Checks on religious schools in Malaysia

KOTA BARU • Checks by Malaysia's Fire and Rescue Services Department on 228 religious schools so far have found that 76 did not meet safety requirements, the department's deputy director-general Soiman Jahid said yesterday.

The authority is inspecting 2,428 religious institutions across Malaysia in the wake of a fire attack on the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz school in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 14 that killed 21 students and two teachers.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

Lift living conditions of Timorese, govt urged

DILI • Timor-Leste's President Francisco Guterres swore in the remaining members of a new Cabinet yesterday, and urged the state's first minority government since independence to focus on improving living conditions.

The new administration led by Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri faces pressure to lift flagging oil production in the nation of 1.3 million people, where unemployment and poverty remain rife.

REUTERS

HK activist pleads not guilty to assault

HONG KONG • A Hong Kong pro-democracy activist who threw a "smelly fish sandwich" at a police officer on election day last year pleaded not guilty to assault yesterday.

The sandwich was aimed at the city's then leader Leung Chun Ying, who was on his way to vote in the legislative election, but it missed and hit the officer. Avery Ng of the League of Social Democrats could face jail if found guilty.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE