Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's ruling party decided Friday to postpone its elections amid growing speculations that embattled Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will resign within months.

Abdullah, who is president of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), said that the party will hold its elections in March instead of December as scheduled.

Abdullah said this was to "facilitate an early transition," but declined to elaborate. Abdullah has said he is likely to resign before June 2010 and hand power over to his deputy Najib Razak. Traditionally, the UMNO president becomes the prime minister.

Kuala Lumpur, Sept. 25 : A group of 96 Indian non-governmental organizations want the Government to release the five Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) leaders detained before Deepavali next month.

According to The Star, they said it would be the best gift to the Indian community if the five -- M. Manoharan, P. Uthayakumar, V. Ganabatirau, R. Kenghadharan and K. Vasanthakumar -- detained for 268 days under the Internal Security Act (ISA) were released.

At a meeting organized by the MIC Youth, they said they supported the appeal made by MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to free them.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia has enlisted 2,000 housewives and students to go undercover to unmask traders and retailers who charge exorbitant prices for their goods and services, news reports said Thursday.

The government has imposed price controls on 17 items, and traders caught selling those goods for more than the stipulated ceiling would be fined.

Kuala Lumpur, Sep 24 : The Malaysian Indian Congress has urged the Government to set up a special unit to handle the issue of Malay Indians without birth certificates and identity cards.

MIC Youth chief T. Mohan said the issue affected over 20,000 people and that such a unit was necessary because the National Registration Department (NRD) took a long time to resolve these cases.

“There have been instances when a case was resolved only after it was highlighted in the media,” The Star quoted him, as saying.

Mohan said he had handled these cases for more than seven years but achieved a success rate of only between 6-7 percent.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim appeared in court Wednesday for a hearing on a sodomy charge.

Anwar, who is currently out of jail on bail of 20,000 ringgit (6,050 dollars), arrived at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court accompanied by his family and attorney.

Wednesday's hearing would see the defence fighting off an earlier request by the prosecution to transfer Anwar's highly publicized case to the High Court.

Melbourne, Sep 23: Malaysia’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is fighting sodomy allegations, has said that he is in a race against time as repressive measures are being used to thwart his attempt to topple the ruling party.

Ibrahim acknowledged that he now only has days to act before his political momentum seeps away amid efforts by the government to prevent a challenge.