• This is terribly sad: Three Malaysian women, who were caned under the country’s Islamic laws, said the punishment was good for them. The 17-year-old who was caned for having sex out of wedlock has been quoted in a Malaysian newspaper saying, “I deeply regret my actions as I should have married before having sex.” [MSNBC]
• Surprise, surprise: young women at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this week in Washington, D.C., have a lot of the same criticisms of how women in politics are treated as liberals do. One woman, Andrea Tantaros, said she can’t stand when people comment on female politicans’ looks. “Guess what? Barack Obama is looking pretty darn tired these days too but I don’t see anyone analyzing his bags,” Tantaros said. Agreed! [CBS News]
• According to a study on women in the workplace released by the nonprofit Catalyst, female M.B.A.-holders lag behind men in pay, positions and promotions. The study of 9,000 respondents also found women received an average $4,600 less at their first job, despite comparable experience. [Wall Street Journal]

All My Children is looking for an Iraq war vet to play an Iraq war vet. How meta. [NPR]

David Arquette and Ben Harper are funding a new clothing line called Propr that will be unveiled at New York Fashion Week in September. [Showbiz Spy]

Malysia’s government has asked the promoters of Avril Lavigne concert tour to postpone her show in Kuala Lumpur because it could mar the country’s independence day celebrations. [Reuters]

The majority of Malaysia’s population is Muslim, and government censors do quite a bit of cutting to keep overly sexual scenes out of movies and other forms of entertainment. These days, they’re having a much more difficult time keeping naughty information out of the news, as two of the country’s top politicians are involved in sexual exploits that are being written about all over the internet. The first man, Anwar Ibrahim, a former deputy prime minister, is accused of sodomy, a crime that can carry a punishment of up to 20 years in prison. The other, Najib Razak, the deputy prime minister and heir to the current prime minister, has been linked to a woman who was brutally killed in 2006. Since widespread internet censorship is very difficult, Malaysians are learning a lot more about their government officials’ lives than they’re used to. [NY Times]

While sexy paper underwear may seem impractical, they’ve been selling like hot cakes in Kuala Lampur!  The Chinese population in Malaysia just celebrated their “day of the dead”, the Qingming Festival, this past Friday.  The holiday is commemorated with burnt offerings made at the graves of deceased relatives. And apparently this is the only time it’s socially acceptable to buy risqué panties for your granny, since the goal is to furnish your late family members with the things they’ll need in the afterlife. Aside from lingerie, cell phones, model houses, and paper money are also popular presents, so basically their dead relatives all must be rappers, right? [Inquirer.net]