Higher fines for MCO violators and other news you may have missed

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

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1. The government has invoked emergency powers to introduce stiffer penalties into a key legislation being used to implement movement control order restrictions. Among others, the maximum compound for individuals violating the law would be raised 10-fold to RM10,000, beginning March 11.

2. Parents crossing state or district borders to send their children to school would no longer need police permission to do so, and it would suffice to show a letter from the school.

3. The Federal Court ruling that Selangor syariah law has no power to criminalise “unnatural sex” has drawn praises from human rights groups.

4. Family members of a Pakistani asylum seeker are calling for an inquest after claiming to have found injuries on the man who ostensibly died of a “heart attack” in prison.

5. Healthcare workers at Serdang Hospital are upset with plans to vaccinate “influencers” and administrators among its first batch of Covid-19 vaccine recipients, but the government clarified that these influencers are in fact clinical head departments to serve as role models.

6. Police have summoned Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan and Klang MP Charles Santiago for questioning on Monday over the comments they made after the news portal was found guilty of contempt of court.

7. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah say they are fine after receiving their Covid-19 vaccine, while the ministry debunked a conspiracy theory claim that the prime minister’s injection was swapped with a different substance.

8. A second Covid-19 cluster has been linked to Chinese New Year celebrations a fortnight ago, this time in Sarawak. Meanwhile, new cases are at their lowest yesterday since Jan 4.

9. Rosmah Mansor’s money laundering and tax evasion trial will begin on Nov 15, after the High Court in Kuala Lumpur ordered her to enter her defence.

10. More than 600,000 people have registered their interest in receiving a Covid-19 vaccine, and businesses are chipping in by offering incentives to those who have signed up.