Toll concessionaire Plus Bhd not for sale, and 9 news from yesterday

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

1. The government has decided not to sell highway toll concessionaire Plus Malaysia Bhd into private hands, and it would also reduce toll charges and not raise the charges for a long time.

2. Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Mohd Amar Abdullah has defended the state’s purchase of Mercedes Benz cars for its exco members and state secretary, saying that it is safer and cheaper to maintain that its previous fleet of old Proton cars.

3. A 17-member pro-tem committee led by Malaysiakini CEO Premesh Chandran has been appointed to finalise a draft of the Malaysia Media Council Act, which would pave way towards the industry’s self-regulation.

4. A research company ranked Malaysia as having one of the worst internet freedoms, while a separate report said Malaysia is one of many developing countries where China's Communist regime shapes media content and narratives about China.

5. A report claimed that police have identified a businessperson seeking government contracts is the main culprit behind the drug-fuelled party that eventually saw the arrest of 17 individuals, which included Dengkil assemblyperson Adhif Syan Abdullah.

6. The Royal Commission of Inquiry report on transit camps and mass graves in Wang Kelian will be tabled in the cabinet next week, while former Court of Appeal judge Mohd Hishamudin Yunus will lead a Suhakam public inquiry into the disappearances of Joshua Hilmy and Ruth Hilmy.

7. Sabah Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal has revealed the minutes of a meeting to prove that the controversial Sabah Temporary Pass was BN’s idea, and challenged the opposition to sue him if he was lying on the matter.

8. Police spent nearly four hours questioning MACC chief commissioner Latheefa Koya and six other officers on the wiretapped phone conversations involving former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

9. The judiciary is mulling a revision of court-led legal aid fees for assigned lawyers in a bid to attract more senior lawyers to act for accused persons in criminal cases.

10. India has denied media reports that it plans to impose restrictions on imports from Malaysia and Turkey.