Malaysia

Anger over Indonesia’s inability to douse forest fires that have smothered parts of Malaysia with a dangerous haze mounted on Friday as the crisis worsened in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. The opposition Democratic Action Party held a protest at the Indonesian embassy in pollution-shrouded Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia’s west coast was plunged into twilight on Thursday as thick yellow clouds of smoke from Indonesian forest fires rolled in from the sea, engulfing ports and villages. The Malaysian government imposed a haze emergency in two towns, closing workplaces indefinitely and banning all burning activities.

Malaysia has set up an online hall of shame where the public can post pictures of traffic offenders as part of a campaign to instill discipline and safety on roads. The website, www.panducermat.org.my, was launched on Tuesday and will be used to catch offenders who usually get away because of a lack of enforcement.

A Malaysian family was horrified to discover their maid had spiked their drinking water with soiled diapers and sanitary pads as a magic charm to ensure they were nice to her, reports said on Friday. The 26-year-old Indonesian maid was caught on a spy camera that the suspicious family set up at their home in Kuala Lumpur.

Women factory workers were shocked when a man in a full Darth Vader costume paraded menacingly in front of them and then flashed his genitals, Malaysian media reported on Thursday. The women were waiting for their bus after work when the man got out of his car and strutted in front of them in his Darth Vader costume.

World champion Michael Schumacher lowered his targets for Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix after a disappointing performance in first qualifying in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. Schumacher could only manage the 14th-fastest time of the day and was forced to watch his rivals speed away into the distance with their new models.

Ferrari boss Jean Todt has tipped the world champions to bounce back from a poor start to the season and retain their constructors’ crown by the end of the year. The Italian team chose to start the season with a modified version of their old car and found themselves outpaced by their rivals.

A group of Malaysian local government officials has cancelled an Egyptian cruise and a troupe of belly dancers amid outrage at their all-expenses paid trip, media reports said on Thursday. Dinner on board a cruise ship on the Nile and the belly dancing have been replaced on their itinerary by an extended visit to the Egypt Museum.

A jilted Malaysian bride was left waiting on her wedding dais after her groom called off the engagement via a cellphone text message, a report said on Monday. But Norlida Abdul Rahman (23) put on a brave face and her wedding dress on Friday night and carried on with the wedding feast for 1 000 guests at her family home.

Two Malaysian retirees have been detained by religious authorities in the northern Perak state after they were caught allegedly having sex by the beach in broad daylight, a news report said on Friday. The 56-year old man will be charged with committing ”indecent acts” with his 51-year old partner, who also happens to be his sister-in-law.

Malaysian police have busted a brothel in an abandoned pigsty after housewives complained that their husbands spent a surprising amount of time there, police said on Thursday. The pigsty, with 20 cubicles, was furnished with tables, fans, a bar serving alcohol, neon lights and a sound system.

A 22-year-old Malaysian electronic engineer has claimed a national record for running backwards, saying he ”wanted to do something meaningful in life”. S Moganasundar won a place in the popular Malaysia Book of Records after running backwards for 30km, the official Bernama news agency reported on Monday.

A Malaysian woman has celebrated her birthday in a glass box containing more than 6 000 scorpions, with just days to go before reclaiming a bizarre world record. Nur Malena Hassan, who turned 27 on Saturday, plans to spend 36 days in the box after first setting the world record in 2001.

A Malaysian woman is trying to beat a world record set by another woman in neighbouring Thailand for the longest stay in a room full of scorpions, news reports said on Sunday. Nur Malena Hassan (27) on Saturday entered a glass box with 6 000 scorpions at a shopping arcade.

Malaysian emergency services rushed to the tightly guarded United States embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Monday after a powder that police said could be anthrax was found in a letter. The incident comes just days after an anthrax scare at the US embassy in Sri Lanka last week turned out to be a hoax.

Marine archaeologists have recovered thousands of artefacts believed to date back to the Ming dynasty from a 400-year-old shipwreck in Malaysian waters, local media said on Sunday. More than 6 000 pieces of porcelain were salvaged from the wreck off the eastern Terengganu state.

Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has defended his gift of timber to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe several years ago, and said he is prepared to be prosecuted if the act is deemed an abuse of his power while in office, reports said on Saturday.

Senior South African diplomat Nicky Scholtz was bound with wire, beaten and repeatedly tortured during a week of captivity after being seized by kidnappers from one of the Malaysian capital’s busiest streets, officials said on Tuesday. Scholtz’s captors, who thought he was a tourist, extorted thousands of dollars and threatened to kill him.