Here’s a recap of major headlines yesterday you may have missed.

Gov’t makes U-turn, Zakir ban reversed

The government has allowed Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik to continue his public talks in Malacca, but he will need to change the topic originally titled ‘Similarities between Islam and Hinduism’, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.

The police have also earlier agreed to allow a lecture titled 'Is the Quran God's Word' by the controversial Muslim scholar, who was banned from entering UK in 2010, to proceed in Kuala Lumpur on April 16, but subject to certain conditions.

Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told Malaysiakini that the organisers must ensure the lecture is confined to Islam and no other faith is belittled in the process.

Meanwhile, Zakir's son Fariq Naik has been allowed by the Penang state government to speak at an event titled ‘Misconceptions about Islam’ at the Penyayang Community Centre on Friday night.

Minister in the Prime Minister Department Shahidan Kassim described Zakir as a " special human being " with in-depth knowledge on comparative religion and told off MIC and Indian-based NGOs, which have roundly criticised the Muslim preacher, not to interfere in matters concerning Islam.

Swiss OAG says 1MDB cash went to film company

The Swiss Attorney-General’s Office suspects that payments by 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) ostensibly to Abu Dhabi state firm International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) went to two public officials and a “company related to the motion picture industry” after it was channelled through a company made to look like an IPIC subsidiary.

However, 1MDB maintained it did nothing wrong and contended that it paid money to the right IPIC subsidiary and is exploring options, pending further inquiry, on what to do about the revelation by IPIC , which it claimed implied that it had disbursed billions to a false company.

Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua has called for those who transferred payments from 1MDB to the allegedly fake IPIC subsidiary to be investigated and arrested , when commenting on IPIC's announcement that the money meant for Aabar Investments PJS went instead to British Virgin Islands-incorporated Aabar PJS Limited.

Meanwhile, Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) is unconcerned about SRC International's ability to repay the RM4 billion loan it gave to the 1MDB's former subsidiary, KWAP chief executive officer Wan Kamaruzaman Wan Ahmad said, since the loan was guaranteed by the government.

'Leaked' questions from Manggis-Gate debate

BN strategic communications director Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng have released 15 questions each for their upcoming debate over the Taman Manggis land controversy, which is centred on the alleged sale of landowner company KLIDC to a third party.

BN strategic communications director Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng have released 15...

Posted by Malaysiakini on Tuesday, 12 April 2016

However, Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed feels the planned debate between Rahman and Lim would affect the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigations into the Taman Manggis land and Pinhorn Road bungalow issues and would result in a trial by media.

'I was punished for saying what the PAC reported'

Former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin questioned why Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had accepted the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report but punished him for saying the same thing.

Muhyiddin also dismissed assertions by Najib loyalists that the PM was vindicated by the PAC report on 1MDB, claiming that it revealed the opposite. He said the report highlighted Najib's role in key decisions made at 1MDB, which government ministers had ignored in their haste to declare that the prime minister was cleared.

More Kini bites

Former Utusan Malaysia editor and media icon Said Zahari, 88, who led Utusan Melayu in opposing the takeover of the Malay daily by Umno, and spent 17 years under Internal Security Act (ISA) detention in Singapore for his vocal views on freedom of expression and press freedom, passed away yesterday afternoon.

Ex-federal minister Zaid Ibrahim feels it is time for Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to rise to the occasion and tell his boss the prime minister in no uncertain terms, that a change in power has to take place after the Sarawak election, even if it means putting himself at risk.

Former PetroSaudi International employee Xavier Andre Justo sued The Edge Media Group owner Tong Kooi Ong and two others in the High Court in Singapore for damages, saying he never received the US$2 million as promised upon delivery of two data storage drives he handed over in Tong's presence in February last year.

‘ Shooting the rapids - teaching in the heart of Borneo ’, is the first in a series of Malaysiakini special reports on teachers who made the sacrifice to ensure that students in East Malaysian rural schools have proper education. Yesterday's story focused on Ipoh-born Syamil who has been teaching at SK Airport near Belaga in Sarawak for five years.

Looking ahead

The High Court in Kuala Lumpur will hear Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's application for a judgment in default and Tony Pua's application to strike out the defamation suit Najib filed against Pua and MediaRakyat portal owner Chan Chee Keong, over a speech delivered at DAP fundraiser on Nov 3 last year on 1MDB, which the PM claimed slandered him.

The High Court in KL will also hear an application by former Umno leader Khairuddin Abu Hassan to strike out the criminal charge under Section 124(L) of the Penal Code for actions deemed detrimental to the country's banking and financial services, that he was slapped with for lodging reports against 1MDB with foreign anti-corruption agencies.