Purported circular on Ponggal causes stir, and 9 news from yesterday

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

1. A purported Education Ministry circular describing Ponggal, the harvest festival celebrated by Tamils as ‘haram’ for Muslims, has raised the ire of politicians and activists. Human Resource Minister M Kulasegaran has pledged to bring the matter up in today’s cabinet meeting.

2. Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he is willing to step down immediately if the Pakatan Harapan presidential council demands it, as a group of PKR parliamentarians pushed for a timeline for a transition of power to their party president Anwar Ibrahim.

3. Anwar welcomes the Attorney-General’s Chamber’s decision not to prosecute anyone over Muhammed Yusoff Rawther’s claim that he (Anwar) had attempted to sexually assault Yusoff, due to a lack of evidence.

4. The Attorney-General's Chambers has dropped plans to charge journalist Tashny Sukumaran for criminal defamation over her claims that she had been sexually assaulted by her dermatologist Dr Ruban Nathan.

5. The Election Commission plans to use video recordings to monitor all polling streams in the Kimanis by-election to improve transparency, but Sabah BN fears that this could intimidate voters.

6. As Kimanis voters expressed mixed feelings on the Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS) scheme, Umno supreme council member Abdul Rahman Dahlan claimed that travel restrictions imposed on PSS are proof that it is a security threat.

7. Jeli MP Mustapa Mohamed plans to sit out of this year’s Bersatu party election.

8. Police are still waiting for the results of pathology tests on urine samples obtained during a drug raid that nabbed several politicians and their staff.

9. Eligible Malaysians may apply to receive RM30 under the e-Tunai Rakyat scheme, starting at 8am today.

10. Police are offering a 50 percent discount for traffic offenders to settle their outstanding summons, online.