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

Najib's gov't sent letter to CIA

Malaysiakini revealed that the Prime Minister's Department during Najib Abdul Razak's time had written a letter to the CIA to seek American backing for his government in case of a narrow win in the 14th general election.

The former premier denied knowledge of such a letter, saying that not all correspondence had to go through him.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang dubbed Najib the “ worst prime minister in Malaysian history” if indeed he was unaware of such a letter sent by a department under his watch.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he was unaware of reports that claimed fugitive businessperson Jho Low, who is a central figure in Najib's brainchild 1MDB, had been caught in China.

The lawyer for the Beirut based-jeweller, Global Royalty Trading, has dismissed claims that the RM60 million suit against Najib's wife Rosmah Mansor was a conspiracy to help her.

SST will not bring down car prices

The Customs Department clarified that the sales and services tax (SST) exemption for passenger vehicles only applies to manufacturers and not to buyers, contrary to earlier news reports that said otherwise.

Earlier, Customs director-general T Subromaniam said that the SST will not amount to 16 percent in taxes for consumers with the majority of goods categorised under zero percent tax.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng admitted that the BN government's goods and services tax (GST) was indeed a more transparent and efficient tax compared to the SST but said the latter will be less " painful" for the rakyat.

Lim added that the Pakatan Harapan government will review project spending to make up for the revenue lost due to the repeal of GST.

Meanwhile, opposition leader and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi gave the government one year to prove that replacing the GST with SST would indeed lower the cost of living.

Other Kinibites

Education Minister Maszlee Malik announced that school students would have to wear black instead of white school shoes starting next year.

Amanah's Hulu Kelang assemblyperson Saari Sungib alleged that the Pakatan Harapan government lacked the political will to abolish “draconian” laws, such as Sosma, Poca and Pota.

The EC is reviewing and studying implementing automatic voter registration and the lowering of the voting age from 21.

Police identified a Selangor housewife who was arrested for attempting to attack a polling centre in Puchong during the GE14 as the country's first female Islamic State cell leader.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad reiterated in Parliament that the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project has been postponed, not scrapped.

Looking ahead

Mahathir will hold an evening press conference after the Bersatu supreme council meeting in Petaling Jaya.

Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng will hold a press conference with the family of a murdered HSBC banker at the Crystal Crown Hotel in Kepong.