Lynas announces permanent disposal facility at Bukit Ketam, and 7 news from yesterday

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

1. Lynas Corporation announced that the Pahang government has consented to a site for its permanent disposal facility (PDF) for water leach purification (WLP) residue.

The approved area is at a remote site in the Bukit Ketam area of Pahang, located near the state's border with Terengganu and more than 30km north of Kuantan.

2. Director-general of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah dismissed as fake news a report carried by Indian media that an Indian national had died of the novel coronavirus in Malaysia.

3. In a rare instance, DAP and Umno find themselves on the same page with regard to their joint opposition to United States President Donald Trump's plan for the Middle East, touted as the “Deal of the Century.”

4. A top cycling federation official became the latest VIP to be hauled up by MACC for allegedly abusing his power to award contracts to companies that belonged to his family members.

5. Some 56 Malaysian citizens allegedly involved in terrorist activities are still under detention in Syria, said Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter-Terrorism (E8) deputy director-general Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.

6. Malaysians need not wear face masks to avoid the Wuhan virus as of yet, said Sungai Buloh Hospital's resident infectious diseases consultant Dr Benedict Sim. This is because there has been no local transmission of the virus among Malaysians.

7. Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad acknowledged that it is an uphill battle in introducing the new policy to decriminalise drug abuse in the country as the plan has been misunderstood as an attempt to legalise drug abuse, instead of recognising that it was being proposed to help addicts get proper treatment.

8. Foreign governments began flying their citizens out of China’s Hubei province, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, as authorities said the death toll there had topped 160. It has reached 170 deaths overall.