Umno again reaffirms backing for PN and other news you may have missed

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

1. Umno has again reaffirmed its support for the Perikatan Nasional government, this time by the party’s supreme council. However, it wants better cooperation based on “respect” and “political consensus”.

2. At an earlier meeting among BN parliamentarians, Pekan MP Najib Abdul Razak proposed either fixing a date for a general election or working with other parties, including PKR but not DAP. DAP’s Tony Pua has rejected the idea of working with Umno, but Amanah appears to be open to the idea.

3. Umno’s Padang Besar MP Zahidi Zainul Abidin said politicians should not be blamed for the current political crisis as they are only trying to rectify a situation caused by voters who were ‘deceived’ by Pakatan Harapan during the last general election.

4. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin held a meeting with pro-PN party leaders yesterday morning, but Umno’s Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was the only one who didn’t turn up, purportedly due to a persistent stomach upset.

5. Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah denied fudging the numbers on Malaysia’s Covid-19 cases, as the pandemic hit a new high of 1,228 new cases in a single day, including a new cluster that comprises only children.

6. Noor Hisham said healthcare services in Sabah still have the capacity to treat Covid-19 cases despite a high number of cases there.

7. The conditional movement control order in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya will be extended until Nov 9, while restrictions will be enforced tomorrow onwards in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.

8. The extension of the conditional MCO comes as every district in the Klang Valley has recorded at least one Covid-19 case in the last 14 days.

9. Former prime minister Najib has filed an appeal against a decision for him to pay the Inland Revenue Board RM1.69 billion in additional tax arrears, and a separate appeal to reinstate his 1MDB-linked lawsuit against AmBank and its former banker Joanna Yu.

10. Facing a lawsuit over the disappearance of activist Amri Che Mat, police said Suhakam’s 2019 report on the disappearance of Amri did not find the police lax in their investigation. They also disputed Suhakam’s finding that Amri was a victim of enforced disappearance.