SNAPSHOT | Anwar questions GBP60m gap in proposed Felda hotel sale; Ismail Sabri gets pacemaker

KINI SNAPSHOT | What’s going on in the news today, with updates at 9am, 2pm, 6pm, and 9pm.

9pm

Governance

• Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he instructed the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) management to submit a report on the proposed sale of an unnamed hotel owned by the agency.

  Pointing to a discrepancy between the hotel’s purchase and proposed sale prices, Anwar said he refused to sign off on the sale.

  

  “Two months ago, the Felda management came and asked me to sign for the sale of this hotel. I said, wait a moment, what kind of business is this? Selling at a price lower than when it was bought.

  “So I did not sign. I said, find out who did this and submit a report,” Bernama quoted Anwar, who is also the finance minister, as saying at an event in Malacca today.

  He said the hotel was purchased for GBP160 million (RM880 million) by the previous management but was now being offered for sale at GBP100 million.

Court

• The Sri Uchimalai Muniswaran Temple committee has withdrawn its application for leave to appeal against a High Court ruling that lifted an injunction barring landowner Yayasan Kubra from demolishing the temple in Rawang.

  Counsel for the temple management, Amanda Sonia Mathew, notified a three-member Court of Appeal panel that her client was withdrawing the application for leave to appeal.

  The court subsequently struck out the application and ordered the committee to pay RM10,000 in costs to Yayasan Kubra.

READ MORE: Rawang temple dispute: High Court rules in favour of landowner over demolition

Crime

• The MACC has completed recording the statement of a former chief financial officer of a company owned by a statutory body as part of its investigation into the royal commission of inquiry report on Tabung Haji.

  MACC chief commissioner Abd Halim Aman said the four-day questioning was aimed at gathering evidence over alleged abuse of power in the purchase of shares in two plantation companies worth about RM370 million.

Politics

• Former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has successfully undergone a procedure to implant a leadless pacemaker at the National Heart Institute (IJN) in Kuala Lumpur.

  In a statement this evening, IJN said Ismail Sabri was advised to rest following the procedure, with visitation restricted to close family members to support his recovery and protect his privacy.

  

  “IJN respectfully requests members of the media and the public to respect the privacy of Ismail Sabri and his family during this period.

  “Further updates, where appropriate, will be issued through authorised channels,” it said.

  Ismail Sabri was reportedly rushed to IJN last night after experiencing heart problems while being questioned by the MACC.

Previously at 6pm | Anwar: Nurul Izzah has 'strong reasons' to go on leave; speaker says Wong wants to resign

2pm | Ex-CJ Eusoff dies at 91; court halts ROS move to dissolve MTUC provisionally

9am | Reezal moves to prevent flag gaffes; Umno urged to explain flaws in Tabung Haji management

Isa Samad fails to get leave to review graft conviction, sentence

Isa off to jail as Federal Court reinstates graft conviction

Court acquits Dengkil temple chairperson, finds 'incurable defect' in trespass charge

'Illegal temples': Hindu group accepts Anwar's apology, wants phrase retired