Good morning, here's a quick rundown of what happened over the weekend.

Key Highlights

• Zahid strikes back
  
  
• 'Dengki Ke' lands artist in lock-up
  
  
• Rape joke turns to rape threat
  
  

Zahid strikes back

The machinations for power in Umno are no longer limited to wheeling and dealing behind closed doors.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi launched a strike against Arau MP Shahidan Kassim by removing him as the Perlis Umno chief.

This prevented Shahidan from attending the Umno supreme council meeting yesterday. Shahidan promised an offensive against Zahid after Hari Raya.

Shahidan and other leaders had planned to block efforts to postpone the party election this year. The party polls are the last chance to oust Zahid before GE15.

The Umno supreme council meeting, with the absence of Shahidan and Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan, concluded with a carefully crafted statement.

It said Umno will "seek guidance" on holding the party election this year but stopped short of committing to a date.

After the meeting, Umno leaders from opposing camps also gave conflicting accounts on whether there was a set date.

The public relations pretences aside, Zahid’s camp made a promise to explore but not to commit in order to get the pressure off him, but will likely still seek a postponement if the opportunity arises.

HIGHLIGHTS

	Umno formally calls for Parliament to be reconvened This came a month after Zahid's 'mistake'.
	Bersatu reconciliation not so simple - Umno chief Zahid says it isn't personal
	Arau Umno rejects Azlan Man as new Perlis head They demand that Zahid reinstates Shahidan

‘Dengki Ke’ lands artist in lock-up

Graphic artist Fahmi Reza was arrested by the police over a playlist he created on music streaming service Spotify.

The cover featured a picture of the Queen and the caption “Dengki Ke” (Jealous?), a play on her comment on social media.

The playlist included a long list of jealously themed songs and also “God Save the Queen” by the Sex Pistols. It didn’t impress PAS’ Pasir Mas MP Ahmad Fadhli Shaari, who lodged a police report.

After Fahmi's overnight detention on Friday, the police sought a four-day remand but the court only granted one day. He was released on Saturday evening.

Fahmi, unfazed, maintained that satires and parodies should be defended. Activists also condemned the authorities for treating satire as a crime.

HIGHLIGHTS

	'Count Muda out if PKR works with kleptocratic Umno' Muar MP says it's hypocritical to work with the corrupt.
	‘PKR man likens Syed Saddiq to 'cheap cybertrooper' He says Syed Saddiq's criticism was premature.
	Azmin to lead a trade mission to Saudi Arabia, UAE Saudi Arabia was our second-largest trading partner.

Rape joke turns to rape threat

A 17-year-old student who exposed her teacher for allegedly making rape jokes ended up getting a rape threat from a male classmate.

Her father, who had last Friday lodged a police report over the inappropriate remark, expressed worry and will lodge another police report over the threat.

The teen had revealed about the rape joke on social media platform TikTok but this upset some in the school for “sullying” her school’s reputation.

Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto pushed the Education Ministry to respond. But the Education Ministry hasn’t been very responsive lately.

Another school issue involving menstrual period spot checks had courted reaction from other ministers, ex-ministers, civil society and even an offer by a lawyer to sue schools that sexually violated female students.

The only one that has yet to respond is the Education Ministry, which oversees the schools.

HIGHLIGHTS

	Maszlee wants student laptop deliveries expedited Gov't-linked initiative says 13k out of 150k laptops distributed.
	Opposition wants minister out over 'rushed' school reopening This comes amid increasing Covid-19 cases in schools.
	'Period spot checks may cause lasting psychological impact' 'This can result in anxiety, depression and low self-esteem'

 

A daily glance at Covid-19

• 2,690 new cases yesterday (April 25), the 11th consecutive day where fresh infections are above 2,000.
  
  
• The infectivity rate yesterday declined to 1.12 from a high of 1.19 on April 18. However, as long as the infectivity rate is above 1.0, new cases will grow exponentially. An infectivity rate of 1.12 means for every 100 infected persons, they spread the virus to another 112 people.
  
  
• Patients in the intensive care unit increased by 64 in the last week to 283. Active cases rose by 3,899 cases to 23,753 in the same period.
  
  
• For trends on daily cases, tests, hospital beds capacity, vaccination progress and more, follow our Covid-19 tracker.
  
  

What else is happening?

• Police arrested villagers in Tawau after they protested over the lack of food and assistance while under the enhanced movement control order. The local MP became embroiled in controversy after promising food in two weeks.
  
  
• Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng, who will be stepping down as the DAP secretary-general this year due to his term limit, said the party will fight to kick out leaders who are against multi-racialism and multi-culturalism.
  
  
• Even though the Covid-19 vaccination has begun for the elderly, many from unlicensed old folks homes are slipping through the cracks. Malaysiakini spoke to the stakeholders involved. 
  
  
• The government extended the quarantine period for travellers from countries where more dangerous Covid-19 variants are raging. The AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Malaysia last Saturday.
  
  
• The latest edition of Malaysianskini features the photographer behind the fiery front cover of the Time Magazine.

HIGHLIGHTS

	Italy imposes travel ban from India over Covid-19 variant India is recording the world's highest number of new cases.
	Bersih decries alleged assault on detained Tawau activist He had protested over the lack of help under lockdown.
	Move to allow vaccinated M'sians workers into S'pore Singapore previously suspended travel bubble with M'sia.

What are people saying?

	The legacy of youth political activism in Malaysia By William Tham Wai Liang
	Period checks and fires of hell - address root cause By Cecilia Anthonysamy
	Boys also subjected to demeaning actions By Anonymous

CARTOON KINI