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.

Kuala Lumpur, Sep 19: The Malaysian Indian Congress has urged the authorities to arrest anyone who raises issues related to religion and race that can trigger racial problems.

The government must act fast on these people, MIC president S. Samy Vellu told reporters.

He proposed that an inter-race relations council be established to discuss issues concerning religion, language, culture and racial sensitivities.

Samy Vellu said the council could be represented by the various political parties and religious and cultural organisations.

Kuala Lumpur, Sep 19: The Immigration Department of Malaysia has given assurance that it would speed up visa and permit applications for priests, musicians and artisans from India.

Human Resources Minister Dr S. Subramaniam said the department’s director-general Mahmood Adam had assured him that he would meet all state immigration heads soon to ensure that the government’s decision to allow for new applications was implemented immediately.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Wednesday that he might resign before a previously set deadline of 2010, as a dissident party said it would pull out of his ruling coalition.

The small Sabah Progressive Party announced it would quit the ruling National Front coalition because of dissatisfaction with the prime minister.

The decision was hardly a surprise after the party said in June that it would propose a no-confidence motion in Parliament against Abdullah's leadership.

Although the party has only two lawmakers in Parliament, its act of rare defiance against Abdullah underscores the embattled leader's struggle to hold on to power.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Wednesday that he might resign before a previously set deadline of 2010 when he is to hand over power to his deputy.

Abdullah, who has been facing mounting pressure from within his own ruling party to resign, said he would hand over his portfolio as finance minister to his deputy Najib Razak, and take on the smaller defence ministry from Najib.

Abdullah, who has promised to step down in June 2010, declined to give further details of a more definite time frame for his resignation.

Kuala Lumpur, Sept. 17 : A young Malay Indian mother who was wrongly detained by the Malaysian immigration authorities for nearly eleven months, is now demanding an apology from the department’s director-general.

M. Rajeshvari, who was recently released from the Lenggeng Immigration Detention Center, has relayed her demand through Perak Health, Environment and Human Resources Committee chairman A. Sivanesan, as she is not fluent in Bahasa Malaysia.

Sivanesan told reporters in Ipoh that demand had been forwarded to the Immigration Department’s Director General, Mahmud Adam, a fortnight ago, but he has been “dead silent” on the matter.