KINI ROUNDUP | Here are the key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief.
Writer wins 'Kit Siang racist' contest
An anonymous writer won RM10,000 in an essay competition organised by Umno information chief Annuar Musa on whether DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang is a "racist".
The author had written 16 essays on the subject, which were compiled into a book titled "DAP Bahaya Kepada Melayu-Islam Di Malaysia" (DAP a danger to Malays and Islam in Malaysia).
The writer was chosen by a 10-member panel of judges, including Utusan Malaysia assistant chief editor Zaini Hassan.
In response, DAP Youth chief Wong Kah Woh said the book breaches the Printing Presses and Publications Act for not naming the publisher.
CM's officer slapped
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s information officer Zaidi Ahmad was slapped by a protester at a rally protesting against the Penang government’s alleged interference in the state’s fatwa (religious edict) issues.
Zaidi denied causing any provocation but said he interfered when Jaringan Muslimin Pulau Pinang chairperson Mohamed Hafiz Mohamed Nordin spoke, after the latter made accusations against the state government in his speech.
On a separate matter, Guan Eng gave his assurance that the state’s plan to borrow money from the Export-Import Bank of China (Exim) to fund the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) would not meet the fate of the debt-laden 1MDB as it is a government-to-government deal.
PMO denies hiring US lobbyist
The Prime Minister's Office denied reports that it had hired US President Donald Trump's former aide Healy Baumgardner-Nardone as lobbyist for US$250,000.
However, it did not address the filing Baumgardner-Nardone made to the United States Department of Justice in keeping with US regulations, stating that Najib had hired her.
Other Kinibites
Former second finance minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop was summoned by the special government task force probing the 1990s Bank Negara foreign exchange (forex) scandal.
He was the head of Bank Negara's forex trade operations in the early 1990s, resigned in 1994 following massive losses incurred by the central bank.
PKR president's daughter Nurul Ilham Anwar is being investigated under Section 9 of the Peaceful Assembly Act for participating in a candlelight event in Klang on Feb 15, 2015, in support of her father, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Universiti Malaya said it introduced the controversial direct intake degrees costing RM90,000 because it needed to raise funds amid steep budget cuts it suffered.
A Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur acquitted former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Ku Chin Wah on the charge of failing to declare all sources of his income.
Looking ahead
Political activities wind down as Muslims observe the fasting month of Ramadan, which starts today.
