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

Khairuddin irked by Raja Petra's claim

Blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin and former Umno man Khairuddin Abu Hassan locked horns over the blogger’s claim that former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad could not vouch for the authenticity of signatures on the Citizens' Declaration when quizzed by the Agong on Sept 15.

In a meeting yesterday, the Citizens' Declaration group said it will seek an audience with any willing Malay ruler, and will submit its petition seeking reforms and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's ouster, to the Council of Rulers.

Zahid takes Najib's spot at UNGA, as blast rocks New York

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi takes Najib's spot to make his maiden appearance as the Malaysian delegation head of the 71st United Nations General Assembly in New York. He will address the assembly on Sept 24.

He arrived an hour after an explosion rocked the Chelsea district of New York, leaving one severely injured and at least 28 others with minor injuries. No Malaysians were hurt.

A police sweep of the neighbourhood found a secondary device, but authorities are still determining if it was an act of terror or if it was linked to a pipe bomb explosion in New Jersey hours before.

Other Kinibites

PKR to petition the Agong against the redelineation exercise, which it says is unconstitutional, as it leaves constituencies not equal to one another.

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim's lawyers will seek for his five-year jail sentence for sodomy to be reduced to house arrest, if the final judicial review of the conviction on Oct 12 fails.

Najib may change the menteri besar of Pahang, Terengganu, Kedah and Negri Sembilan, ahead of the 14th general election, to arrest further slide in support, political insiders told The Star.

Xavier Justo, the former Petrosaudi employee alleged to have leaked information on the 1MDB deal, will not be released from Thai custody, Swiss newspaper La Temps reported.

Looking ahead

Anwar will testify in his lawsuit against Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

The parliament secretariat will hold a briefing on parliamentary reforms at the Dewan Rakyat.