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

1. Former Felda chairperson Mohd Isa Abdul Samad was convicted for nine counts of corruption in relation to the purchase of a hotel in Sarawak, and 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 was 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 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. Close to a year into the pandemic, teachers struggle with online teaching while students disrupt class with pornography.


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


6. Tenants and building managers are caught in a bind due to unclear rules in relation to moving houses in a strata building, and 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 due to 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.



KINI LENS

Ex-Felda chair Isa Samad hugs a family member after he was sentenced to six years in prison for corruption.