The British, US, Australian, French and Russian embassies in Malaysia today received suspicious packages by mail that created a minor security scare, but were deemed to be hoaxes, a day after six other foreign missions received similar items.

Military-ruled Burma agreed today to forgo its scheduled chairmanship of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year to avoid a damaging Western boycott of the group’s meetings, diplomats said.

Western societies should try harder to understand Islam to curb misconceptions and bring an end to prejudice against Muslims, Malaysia’s foreign minister said today.

BURMA’S military rulers yesterday said a constitutional convention, touted as a first step toward democracy, had a successful start despite an opposition boycott and massive international criticism.

The Palestinian leadership today tried to rally world opinion after President George Bush backed the Israeli premier’s move to hang on to territory seized in war.

US President George Bush today jumped into an international row over Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s comments that Jews rule the world, condemning them as both “reprehensible” and ”hateful.”

Faced with furious criticism from the US and Europe over Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s assertion that Jews rule the world, Malaysia apologised today for any misunderstanding and claimed that no offence was intended.

US SECRETARY OF STATE Colin Powell downplayed the significance of a North Korean missile test yesterday, describing it as “fairly innocuous” and “not surprising.”

Malaysia will not permit the United States to conduct air strikes and covert attacks against any terrorists, government leaders have said.

President McAleese has agreed with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad that international conflicts should be resolved through diplomacy, officials in Kuala Lumpur said.

Palestinian suicide bombers should not be condemned as terrorists, the Palestinian representative at an international conference of Muslim leaders said today.

Malaysia today said the evidence is not strong enough to justify investigating claims Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe tried to move £10m (€16m) from Channel Island banks to the Southeast Asian country.

The Philippines Government and Muslim separatist rebels have signed a ceasefire which could lead to an end of decades of fighting.