Zahid not planning return, and 9 other things that happened yesterday

KINI ROUNDUP | Here are key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief.

1. A source said Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has no plans to return from his garden leave, even as proposals are being made to amend the party constitution to allow for his ouster.

2. As the debate on the matriculation programme's racial quota rages on, political analyst Wong Chin Huat said it exposes prevailing political-racial divisions, and advocated an approach based on socioeconomic class instead “lazy generalisations.”

3. The Education Ministry has assured that the increased matriculation intake would not affect STPM holders, because public university entrance is based on each applicant’s merits.

4. Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said his ministry is seeking full repayment of its loan to the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC). In response, NFC chairperson Mohamad Salleh Ismail said he has a prospective buyer willing to do so within three months of receiving government approval.

5. A group of 45 NGOs from Penang, Johor, and Malacca petitioned Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to cancel a reclamation project to build three artificial islands south of Penang island.

6. The National Union of the Teaching Profession has urged all parties not to treat schools as a “magical place” where all problems can be solved by introducing new subjects.

7. Pahang Pakatan Harapan chief Fuziah Salleh said that Lynas must resolve its waste problem and ensure its workers’ welfare even if it relocates, following reports that the company had inked a deal to build a factory in Texas.

8. Jerantut DAP chief Loo Why Leong has become uncontactable after being arrested for allegedly threatening the police, according to Pahang DAP secretary Lee Chin Chen, who added that the party would leave the matter to the cops.

9. Ramadan traders in Kuala Lumpur’s city centre praised the comfort and spaciousness at their new location along Jalan Raja, but said they missed the brisk sales at their old location along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

10. Google has suspended some of its business ties with Huawei after the latter was blacklisted by the US government, but the tech firm said it would continue to support its existing Android devices with security updates and services.