Floods triggered by torrential monsoon rains in Malaysia forced almost 14,000 people to flee their homes and seek shelter at relief centres, the official Bernama news agency said Wednesday.

Ten illegal immigrant Indonesians, including two pregnant women, drowned when their boat capsized in rough seas off Malaysia's southern coast, maritime authorities said Thursday.

Malaysia has removed quotas and other restrictions on Christians from the Muslim majority nation making their pilgrimage to Jerusalem, government and church officials said.

Australia's Lynas Corp. said Tuesday it would recycle the byproducts from its controversial rare earths plant into export goods after host Malaysia ordered the miner to remove its waste from the country.

When Malaysia's ruling party gathered for a tub-thumping pre-election rally last week, Prime Minister Najib Razak delivered a stern behind-the-scenes warning: don't repeat the mistake of Mitt Romney.

Malaysian authorities have freed 105 mostly Indonesian maids who were forced to work without pay by day and held against their will at night, local media reported on Monday.

A Malaysian high court on Monday jailed a man for more than five years for having sex with a 12-year-old girl, following outrage over an earlier verdict to free him on probation.

Malaysian police have arrested 12 people over the theft of 1,400 Samsung Galaxy Note II smartphones a day after the device's much-anticipated launch in the country, a police official said Tuesday.

A landmark Malaysian court ruling that upheld an independent news portal's right to publish a newspaper has placed a spotlight on Prime Minister Najib Razak's pledge to loosen controls on the press.

Malaysia is planning to make jail terms mandatory for sex with minors following an outcry after two men convicted of statutory rape were allowed to go free, the de facto law minister said.