Two more states without Covid-19, and 9 news from yesterday

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

1. Kedah and Perak have joined a growing list of states that have no active Covid-19 cases after the last of its patients were discharged from hospital after making a recovery.

2. Kelantan - which also has no new Covid-19 cases reported in the past few days - have allowed laundrettes, motor workshops, and hardware stores to reopen, while Kedah is doing the same for electrical and electronic stores, hardware stores, and others.

3. The Pakatan Harapan presidential council said Parliament should hold a full session when it reconvenes on May 18, since certain economic sectors have been allowed to operate again.

4. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is expected to announce the loosening of some movement control order restrictions during his televised Labour Day address at 11am today.

5. The row between Umno and Bersatu over political appointments could lead to snap elections in the state.

6. An oversight by Bank Negara Malaysia means borrowers won’t be automatically given a moratorium on the repayment of their loans, but banks must obtain borrowers’ written consent to do so.

7. Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin stressed that Rohingya asylum seekers in Malaysia have no right or basis to make demands to the government.

8. Blu Inc Media – the publisher of 19 publications such as Cleo, Female, and Jelita - has ceased operations. About 180 people are estimated to have lost their jobs.

9. The Taiping High Court ruled that the imprisonment of two men for going fishing for food in violation of the movement control order is “severely excessive” and commuted their sentence to community service instead. Their first task is to clean their homes.

10. The influential scientific journal Nature has urged governments around the world to engage stakeholders on contact tracing apps, and prove that it is both safe and effective. It should come with a “cast-iron commitment” that data collected would be secure and used only for its specified purpose.