KUCHING - SARAWAK will go on a roadshow in Singapore this year to promote Malaysia's Second Home programme.

State Housing Minister Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg said the state had built houses worth over RM300,000 (S$125,600) each for the ownership of foreigners.

KUALA LUMPUR - THE first days of 2009 have seen at least five pirate attacks off Somalia, but the bandits are becoming desperate as the international community cracks down, a maritime watchdog said on Saturday.

An Egyptian cargo ship with 28 crew on board was hijacked on New Year's Day, while four other vessels were threatened but managed to escape, some with the help of warships and aircraft belonging to nations patrolling the region.

CAGAYAN DE ORO (Philippines) - ABOUT 5,000 families in the southern Philippines have been displaced by flash floods and large waves spawned by heavy rains, officials said on Saturday.

Over a hundred houses have been destroyed and many people are fleeing their homes in the face of rising waters in the northern part of the southern island of Mindanao, civil defence officials said.