Maszlee quits as education minister, and 9 news from yesterday

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

1. Maszlee Malik has resigned as education minister, and he went on to take swipes at negative press coverage and politicking for overshadowing his achievements as he heads for the exit.

2. An online petition calling for Maszlee to be retained as education minister garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures within hours, while the National Union of the Teaching Profession lamented his departure.

3. The corruption trial against Umno supreme council member Bung Moktar Radin and his wife Zizie Izette A Samad kicks off with a religious department official confirming their status as a married couple.

4. Warisan announced former Bongawan assemblyperson Karim Bujang as its candidate for the Kimanis by-election.

5. Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the Muafakat Nasional bloc may be “less suitable” to the political situation in Sabah, and mooted setting up Muafakat Sabah, starting with the Kimanis by-election.

6. Shareholders of the embattled glovemaker WRP Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd injected RM3.25 million in emergency cash to pay its workers.

7. Dong Jiao Zong and several Tamil educationist groups sent a memorandum to the Education Ministry urging the government to include the boards of management of schools as one of the decision-makers on whether vernacular schools should introduce Jawi lessons.

8. Electoral reform group Bersih chastised the government for not delivering enough on its election promises, as well as allowing a culture of gutter politics and polarising racial and religious narratives to thrive.

9. A TV3 broadcast journalist has lodged a police report after receiving death threats for his report highlighting the lack of basic amenities at a religious school in Kuala Terengganu.

10. Ammonia pollution in the Muar River has disrupted water supply to 35,000 households.