Mahathir names his new party and 9 news you may have missed

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

1. Former Bersatu chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad has announced the name of his new party ‘Parti Pejuang Tanah Air’, which he said will field syariah lawyer Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi (above) as the candidate for the Slim by-election and will fight money politics.

2. Umno has announced its candidate for the Slim by-election as well, fielding its Tanjung Malim division chief Mohd Zaidi Aziz.

3. Across the South China Sea in Sabah, Caretaker Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal has been crisscrossing the state to present native land titles as the state election looms, prompting allegations of abuse of state resources.

4. The Shah Alam City Council said it had previously offered Hot Burger chain founder Mohd Asri Hamid a temporary site to do business but was rejected. It also conducted raids against unlicensed businesses following Asri’s exposé.

5. DAP said data on the unemployment rate showed that extending the blanket loan repayment moratorium was still necessary, while Deputy Finance Minister I Abdul Rahim Bakri said banks have adequate reserves to do so up to December.

6. Complying with Covid-19 social distancing guidelines could see the cost of holding a general election more than double to RM1.2 billion, according to de facto Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan.

7. M Indira Gandhi called on the Home Ministry to take a more serious approach in tracking down her missing daughter after the ministry said her former husband, who took away the child, is no longer in the country.

8. Glove manufacturer Top Glove is racing to improve its workers’ housing conditions following a ban imposed by the US Customs and Border Protection.

9. A suspected Covid-19 case in Lembah Pantai is still pending confirmation due to possible cross-reactivity with the dengue virus, while former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak expressed relief that no “Najib Cluster” has emerged since his supporters gathered outside the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex on July 28.

10. Samples of skin, eggs and tissue give hope that the Malaysian variant of the Sumatran rhinoceros could be brought back to life through stem cell technology.