Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced Saturday that he would resign Thursday, paving the way for his deputy to become the country's new premier.

Abdullah said he would seek an audience with Malaysia's constitutional monarch, King Mizan Zainal Abidin, on Thursday to convey his intention to relinquish his post as prime minister.

Abdullah, who has been in office since November 2003, said a ceremony to transfer power to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak would be held later but declined to give a date.

Kuala Lumpur  - The spiritual leader of Malaysia's hardline Islamic party has slammed Muslim smokers as being worse than defecating cows, a news report said Friday.

Smoking is banned in Islam because it is hazardous to one's health, said Nik Aziz Nik Mat, the respected chief minister of the northern state of Kelantan and spiritual leader of the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia.

Kuala Lumpur, Mar 27: The Malaysian Telugu Association has asked the government to consider appointing a senator from their community to highlight in Parliament the problems being faced by their community.

MTA president M. Assaykumar said the Telugus, who will be celebrating their new year today, had contributed much to the development of the country, Makkal Osai reported.

He added that the community subscribes to Astro, but were disappointed with the time allocated for them.

Kuala Lumpur  - Two Malaysian police officers have been arrested for allegedly supplying drugs to local drug traffickers, a news report said Friday.

One inspector, 48, and a 29-year old constable, were detained Wednesday following testimonies from three suspected drug pushers who were caught in a drug raid Monday, the New Straits Times daily reported.

Following a tip-off, police nabbed the three suspects - an Indonesian woman and two local men - and seized about 2 kilograms of drugs, believed to be cannabis, worth 5,000 ringgit (1,344 dollars).

Kuala Lumpur  - A Malaysian baby aged less than one month died of starvation after relatives claimed the victim's parents had neglected to feed the child because they were too drunk, a news report said Thursday.

The child died Thursday morning in the intensive care unit of a hospital in the eastern state of Sarawak on Borneo after relatives found the baby unconscious early Wednesday, and rushed the child to hospital.

Kuala Lumpur  - In a rousing speech marking his resignation as party president, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Thursday called on the ruling party to work at rebuilding its badly bruised image and focus on leading the nation.

Abdullah was emotional and struggled to hold back tears throughout his opening speech of the general assembly of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).