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

New senators sworn in

Eight new senators were sworn in by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong – including BN’s Ismail Ibrahim, despite the opposition coalition holding a simple majority in the Dewan Negara.

Among the new appointees, Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia’s P Waythamoorthy was made a minister, and the four others - DAP's Liew Chin Tong, Amanah's Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad, as well as Bersatu’s Mohd Radzi Md Jidin and Marzuki Yahya - were appointed deputy ministers.

The move led both MCA and Gerakan to accuse Pakatan Harapan of hypocrisy, noting that Pakatan had previously condemned BN for appointing ministers through the Senate “backdoor.”

Liew, the new deputy defence minister, brushed off the criticism, saying he only lost narrowly in the May 9 general election because he contested a “tough seat.”

Opposition walkout moves Agong to jest

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V left the lawmakers in stitches when he began his royal address by saying “don’t run”, in an apparent reference to the walkout protest staged the day before by the BN and PAS lawmakers.

Comedian Harith Iskandar quipped that the Agong won the “Best one-liner of the year award” with his joke.

Khairy Jamaluddin – who refused to participate in yesterday’s walkout – stressed that he remains loyal to Umno after party secretary-general Annuar Musa said he had gone rogue.

Amid criticism from government backbenchers over the walkout, MCA president Liow Tiong Lai reminded DAP that it and other parties formerly in the opposition pulled a similar stunt in 1999.

Other Kinibites

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was blamed for the storeroom of Seri Perdana allegedly being ransacked by thieves, though police say no reports have been lodged over the matter.

Indonesian police again boarded and attempted to seize the superyacht Equanimity after the previous seizure was nullified by a Jakarta court on grounds of procedural impropriety.

Nine federal judges will hear cases involving three families with stateless children – the largest ever quorum in Malaysia’s judicial history.

Former village chief Ahmad Fahmi Hanapiah told Malaysiakini in an interview that he hopes to be picked as PKR’s candidate for the Aug 4 Sungai Kandis by-election.

Looking ahead

With formalities out of the way, the Dewan Rakyat will get down to its usual business, starting with debates on the Agong’s speech.

Bersatu’s strategy and policy bureau deputy chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan will tell a forum at Universiti Malaya what went on behind the scenes while Harapan was drafting its manifesto.

Customs Department director-general T Subromaniam is scheduled to attend the Integrity Breakfast Programme organised by the Malaysian Integrity Institute at the department’s headquarters.