Kuala Lumpur - More than 60 Malaysian police officers of all ranks have been demoted, fired or transferred in a nationwide clean-up after more than 1 million ringgit 
(303,000 dollars) worth of drugs were found missing from a police evidence room, officials and news reports said Tuesday.

More than 40 of the officers were from the southern Johor state, while the remaining men were from the capital Kuala Lumpur and northern Penang state police forces, a police spokesman said.

George Town (Malaysia), Oct 31 : A long-time yoga instructor has expressed shock and dismay over the views of a Malaysian lecturer who said that practicing yoga could cause Muslims to deviate from the teachings of Islam.

Datin Suleiha Merican, 56, who has been practicing yoga for the past 40 years, said the meditation technique is a science of health and had nothing to do with religion.

“When we are strong in our religion, why would we want to deviate? The professor’s statement is totally uncalled for,” she said.

George Town (Malaysia), Oct 30 : The National Fatwa Council in Malaysia is expected to make its stance clear about Muslims practicing yoga soon, after a leading Muslim professor at a Malaysian University preached to his community men to shun yoga, saying that its origins could be tracked to Hinduism.

It is learnt that the matter had been discussed at the Council''s meeting in Kota Baru recently.

Kuala Lumpur - Five Malaysian policemen were caught playing the Chinese board game mahjong while on patrol duty, a news report said Thursday.

The suspects had gathered in a home in the southern Johor state and were gambling when a team of fellow officers from the national police headquarters raided the building, the Star daily said.

The five officers, in their 20s and 30s, were dressed in their uniforms and were supposed to be on patrol duty in various parts of the state.

The suspects have been suspended from duty and will face disciplinary action, sources were quoted as saying by the report.

Kuala Lumpur, Oct 29 : According to an official count, as many as 96 Hindu and 37 Buddhist temples were demolished in Selangor, in Malaysia, between 2004 and last year.

State Executive Council member Dr A. Xavier Jayakumar said the demolitions were carried out by the local authorities.

According to nstonline. com, so far this year, 54 new applications had been approved by the committee tasked with regulating non-Muslim places of worship. Among the applications are for 25 Hindu temples, 19 Buddhist temples and 10 churches.

Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysia's share market dropped 3.1 per cent Tuesday on panic selling by investors concerned over a dismal global economic outlook, said dealers.