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

Three China-backed projects to go

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad concluded his official visit to China by announcing that the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) and two China-backed gas pipeline projects are to be cancelled, attributing compensation for the three projects to the previous administration’s “historic stupidity”.

MCA deputy president Wee Ka Siong said the cancellations meant that the trip had been a failure, and that announcing the decision in Beijing may further upset relations with China. 

Musa Aman is back

Former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman is back in Malaysia amid multiple investigations against him.

This is despite his doctors reportedly advising him not to make the trip, as he is still recovering from a bypass surgery.

Dr M wants CEP to stay

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has welcomed reports that the Council of Eminent Persons’ (CEP) mandate is over.

However, in Beijing, Mahathir said he is still in need of the CEP’s services especially that of its chairperson Daim Zainuddin, and insisted that he should stay.

Pakatan Harapan senator Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad, meanwhile, dismissed Najib’s criticism against the CEP, saying that the financier Low Taek Jho wielded far more influence over the previous government than the CEP did with the current government.

Other Kinibites

In a report, Malaysiakini highlights some of the “colourful” moments in the recently concluded Dewan Rakyat session, such as Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin’s F-bomb.

Meanwhile, sources tell the news portal that the secretive Malaysian External Intelligence Organisation (MEIO) has a new director-general.

On the Federal Highway, traffic slowed to a crawl as a bull led Fire and Rescue Department personnel on a five-kilometre chase before being caught.

Looking ahead

Mahathir will be attending Hari Raya Aidiladha prayers at the National Mosque today – his first public function since returning from China yesterday.

Other politicians will also be attending their respective Aidiladha functions, including Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin, and Wangsa Maju MP Nik Nazmi Nik Mat.

The same goes for candidates at the Seri Setia by-election campaign.

Meanwhile, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang will be joining DAP Balakong by-election candidate Wong Siew Ki on her campaign trail.