Kuala Lumpur, Jan. 26 : Malaysia's Human Resource Minister S. Subramaniam has said that he will ask the Cabinet to look into employing more Indians in the police force at all levels to combat the increasing crime rate among Indian youths.

He said this was necessary in the wake of the controversy surrounding the death of detainee A. Kugan while in police custody.

Subramaniam, who is also the secretary-general of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), said Kugan's death had raised concerns among all Malaysians.

Petaling Jaya (Malaysia), Jan. 25 : Former Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) vice-president M. Muthupalaniappan has been sacked for making statements against the party.

According to the Star, Muthupalaniappan was sacked more than a month after receiving a show cause notice from the MIC disciplinary committee following a complaint over his alleged statements in a Tamil newspaper on November 11, 2008 and on an Internet news portal on December 17, 2008.

Kuala Lumpur, Jan. 23 : Veteran Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) politician Tan Sri S. O. K. Ubaidulla Kadir Basha died at his Bukit Pantai home in Petalin Jaya on Thursday.

Ubaidulla, who was in his 90s, was the former chairman of the Ubadi Foundation and was a founder member of the MIC in 1946. He was the former permanent chairman of MIC, a senator and also Dewan Negara deputy president, The Star reports.

Kuala Lumpur  - An opposition lawmaker and a priest were among 21 people charged in a Malaysian court Friday for allegedly taking part in an illegal gathering last year to protest a draconian security law.

Tony Pua, a well-known member of parliament, Reverend Father Paulino Francesco Miranda and several other opposition members were part of the group who pleaded not guilty to the charge at a magistrate court in the central city of Petaling Jaya.

Kuala Lumpur - A Malaysian taxi driver was accused of raping a customer several times, then demanding she pay her fare after he took her home, a news report said Friday.

The suspect was accused of picking up a 28-year-old clerk late Tuesday and driving her to a secluded area in the central state of Selangor before handcuffing her and raping her several times, the New Straits Times daily said.

Several hours later, the man drove the woman home but demanded that she pay the fare on the meter.

Kuala Lumpur - Airlines in the Asia-Pacific were warned Thursday to prepare for an "extremely difficult" year ahead for air travel, as figures for last year's air passenger and cargo volume recorded a dip in numbers.

Members of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), which include 17 international carriers, recorded a total of 141.5 million international passengers in 2008, 1.8 per cent lower than the the year before, the association said in a statement.