Isa Samad convicted for corruption and other news you may have missed

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

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1. Former Felda chairperson Mohd Isa Abdul Samad has been convicted for nine counts of corruption in relation to the purchase of a hotel in Sarawak and was sentenced to six years in jail and a fine of RM15.45 million. He plans to appeal the court ruling.

2. A former Mara Incorporated chairperson has been arrested by the MACC for allegedly receiving RM33.45 million in kickbacks from property transactions in Australia.

3. Covid-19’s death toll in Malaysia now exceeds 800. Although older people with a pre-existing illness are most vulnerable, many who are below 40 and otherwise healthy are also succumbing to the third wave of the outbreak.

4. Teachers struggle to conduct online classes in the pandemic in face of various difficulties, including when it comes to enforcing discipline in class when disruptive students air pornography in the virtual classroom.

5. Businesses are urging the government to lift the movement control order (MCO) or many would not survive, while a hotel in Penang turned to hawking its food by the roadside to stay afloat.

6. Tenants and building managers are caught in a bind due to unclear rules under the MCO in relation to moving houses in a strata building, and the authorities also have different interpretations of the rules.

7. Evidence that Covid-19 is transmitted primarily through the air - and rarely through contaminated surfaces - have been clear for months, and the prominent scientific journal Nature is urging health authorities to take notice and change focus.

8. Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said his leadership is both based on and limited by collective decisions, amid calls for someone with ‘fresh ideas and strategies’ to rein in the pandemic.

9. Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he was generally satisfied with former attorney-general Tommy Thomas’ work and even planned to recommend him to receive a ‘Tan Sri’ title at the end of his term, but had no plans to renew his term as AG due pressure from the Malay community.

10. Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) said it would not appeal the Registrar of Society’s rejection of its application to be registered as a political party, saying Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin’s statement on the matter will strengthen its court case on the registration.