Harapan briefed on Umno talks and other news you may have missed

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

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1. Pakatan Harapan has yet to make any commitments regarding working with Umno at the next general election, according to the coalition chief Anwar Ibrahim’s briefing to its component parties.

2. While several opposition MPs have warned Anwar against building shaky alliances with Umno, Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub appeared satisfied with Anwar’s explanation.

3. National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has fulfilled his pledge to skip the Pfizer vaccine and take ‘whatever is approved next’, in a move to boost public confidence in the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency’s approval process.

4. PKR’s Padang Serai MP M Karupaiya is the latest to claim to have faced enticement to switch his political allegiance, but Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan countered that PKR should not deflect attention from its own problems by ‘casting slander’ against his party.

5. Former works minister Baru Bian revealed that the previous Pakatan Harapan cabinet had wanted an out-of-court settlement over the recent “Allah” case, but the home minister at the time Muhyiddin Yassin - who is now prime minister - preferred the court to decide.

6. After being unexpectedly freed from death row, Muhammad Lukman Mohamad plans to further himself in Islamic studies before moving on to getting scientific credentials to advocate medical marijuana.

7. The Health Ministry would only decide in May whether to allow interstate travel for Hari Raya Aidilfitri, while Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan questioned why Ramadan bazaars are allowed to operate but Parliament remains closed.

8. After Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Noor’s threat that Penang would receive muddy water from its rivers, Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy lamented that the concept of riparian rights appears to be lost on Sanusi, even though it is enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

9. An MACC investigation has found that money from a foundation controlled by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had been used to fund an electoral survey.

10. Ship chartering company Pristine Offshore Sdn Bhd is the first company to be charged under a new anti-corruption law that holds corporate entities liable for bribery. The company has pleaded not guilty.