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

1. The Health Ministry reported 18 new Covid-19 related deaths - the highest ever - amidst 3,631 new Covid-19 cases nationwide.

2. Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad advised the government to reconsider mandating home quarantine for low-risk Covid-19 patients, after an incident involving his own family.

3. Insurance firms said there too many risks involved to fully insure Covid-19 treatment and said private hospitals have to step up and do their part.

4. Sarawak state cabinet members plan to appeal to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to lift the emergency order in Sarawak.

5. A woman who was fined RM1,000 for not wearing a mask when exiting her car released CCTV footage disputing police's claim that there were others near her at the time.

6. A Bersatu Youth figure was arrested by the police on Wednesday for allegedly possessing a large amount of illicit drugs.

7. An Umno source claimed few of the party's MPs are willing to back a call for an emergency parliament session due to fear it would make the party look bad.

8. PKR's Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad brushed off the defection of a handful of Gombak PKR members to Bersatu as a small minority.

9. A Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) student defended their teacher for taking them on a study trip to the DAP headquarters in Kuala Lumpur in 2019.

10. PAS is pushing for public support of an anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Muslim taskforce, and sees no contradiction with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's anti-hate speech stance.

11. Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Mohd Nor continues to face pressure over the state's decision not to declare Thaipusam as an occasional holiday.