KUALA LUMPUR - A MALAYSIAN court on Wednesday ordered the exhumation of the body of an opposition aide who fell to his death from anti-graft offices where he was being questioned, his family's lawyer said.

The coroner's court order will allow a second autopsy of Teoh Beng Hock's remains, assisted by prominent Thai pathologist Porntip Rojanasunan, lawyer Gobind Singh said.

BEIJING - CHINA National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the country's top oil producer, has kicked off construction of a pipeline across Myanmar that should give the Asian giant quicker access to oil supplies.

YANGON - THE most senior US official to visit Myanmar for a decade and a half held talks with Ms Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday after the ruling junta allowed the detained Nobel laureate to make a rare public appearance.

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell, accompanied by his deputy Scot Marciel, also met Myanmar's prime minister as Washington seeks a new era of engagement with the military regime.