Good morning. Here's what you should know today.

Key Highlights

  • Doctors strike

  • Vape tax

  • Najib loses

Doctors strike

A group is urging contract government doctors to go on strike from today (April 3) to Wednesday.

Unlike the previous Hartal Doktor walkout, however, this strike is supposed to be in the form of doctors taking medical leave, emergency leave, or resigning altogether.

The group’s demands include that all contract doctors be given permanent positions, an increase in basic salary and on-call rates, and a resolution to staff shortages.

The group claims over 8,000 doctors will take part in the strike.

HIGHLIGHTS

Give us chance to solve your problems, DPM tells contract doctors
Hassan urges PM to intervene before doctors go on strike
Civil servants banned from 'illegal gatherings' - Health Ministry reminds

Vape tax

Vape liquids and other nicotine liquids and gels are now subject to excise duties.

However, in doing so, the government had excluded nicotine liquids from the Poisons Act.

Experts say that the move means that it would now be legal to sell vapes to minors.

Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa assured that vapes would be regulated under the Tobacco Control Bill, which will be tabled in the next Parliament session.

HIGHLIGHTS

Flood-hit Orang Asli villagers question ‘missing’ Endau, Mersing reps
Muda’s UiTM dialogue fiasco due to email attachment issue - official
Sanusi claims fed govt barred him from events for leaking 'secrets'

Najib loses

Najib Abdul Razak lost his judicial review challenge in the SRC International case by a 4-1 majority.

The majority of the bench opined that Najib was the author of his own misfortune.

However, the panel's chair Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abdul Rahman Sebli gave a dissenting judgement that the former premier was denied a fair hearing during his Federal Court appeal.

Experts opined that Najib can file for a second review, but said this would be a very difficult process.

HIGHLIGHTS

Shafee: Dissenting judgment in SRC review opens another avenue
Najib's daughter dredges MACC letter on Nazlan after failed SRC review
MACC met with Kuwaiti 1MDB convict in France last year - Azam

Views that matter

Is this the end of Najib's political career?
By Mariam Mokhtar
No more cherries on the cake for Najib
By R Nadeswaran
Why are dogs treated differently from cats by local councils?
By Andrew Sia

Other news that matter

  • Malaysiakini dives into the opaque waters of political appointments, and speaks to experts on why this is a case for Parliamentary oversight.

  • The elderly man who was in a scuffle with MBPJ dogcatchers, pled not guilty to a charge of obstructing a public officer from carrying out his duties.

  • A Johor Orang Asli NGO leader rejected a call by the state monarch to convert the community's land reserves into "sultanate land".

  • Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran expressed regret over a decision to postpone discussions regarding the Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit (Mitra).

    This is after he was not informed earlier that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's approval was needed for the meeting.

  • Malacca Umno chief Ab Rauf Yusoh was sworn-in as the state's latest chief minister.

    A new state exco line-up is expected to include Pakatan Harapan representatives.

  • The Education Ministry will not restrict politicians, whether from the government or opposition, to hold or be invited to programmes held on school grounds - as long as they apply for permission first.

HIGHLIGHTS

China urges M’sia to reject Cold War mentality amid US calls
China visit secures huge returns for M'sia, says Anwar
Wee responds to more criticism from DAP, this time on China visit