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

Pressure mounts on Goldman Sachs

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has accused US bank Goldman Sachs of cheating Malaysia in the 1MDB scandal, after US authorities pressed charges against two of its executives.

Mahathir said the US Department of Justice has promised to help return the money Goldman Sachs had charged for its dealings with 1MDB.

However, Pakatan Harapan de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim has urged the government to go one step further by also claiming damages from Goldman Sachs for tarnishing Malaysia’s image.

The shares of Goldman Sachs dropped 7.5 percent after Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng was quoted saying that Malaysia is seeking a full refund for the fees it had paid for 1MDB-related services.

PKR probes 'missing votes' claim

PKR political bureau has instructed an audit firm to investigate claims that votes cast in the recent PKR party election had gone missing.

This followed PKR Youth chief candidate Akmal Nasir’s allegation that the top 17 divisions affected by the phenomena are where deputy president hopeful Rafizi Ramli was expected to make inroads against his rival Azmin Ali, and mostly in the late stages of the polling.

Meanwhile, the PKR central election committee revealed that about 90 percent of some 7,500 dubious votes it had checked so far had been rejected.

More on the death penalty

In yesterday’s instalment of its special series on the death penalty, Malaysiakini examines whether the state should be given the power to kill.

The news portal had also interviewed the family members of death row inmate Hoo Yew Wah on the emotional and financial toll the conviction had on them.

Other Kinibites

Bentong MP Wong Tack has urged the government to hold a “true” public hearing on Lynas’ rare earth refinery, saying that the previous hearing was a mere showcase of the regulators’ salesmanship.

Education Minister Maszlee Malik said elective and non-core subjects for the SPM examination would be shifted early beginning next year, to allow early preparations for floods.

Citing government statistics, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh revealed some of the frivolous reasons that had been cited for divorce, including those that she said she was too embarrassed to read out in Parliament.

Writer and editor Stan Lee, who is best known for the Marvel Comics superhero characters that he created, passed away on Monday, at the age of 95.

Looking ahead

A group of student activists is expected to march from Universiti Malaya to Parliament to protest the government’s plan to introduce automatic salary deductions for National Higher Education Fund loan repayments.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia will be holding its controversial forum on migration, which had been previously renamed after its earlier title, “The polemic of Indians arriving in Malaya: Migration or Immigrants?” was accused of being racist.

Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad and Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil will be officiating the “Lost Food Project”, which aims to provide two million meals for the urban poor in Lembah Pantai.