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

Dirtiest by-elections ever

Some have opined that a desperate BN that needs to win in the wake of the biggest financial scandal in the country's history may promise the sun, moon and stars to the electorate, leading to the the dirtiest by-elections ever in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar.

But a pro-Umno portal, MyKMU.net claimed that it is the opposition that is attempting to bribe voters during the campaign under the pretext of holding projects for the people, zooming in on what it claims are dubious practices in the Sungai Besar parliamentary seat

Both of the claims were proven correct by electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 which said that it has observed Pakatan Harapan parties and PAS join BN on the vote-buying bandwagon for the twin polls, identifying at least 14 instances of vote-buying by the political parties between June 10 and 14.

PAS took special mention for its use of divine retribution as a means to coax Muslim voters into supporting the Islamist party, which actually constitutes an election offence, said Bersih pointing to Section 9(1) of the Election Offences Act which prohibits the use of "temporal or spiritual harm" to influence voters.

Rosmah's 'jet' to land in Kuala Kangsar

Revelations on the purported misuse of a government jet for the recent Istanbul trip of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's spouse Rosmah Mansor, complete with a replica of the Airbus ACJ 319 supposedly involved, will be the main attraction during the last days of the twin by-election campaign, says PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli.

Rafizi had also challenged the Prime Minister's Department to reveal the cost of chartering the private jet for Rosmah's trip to the Turkish city, after his RM1.44 million estimation was disputed by her aide, Rizal Mansor.

Rafizi also disputed Rizal's claim that the cargo hold of the government-chartered jet Rosmah used by was full of Permata Seni group’s performance paraphernalia, pointing to the reported time of the group's performance and the arrival of Rosmah's jet, which was too close together for the troupe to have had time to unload and set up.

More Kini bites

The International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and its subsidiary Aabar Investments PJS (Aabar) have submitted a Request for Arbitration (RFA) to the London Court of International Arbitration over its US$6.5 billion claim against 1MDB and the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MoF), after all other remedies failed.

Police will probe Rafizi for criminal intimidation over his "atomic bomb for PM" joke, under Section 506 of the Penal Code, said Perak police chief Ab Rahim Hanafi, who added that a statement would be recorded from the Pandan lawmaker soon.

The Election Commission (EC) saw no problem in Najib giving RM500 to rubber tappers and smallholders during the by-election campaign, as well as MCA and Gerakan giving out rice, and Pakatan Harapan supporters giving out vegetables to the voters, said its member Abdul Aziz Khalidin.

PKR deputy president Azmin Ali was not aware of an alleged second letter from jailed party de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, warning PKR against being too close with Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Looking ahead

PKR's replica of the Airbus ACJ 319 jet used by Rosmah on her Istanbul trip will 'land' in Kuala Kangsar today along with more revelations by Rafizi.

The Court of Appeals in Putrajaya will today hear Najib's application to stay the proceedings of his defamation suit against PAS organ Harakah scheduled for late June, where he must appear to testify.