SYDNEY: Australia yesterday rejected criticism of its plan to send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia for processing, insisting it was not a return to a disputed policy of banishing boat people to poor neighbours.

SERI KEMBANGAN: The high number of dropouts among Orang Asli children is a cause for concern, Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said yesterday.

He said 2,254 Orang Asli children did not complete their secondary education, while 1,270 attended school until Year Six.

KANGAR: Nine Myanmars, including a woman, were arrested yesterday after sneaking into the country from Thailand in a car. Three of them were hiding in the boot of the vehicle.

The driver of the car, a Malaysian believed to be the tekong, was also arrested.

KUALA LUMPUR: A Singaporean businessman has been detained by police under the Internal Security Act 1960 (ISA).

Abdul Majid Kunji Mohamad, 60, who lives in the city, was arrested on Friday.

KLANG: New details have emerged on the horrors that a 13-year-old girl had to endure at the hands of her caretaker, who had abused her to the point she has to fight for her life.

The girl told hospital staff that her caretaker whom she had called “Amma” (mother in Tamil) had been abusing her for the past few months, but the degree of abuse reached a peak over the last few days before she was admitted to hospital on Friday.