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

Dr M decries CIA plot

Dr Mahathir Mohamad has decried the declassification of a report by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on the Bumiputera Malaysia Finance Ltd (BMF) scandal as politically motivated, calling it a plot aimed to demonise him, because of his criticism of Western nations.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak dismissed Mahathir’s claim, asking why would the CIA wait 34 years to do this, and pointing out that the BMF matter was just two pages from the 13 million that were declassified.

Meanwhile, DAP veteran lawmaker Lim Kit Siang said the revelations on the BMF scandal were nothing compared with the 1MDB controversy that was much more serious, adding that more importantly, the BMF money did not end up in Mahathir’s personal account.

'Choose the less corrupt'

Acknowledging that it is difficult to find politicians who are not corrupt, Transparency International-Malaysia president Akhbar Satar said voters should cast their ballots for those who are considered to be “less corrupt”.

Malaysia’s slide one notch down the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI) was caused by a lack of leadership in combating corruption in Malaysia said Akhbar, adding that leaders should “walk the talk”, if they want to arrest the slide.

MACC’s Felda probe

Opposition leaders have trained their guns on former Felda chairperson Isa Samad following corruption investigations into the federal agency, questioning why he was allowed to head Felda Global Ventures (FGV) despite the many failures and losses incurred under his leadership.

Questioned on the matter, Isa said that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) must be allowed to investigate corruption as alleged in Felda’s sturgeon farming project, asking all in the agency to cooperate with investigations.

More Kinibites

The Subang Umno division admitted that the picture that went viral of a signboard at its office claiming that the 14th general election is less than 200 days away was authentic, but explained it was their internal deadline for readiness, and not the actual countdown to the election.

The Federal Court today granted the Home Ministry leave to pose questions of law on the award of damages to The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd following a suspension the financial daily had to serve for almost three months for its reports on 1MDB.

US President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders that include a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries.

Looking ahead

The MACC will charge a former chief executive officer (CEO) of a subsidiary of a government-linked company at the Jalan Duta Court Complex today, for allegedly receiving more than two million ringgit in bribes.