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

Najib skips budget debate

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak did not stick around for yesterday's Budget 2017 debate, leaving the House soon after answering questions during the Minister's Question Time.

Lawlessness may grip the country if the economy continues to be mismanaged, Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) president Shafie Apdal warned in his budget debate, using the analogy of the Philippines in the 1970s, when its economy tanked, accompanied by rampant crime and unemployment.

Several Public Accounts Committee members from both the opposition and BN are believed to have been boycotting committee meetings of late over disagreements with its chief Hasan Arifin, and may do the same when the committee sits today.

Hospital blaze kills six

The Fire and Rescue Department has confirmed that six victims were found dead in a fire that broke out at the Intensive Care Unit of Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru yesterday morning.

Hospital staff collapsed from inhaling smoke while trying to evacuate patients from the Intensive Care Unit and fight the blaze, though their efforts managed to contain fire on that floor from spreading. They themselves were later rescued through a broken window.

Following this, Parti Amanah Negara urged the Health Ministry to conduct serious checks on all old hospitals and health clinics to ensure they adhered to fire safety specifications laid down by Fire and Rescue Department.

Rahman flayed over blacklist

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok reminded Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan that his Bersih blacklist echoed former Malacca chief minister Mohd Ali Rustam's blacklist of 20 local contractors for supposed opposition links, which led to his defeat in GE13.

Abdul Rahman's threat to end the services of lawyers with government-linked corporations who are seen opposing the government, prompted lawyer Mohd Haniff Khatri Abdulla to remind him that sustenance comes from God, not from human beings.

Senior lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan said the government’s blacklisting of law firms that support Bersih had been going on for some time, and condemned Abdul Rahman's "bully boy" tactics as being in defiance of the rakyat’s constitutional right to freely assemble.

The government will breach international principles on the role of lawyers if it blacklists law firms with links to Bersih, warned Lawyers for Liberty.

More Kinibites

Following an incident where a rat was seen walking on a tray full of baked goods at its outlet in Mid Valley Megamall, Komugi Bakery Malaysia announced that it will temporarily close down the outlet as it seeks to rectify the situation.

The China Railway Group is planning to build the world’s largest underground city in Bandar Malaysia, which will serve as the centerpiece for its China Pan Asia rail network, reported Channel News Asia (CNA).

Malaysia will not use the extreme methods employed by the present Philippines government under President Rodrigo Duterte in its war on the drug trade, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said, and he insisted that enforcing laws is better than wholesale killing of drug traffickers.

Looking ahead

The High Court in Kuala Lumpur will today hear the judicial review application of Selangor Menteri Besar Mohd Azmin Ali to challenge secrecy provisions slapped on the auditor-general's report on 1MDB.