KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is stepping into a prominent diplomatic role as Asean chair this year, with growing expectations for the country to act as a bridge within the regional bloc and also with global powers.

TAPAH: A group of Taman Sri Muda residents travelled 150 km from Shah Alam, Selangor, to Kampung Coldstream here to submit a memorandum to the Selangor Menteri Besar, demanding immediate and permanent solutions to recurring floods.

KUALA LUMPUR: An aide to Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari has refuted claims that the state government has ignored the grievances of Taman Sri Muda residents affected by recurring floods in the area.

JOHOR BARU: The PKR divisional and branch-level elections saw another big name in the party fail to retain his post.

KUALA LUMPUR: Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) newsroom staff member Marlia Mohamed breathed her last at 5.45pm today at her home in Shah Alam, Selangor.

SOMETHING that should never happen has been going on in Pahang for at least 40 years: illegal farming on state land. Even forest reserves in the hectares weren’t spared.

JOHOR BARU: An ordinary PKR member caused a major upset in the contest for the Tebrau branch chief post when he defeated the incumbent and another member of parliament vying for the position.

KUALA LUMPUR: A lack of pedestrian-friendly infrastructure and expensive healthy food are among factors that contribute to the nation’s critical obesity rate and the rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

SEGAMAT: Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) student Manarina Hasya Muhammad Karim, 22, who died in an accident involving two buses on campus, was laid to rest at the Islamic Cemetery in Felda Chempelak here at 11:45pm last night.

SINTOK: The bus driver involved in the crash that claimed the life of a Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) student admitted he did not realise the bus in front had stopped.

KUALA LUMPUR: The government’s move to make it mandatory for government school students to wear the Jalur Gemilang badge on their uniforms starting today has been hailed by parents.

ALOR STAR: Kedah has turned down a RM41 million fiscal incentive proposed by the Town and Country Planning Department (PlanMalaysia) to safeguard 113,000 hectares of padi cultivation land, citing the amount as inadequate.

JOHOR BARU: The detention of the editor-in-chief and deputy chief sub-editor of Sin Chew Daily over the publication of an incomplete illustration of the Jalur Gemilang on its front page was conducted in accordance with the law.

PUTRAJAYA: Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng Chong Hwa is expected to testify as a defence witness in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) corruption trial on May 5.

PETALING JAYA: No foreign DNA was found on the anus of deceased autistic child Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matin,6, a senior investigating officer told the Sessions Court today.

KUALA LUMPUR: The reunion between Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and their former BA of Malaysia (BAM) teammates has given Malaysia a timely lift ahead of the Sudirman Cup in Xiamen from April 27-May 4.