worldwide, it had gained more prominence.

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 38,000 of 140,000 National Service (NS) trainees selected for this year's training are joining their camps nationwide today and tomorrow.

Of them, 14,238 trainees from Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Terengganu, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were ferried by 355 buses from 102 assembly points to their camps on Saturday.

The next batch of 14,570 trainees from Perlis, Labuan and other states will be sent to their camps tomorrow while 9,214 more on Monday.

KUALA LUMPUR: Bus operators have been urged to adhere to the guidelines set by the Transport Ministry to ensure that drivers get adequate rest to prevent fatigue while driving.

Peninsular Malaysia Road Transport Officers Union president Hamzah Masri said the lackadaisical attitude of some bus operators on safety measures was to be blamed for fatal accidents.

He said the causes of bus accidents must be studied comprehensively, including on drivers fatigue and poor management.