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

Cops pull plug on Dr M-Nazri debate again

Karangkraf said police have for the second time blocked a debate event between former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz that it was supposed to organise.

All directors, and not only former chief executive officer Shahrol Halmi, should be held accountable for the 1MDB scandal, opined political economics professor Edmund Terence Gomez.

Simpang Pulai state assemblyperson Tan Kar Hing said the government could have used 1MDB’s multi-billion ringgit funds for affordable housing had they not been allegedly misappropriated.

No Act 355 vote this sitting

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said PAS’ proposed amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, or Act 355, was unlikely to come up for a vote in the current Parliament session.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang claimed an unnamed mastermind was behind the government’s backtracking in tabling the proposed amendments, which would have given the bill priority.

A round table organised by Perkasa suggested a legal challenge if the government were to cave in to demands on recognising the United Examination Certificate (UEC) taken by Chinese independent schools.

Anwar’s message on GST anniversary

Jailed de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim, in a note through his party, said even the Goods and Services Tax (GST) cannot sustain the country’s economy if corruption is not tackled.

Former treasury secretary-general Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim said reforms instituting checks and balances are needed or abuses will still happen even with a new prime minister.

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang was unamused at a series of attacks on him by the mainstream media painting him as a dictator.

Other Kinibites

Malaysiakini in a special report looks at how Cameron Highlands flood victims were coping two years after the disaster.

Umno information chief Annuar Musa was admitted to hospital after suffering chest pain and vomiting.

Jerai Umno offered free petrol to some 2,000 motorcyclists.

Court of Appeal president Md Raus Sharif was promoted to chief justice.

PAS said cheap cars may be part of the party’s 14th general election manifesto.

Looking ahead

Selangor police will be holding a press conference on the aborted debate between Mahathir and Tourism and Nazri.