Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian police have detained 12 people, including six Singaporean nationals, believed to be part of an illegal gambling syndicate that raked in
172.8 million ringgit (52.4 million dollars) over the past six months, a news report said Thursday.

The suspects, aged between 18 and 48, were detained during a series of raids recently conducted in the southern state of Johor, the Star daily said.

The raids also resulted in the seizure of fax machines, laptops, betting slips and mobile phones.

An FIR has been filed against Indian Premier League Chairman Lalit Modi for forgery and criminal conspiracy in the 2004 Nagaur Land Row case.

The media reports floating all around suggest that Modi wanted to grab the post of the president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association in 2004; however he was not a domicile of the state. So in order to achieve his aim, he bought land in Nagaur through forgery.

It has been reported that in 2004, Modi bought land (immovable property) in Nagaur with the help of forged signature so that he could become the RCA president. Modi was also made Nagaur cricket association President.

Bangkok - Thailand's Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a 14-year prison sentence for British national Maurice John Praill on charges of sexually abusing an 8-year-old boy eight years ago.

The ruling was read out to Praill, 77, at a court in Chonburi, 90 kilometres east of Bangkok.

Praiil was arrested in 2001 on charges of sexually abusing a minor at the beach community of Pattaya and sentenced to 14 years in prison but was allowed to live freely in Pattaya on bail for the past eight years as he appealed the case.

Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian thieves managed to evade four security guards and six guard dogs to break into the home of a former cabinet member, only to make away with three pairs of shoes, a news report said Wednesday.

One of the security guards at the home of former finance minister Daim Zainuddin noticed the missing shoes late Sunday and lodged a police report, the Star daily said.

Daim and his family were away on holiday at the time of the break-in, the report said.

Manila - Muslim militants holding captive three staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on a southern Philippine island have been evading pursuing troops by constantly moving their hostages, a police official said Monday.

Director General Jesus Verzosa, national police chief, said government security forces were having a difficult time pinpointing the exact location of the kidnappers on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila.

Washington, Jan 24: A 41-year-old British man murdered his estranged wife after becoming `enraged' when she changed her marital status to "single" on Facebook.

Edward Richardson was found guilty of murdering Sarah Richardson, 26, a hairdresser, in her parents' house in Staffordshire on May 12 last year.

Fiona Cortese of the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Richarsdon became enraged when Sarah changed her marital status on Facebook to single and decided to go and see her as she was not responding to his messages."