Here are the key headlines from yesterday, in brief.

AG orders MACC to probe further on Guan Eng’s bungalow

Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali has instructed the Malaysian-Anti Corruption Commission to further probe the case of alleged kickbacks in the below-market-price purchase of a bungalow on Jalan Pinhorn, George Town, by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Fake signature poser haunts Citizens’ Declaration

Credibility issues continue to plague the Citizens’ Declaration petition, after prime mover and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said some 300,000 of the million-odd signatures were removed due to possible duplication or other issues.

Suspended PKR member Badrul Hisham Shahrin says this calls for a forensic audit.

Badrul Hisham earlier hosted a press conference by a programmer who claimed to have sold a database of personal details for someone to use to fake online signatures,

The issue is also a point of attack for Salleh Said Keruak, who also dares Mahathir to repeat allegations he made against 1MDB in his campaign trails for the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections.

Hudud hogs twin polls limelight

Focus of the two by-elections remain on the hudud, with MCA taking issue with PAS urging Kuala Kangsar voters to give hudud a try if they do not want their ‘Ah Moi’ harassed.

MCA also asked medically-trained PAS’ Kuala Kangsar candidate Dr Najihatussalehah Ahmad if she will abandon her Hippocratic Oath to support hudud punishments like amputations of healthy limbs.

Like MCA, MIC too opposes the implementation of hudud in Malaysia but its president Dr S Subramaniam said the party will not speak out against it during by-election campaign, arguing that this is not a grassroots issue.

In Sungai Besar, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang says there already exist laws in Malaysia which only affect Muslims so non-Muslims need not worry about hudud creating dual systems.

Meanwhile, in Kuala Kangsar, BN candidate Mastura Mohd Yazid’s family quashes rumours of internal sabotage by local Umno warlords, who oppose her candidacy.

Other KiniBites

British paedophile Richard Huckles is sentenced to life in a British prison for crimes sexual abuse of children in Malaysia and Cambodia, the youngest victim being an infant.

Released on bail after he was charged with sedition for a caricature of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, artist Fahmi Reza says he is unafraid of jail as “freedom is not free”.

Singapore’s reputation as a shopping paradise is in jeopardy, as spending by locals and tourists at retail outlets plummet amid economic concerns.

Looking ahead

Campaigning for the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections continues on day three of the 13-day campaign.

Umno Youth deputy chief Khairul Azwan Harun’s defamation suit against PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli goes into the second day of hearing today.