malaysia

He pleaded not guilty to three counts of criminal breach of trust and one of abuse of power, and was freed on bail.

Mr Najib is accused of taking $700m (£517m) from a state fund he set up.

Police have recovered $273m in luxury goods and cash from raids on properties linked to Mr Najib. He and his wife say the items were legally acquired.

A new investigation into the state development fund 1MDB began after his shock election loss in May.

Mr Najib was arrested by anti-corruption authorities on Tuesday and spent the night in detention.

Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto was arrested at Kuala Lumpur airport in December 2014 carrying 1.1kg (2.4 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine.

The court accepted her argument that she had been unaware of the presence of the drugs in her luggage.

Her lawyer said she had fallen for an online romance scam and had been tricked into carrying the drugs.

Death by hanging is mandatory for drug trafficking in Malaysia.

Anyone found in possession of at least 50g (1.75 ounces) of crystal meth is considered a trafficker.

'Naive'

The girl's coach said an official had called her over-the-knee dress "too seductive".

A Facebook post detailing the incident was shared widely, causing outrage.

The Malaysian Chess Federation told local media the accusation was under investigation.

The girl was participating in last month's National Scholastic Chess Championship in Putrajaya, just south of Kuala Lumpur.

Afterwards, her coach, Kaushal Khandhar, wrote a long public Facebook post saying an arbiter interrupted her game to tell her she was violating the competition's dress code.

Shabudin Yahaya from the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition said marriage could help victims "lead a better life".

Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country, has just passed a new law on sexual offences against children.

Despite opposition efforts, the law does not ban child marriages.

It remains legal for Muslims under 16 to get married in Malaysia under certain circumstances.

'Remedy to social problems'

Prime Minister Najib Razak said a coroner had approved the release of Kim Jong-nam's body.

Mr Kim was murdered at Kuala Lumpur airport with a lethal nerve agent last month.

The assassination led to a major diplomatic dispute between Malaysia and North Korea.

Malaysia has not directly blamed North Korea for the killing, but there is widespread suspicion that Pyongyang was responsible.

Meanwhile, nine Malaysians who had been barred from leaving North Korea returned to Malaysia early on Friday. They include three embassy staff and six family members.

Kim Jong Nam was killed February 13 in what Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has called an assassination attempt. Kim was at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on his way to Macau when two women wiped his face with the highly lethal VX nerve agent, killing him in 20 minutes, Malaysian police said.

Both South Korea and Malaysia accuse Pyongyang of killing Kim. North Korea strongly denies the allegation.

It comes amid a deepening diplomatic row over the February killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half-brother at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2.

"What we are facing now is the result of their action in assassinating their own citizen in Malaysia, on Malaysian soil, using a strictly banned chemical weapon," Najib told state media agency Bernama Wednesday.

A press official for Najib confirmed the comments to CNN. North Korea has repeatedly denied any involvement in Kim Jong Nam's murder.

The extraordinary tit-for-tat actions come amid North Korean fury at Malaysia's ongoing investigation into his death at a Kuala Lumpur airport.

The North Korean leader's half-brother was killed with a potent nerve agent.

Malaysia has not directly blamed the North for this, but there is widespread suspicion Pyongyang was responsible.

North Korea has fiercely denied any accusations of culpability and the row over the killing - and who has the right to claim Mr Kim's body - has rapidly escalated over the past two weeks.

North Korean state media reported Tuesday that Pyongyang will not allow Malaysian nationals inside North Korea to leave until Kuala Lumpur guarantees the safety of its own diplomats and citizens in Malaysia.

Of the Malaysians believed to be in North Korea, four are embassy staff and their families, plus two United Nations employees, a Malaysian government official told CNN.

"This abhorrent act, effectively holding our citizens hostage, is in total disregard of all international law and diplomatic norms," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a statement Tuesday.

Nerve agents are the most toxic and fast-acting substance known in chemical warfare -- and VX is the most potent of all of them, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.