The parents of a 12-year-old Dutch boy who was kidnapped a week ago in Malaysia said their son had been safely returned to the family Thursday, with police revealing a ransom had been paid.

Nayati Moodliar was walking to the Mont Kiara International School located in an upmarket suburb near the capital Kuala Lumpur last Friday when he was kidnapped by two men who bundled him into a car.

Malaysian police fired teargas and water cannon Saturday as thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital to demand sweeping electoral reforms ahead of widely expected polls.

Protesters marched to Independence Square in central Kuala Lumpur, defying a lockdown and a ban on gatherings in the area that had raised questions about a pledge by Prime Minister Najib Razak to expand civil liberties.

Claude Tayag sees himself as a food missionary, hoping to convert people at home and abroad to the secret cuisine wonders of the Philippines.

The Southeast Asian nation's table-fare has long suffered a poor reputation internationally compared with its regional neighbors.

A cruise ship with about 1,000 people on board was drifting in waters south of the Philippines after a fire disabled its engines, the Philippine coast guard said Saturday. Five crew members were injured.

The fire on the Azamara Quest started late Friday, a day after the ship left Manila for Sandakan, Malaysia, and was immediately put out, said coast guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Algier Ricafrente. He said there were no other details about the incident.

An Indian court issued on Saturday an arrest warrant against another Iranian suspect in an attack last month on an Israeli diplomat in New Delhi, a report said.

Israel has accused Iran of masterminding the attack.

Soul singer Erykah Badu said Wednesday she holds no grudge against Malaysia's government for barring her from performing after a photograph of her body art offended some Muslims.

More than 1,500 people had bought tickets to watch the Grammy-winning American singer at a Kuala Lumpur auditorium Wednesday, but Malaysia's information minister announced on the eve of the concert that it could not proceed because a promotional photo of Badu with the Arabic word for Allah painted on her bare shoulders was "an insult to Islam."

A newspaper in Muslim-majority Malaysia apologized on Tuesday after it came under fire for running a photo of American singer Erykah Badu showing body art that included the Arabic word for "Allah.”

The controversial soul artist is scheduled to perform in the capital Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, and a preview story in The Star daily on Monday included a photo showing various symbols on her upper body including in Arabic and Hebrew.

Thai police said on Monday they were questioning three more Iranians in connection with an alleged plot to kill Israeli diplomats in Bangkok.

"We have information that they may have links to the blasts," Police Major General Piya Utayo told Agence France Presse, referring to a series of botched explosions that shook a residential district of the Thai capital on February 14.

Malaysia has banned a nearly 30-year-old sex education book written by a British author following complaints by Muslim activists that it is obscene.

The Home Ministry said Wednesday that Peter Mayle's "Where Did I Come From?" contains "elements that undermine societal morals and public interests."

An Iranian national who was arrested in Malaysia for suspected involvement in a botched bomb plot in Thailand had been attempting to fly to Iran when he was detained, the government said Thursday.

The arrest Wednesday of Masoud Sedaghat Zadeh at Kuala Lumpur's international airport showed Malaysia was "very serious and committed" to addressing the threat of terrorism, said Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.