An "Obedient Wife Club" known in Malaysia for its controversial views has published a book urging men in polygamous Muslim marriages to have group sex with their wives, a report said Friday.

The club, formed earlier this year, has made headlines with its radical suggestions on sex and marriage in conservative, Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Massive floods have left 500 people dead across Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, officials said Monday, as authorities stepped up efforts to reach victims of the unusually heavy monsoon rains.

In Thailand, where the death toll from the country's worst floods in decades rose to 269, thousands of soldiers fanned out across affected areas as part of a huge aid operation.

A captive orangutan often spotted smoking cigarettes given to her by zoo visitors is being forced to kick the habit, a Malaysian wildlife official said Monday.

Government authorities seized the adult ape named Shirley from a state-run zoo in Malaysia's southern Johor state last week after she and several other animals there were deemed to be living in poor conditions.

Traces of toxic chemicals harmful to the environment and to human health have been detected in products made by 14 top clothing manufacturers, Greenpeace said Tuesday.

Samples of clothing from top brands including Adidas, Uniqlo, Calvin Klein, H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch, Lacoste, Converse and Ralph Lauren were found to be tainted with the chemicals, known as nonylphenol ethoxylates, the watchdog said at the launch of its report "Dirty Laundry 2".

Religious-linked violence and abuse rose around the world between 2006 and 2009, with Christians and Muslims the most common targets, according to a private U.S. study released Tuesday.

"Over the three-year period studied, incidents of either government or social harassment were reported against Christians in 130 countries (66 percent) and against Muslims in 117 countries (59 percent)," said the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life study.

Malaysia's only openly gay pastor is urging homosexuals in the mainly Muslim country to "keep coming out" to help battle homophobia, as he gets set to tie the knot with his American partner.

Reverend Ouyang Wen Feng is a highly controversial figure who faced outrage and threats when he opened in 2007 the first gay-friendly church in conservative Malaysia, where sexual identity is a hot-button topic.

The death toll from a landslide near Malaysia's Cameron Highlands tourist spot rose to seven Monday after the bodies of the last four missing victims were found, official media said.

The landslide late Sunday afternoon buried several houses in a village in the region, which is about 300 kilometers north of the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian Christian officials accused Islamic authorities on Thursday of unlawfully entering a church and harassing guests at a community dinner.

The incident reignited criticism that authorities in the Muslim-majority country fail to respect the rights of Christian, Buddhist and Hindu minorities.

Australia's government plans to post video on YouTube and Facebook of the first group of asylum seekers sent to Malaysia under a pact between the countries to swap refugees, in an attempt to deter others from taking dangerous boat journeys to Australia.

Releasing video of the asylum seekers at Christmas Island — an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean — boarding a plane, and arriving in Malaysia will help raise awareness of Australia's new policy, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said Tuesday.

Malaysian sporting figures on Friday sought to play down the booing of Chelsea's Israeli midfielder Yossi Benayoun during a friendly in the Muslim-majority country.

Chelsea beat hosts Malaysia 1-0 Thursday in the capital Kuala Lumpur but the game was marred by racial abuse toward Benayoun as the crowd booed and jeered whenever the midfielder had the ball.