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

Researcher credits Najibnomics

Bruce Gale, the author of a new book on the Malaysia's economic policies, believes that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has not been given due credit.

The Health Ministry has refuted claims that a Singaporean was asked for upfront payment before receiving emergency treatment and that the ambulance took 30 minutes to arrive.

The Defence Ministry has confirmed that former Malaysian defence attaché to New Zealand, Muhammad Rizalman Ismail, has been terminated from military service following his conviction for sexual assault in Wellington in 2015.

Various parcels of the Pan-Borneo Highway are behind schedule, according to the Works Ministry.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak urged Malaysians to "rise together and move forward" following Malaysia's successful outing at the SEA Games 2017.

Race not a consideration, says Kit Siang

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has dismissed suggestions that his party wants to field a candidate in Johor Baru because it was a Chinese-majority area.

BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor believed that Pakatan Harapan's decision to not forge an electoral pact with PAS will benefit the ruling BN coalition.

Some Harapan activists do not believe that PKR deputy president Azmin Ali has given up on the idea of forging an electoral pact with PAS.

Malaysiakini’s special report examines the rationale behind Harapan's decision to let Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) to spearhead the electoral campaign in four states .

Parti Warisan Sabah proposed that "National Day" be included in the Federal Constitution, alongside Merdeka Day.

PKR has refuted a news report which claimed that the party reprimanded its vice-president Mohd Rafizi Ramli.

Other Kinibites

Filipino Human Rights Commission head Jose Luis Martin C Gascon spent about six hours in KLIA because he was initially denied entry into the country, where he is supposed to address a conference on democracy.

The conference will be launched by former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and is organised by the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) and the Kofi Annan Foundation.

The makers of the short film "Citizen" explained that the motivation behind their work was the current political climate where non-Malays experience fear, anger and helplessness.

Looking ahead

Suhakam's conference titled "Democracy in Southeast Asia: Achievements, challenges, prospects" begins today.