UK coronavirus variant not in M'sia yet, and other news you may have missed

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

1. Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said a highly transmissible variant of the virus that causes Covid-19 in the UK has yet to reach Malaysian shores, but there are signs that another strain found here also has enhanced transmissibility.

2. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Zulkifli Mohamad Al Bakri clarified that festival greetings are allowed on a product if its purpose is not for display in halal-certified premises.

3. Police shot dead four robbery suspects after they allegedly rammed into a GrabFood rider in their escape, and was about to ram her again in their bid to flee.

4. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah is slated to arrive home from the United Arab Emirates, and expressed appreciation for the country’s plan to contribute experimental Covid-19 vaccines for testing in Malaysia.

5. Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub said the party and its members are not fanatical followers of anyone, but they do not intend to sideline PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.

6. An online survey by the Health Ministry found that most Malaysians have good discipline in practising new norms in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, with many respondents expressing willingness to berate their friends and family if they fail to comply.

7. A rubber glove factory that was raided on Thursday escaped shut down and was slapped with a RM1,000 fine instead.

8. Turkish researchers claimed that a trial involving Sinovac Biotech’s vaccine candidate for preventing Covid-19 was 91.25 percent effective, after a Brazilian team studying the same vaccine indicated it was more than 50 percent effective but withheld full results.