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

1. Malaysia recorded its first Covid-19 death in a month, bringing the death toll to 126.

2. The Covid-19 outbreak in Kedah also went unabated with a fifth cluster emerging in slightly over a month, this time involving hospital staff.

3. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, in his Merdeka Day address, said caring for the people is the Perikatan Nasional government's guiding principle.

4. During a visit to Sabah ahead of the state election, Muhyiddin also proposed increasing welfare aid from RM200 to RM1,000.

5. Umno supreme council member Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the reunification of Bersatu and Umno is now difficult due to Bersatu becoming a multiracial party.

6. However, Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin said such assertions were inaccurate as the party accepted non-Malays as associate members from the onset and is now only mulling to set up a wing for them.

7. BN secretary-general Annuar Musa said PN is expected to finalise their seat negotiation for the Sabah election by the middle of next week.

8. Analysts opined that Pejuang would find it difficult to remain relevant if they insist of becoming another Malay Muslim party in an already crowded field and instead pointed to Muar MP Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman's proposed youth-based party as a means of breaking away from the old mould.

9. Johor Bersatu is seeking guidance from its central leadership over how to deal with its Kempas assemblyperson Osman Sapian who appeared to have gone rogue in support of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Sacking Osman would lead to a hung assembly in Johor.