Tussle over Thaipusam, and other news you may have missed

KINI ROUNDUP | Key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief.

1. Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy accused a temple of holding a chariot procession without National Security Council (NSC) approval after being emboldened by a minister’s intervention, but police said the NSC had approved the event. Many others will be observing Thaipusam at home instead.

2. Lawmakers are urging the Kuala Lumpur High Court to reconsider striking out a rape survivor’s lawsuit against a police officer and waive a RM70,000 security payment, while her lawyer started a crowdfunding campaign to allow the suit to be refiled.

3. Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said the state government will take at least another month to decide on the proposal to degazette the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve.

4. Clothing makers and retailers pleaded to be allowed to operate during the second movement control order period, in order to sell ox-themed Chinese New Year apparel before it goes out of season.

5. Fitch Ratings said Malaysia’s economic recovery depends on the success of its upcoming Covid-19 vaccination campaign, but other factors such as the ongoing political instability and the duration of the current lockdown also play a role.

6. Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin has been discharged after recovering from Covid-19. The status of two other ministers who had been diagnosed with the disease is unclear.

7. Pejuang is considering borrowing Amanah’s logo to contest in the 15th general election, as it seeks ways to circumvent the Registrar of Societies’ refusal to formally register the new party.

8. The Court of Appeal has unanimously quashed the development order previously issued for the development of a portion of the Taman Rimba Kiara public park.

9. Two prisons in Terengganu are coming under the enhanced movement control order, while police seek suitable locations for temporary detention depots to relieve overcrowding in its own detention facilities.

10. A man has been sentenced to 1,050 years imprisonment and 24 strokes of the cane after being convicted of raping his stepdaughter 105 times since she was 12 years old.