Birth on plane, Free filghts for life

A Malaysian woman, who gave birth to a boy on board an aeroplane minutes before it landed, has been promised free flights for life, as has her child, an airline official said on Friday. Liew Siaw Hsia (31) gave birth on budget carrier AirAsia's flight from Penang to Kuching on Wednesday. Nazatul Mokhtar, a spokesman for the airline, said on Friday that the flight had been diverted to nearby Kuala Lumpur for an emergency landing when Liew had labour pains. A doctor on the flight helped the woman deliver her son, while the plane was still 2,000 feet in the air in its final approach to land

Parlimentary bite

A prominent opposition lawmaker faces expulsion from Malaysia's Parliament after being convicted on Thursday of biting a policeman at a protest. A Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court sentenced Tian Chua, who is head of strategy for the Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance, to six months' imprisonment and fined him 3,000 ringgit (880 dollars). Under Malaysian law, an MP will lose his or her seat if sentenced to more than one year in jail or a fine exceeding 2,000 ringgit. The policeman had testified that during a scuffle he punched Tian Chua, and that Chua bit him in retaliation.