Malaysia and Egypt have agreed to ask "international power brokers" to help stop escalating violence in the Middle East, the Muslim-majority Southeast Asian country said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a statement from his office that Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi called him late Friday to discuss the latest Israeli air strikes on Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Nearly 90 people are missing after an overloaded boat carrying Rohingya refugees towards Malaysia sank off Bangladesh early on Wednesday, the second such tragedy in less than a fortnight, officials said.

Bangladesh Border Guard commander Lieutenant Colonel Zahid Hasan said the wooden vessel was carrying around 110 passengers when it went down around 15 kilometers (nine miles) off the southern Cox's Bazaar coastal district.

Army Intelligence succeeded in arresting suspects on charges of belonging to the al-Qaida terrorist organization, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Thursday.

Security sources told the daily that the army arrested Malaysian nationals Rafik Mohammed Aaref and Mohammed Razin Shaaban on charges of being members of the organization.

Malaysian singer-songwriter Zee Avi's path to musical stardom began five years ago in her bedroom with a second-hand guitar, a clunky old laptop and a YouTube account.

Her grainy, self-shot black-and-white rendition of her song "Poppy" soon gained a following, and further videos led to her discovery by Patrick Keeler of The Raconteurs and two albums that charted on the American Billboard 200.

Malaysia's anti-graft body is investigating the wedding of a top official's son -- attended by around 130,000 people -- after opposition politicians questioned the celebration's funding.

The wedding on Sunday of Ridhwan Ali, 26, eldest son of Ali Rustam, chief minister of the southern state of Malacca, reportedly lasted eight hours and made it into the Malaysia Book of Records for its massive turnout.

At least six people were killed and more than 40 were wounded Friday after a car bomb exploded in a busy shopping street in Thailand's insurgency-hit south, officials told AFP.

Overwhelmed nurses scrambled to help as casualties poured into the main hospital in Sai Buri town, an AFP reporter at the scene said, describing blood trails smeared across the floor as the bodies of the dead were carried in.

Google has begun barring access in Malaysia to an anti-Islamic film that has sparked fury across the Muslim world after the country's Internet regulator lodged an official complaint.

The low-budget movie, entitled "Innocence of Muslims", has angered followers of Islam for its mocking of the Prophet Mohammed, and for portraying Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent.

Britain's Prince William declared Friday that he is no fan of durian, the spiky and notoriously pungent Southeast-Asian fruit, after sampling it on a visit to Malaysia.

The future king and his wife Catherine were served durian, revered in the region as the "king of fruits", during a welcome lunch with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak after their arrival Thursday for a three-day visit.

A construction worker was bitten by a crocodile during a toilet break in a river in Malaysian Borneo, but fought off the huge reptile and escaped with his life.

Pai punched the two-meter (6.5-foot) crocodile in the eye after it bit him just above his right buttock, and despite being in incredible pain and soaked in blood managed to summon help, reports said Saturday.

Malaysian NGOs, well-known bloggers and opposition politicians on Tuesday staged a one-day "Internet blackout" to protest a legal amendment that they say threatens free expression on the Web.

Participants replaced their home pages with black screens featuring messages attacking the new section of the Evidence Act, which went into effect in April despite widespread opposition.