Good morning, here's what you need to know today.

Key Highlights

• Resentment towards Umno
  
  

• Whistleblower questioned
  
  

• Forests for sale
  
  

Resentment towards Umno

Bersatu and PAS' resentment towards Umno continued to grow over its unilateral decision to trigger the Johor polls, an apparent precursor for Umno to eventually take over the reins of power on its own.

Learning from the setback in the Malacca polls, Bersatu isn't waiting around and has begun to hit the ground running in Johor, attacking Umno in the Malay heartland even before the polls begin.

Umno's Pekan MP Najib Abdul Razak was unimpressed, questioning why Bersatu was allowed to campaign when face-to-face campaigning was banned.

PKR's Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim said Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin has only himself to blame for the current state of affairs when he brought down the Pakatan Harapan government.

HIGHLIGHTS

	Umno veep: Genuine power-sharing needed He said BN shouldn't appoint token non-Malays.
	No MCA leader charged with corruption, reminds Wee 'Don't associate us with alleged corruption in BN.'
	PM told to be upfront about littoral combat ship saga Defence procurement marred by controversies.

Whistleblower questioned

Police yesterday quizzed K Lalitha, the whistleblower who had highlighted MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki's shareholding worth around RM700,000 at its peak.

Azam has responded fiercely, including fielding a defamation suit against Lalitha.

Sungai Buloh MP R Sivarasa and Simpang Renggam MP Maszlee Malik, who also have highlighted Azam's shareholding issue, have also complained that the MACC is now going after them.

To date, Azam has not addressed questions on whether the shares are commensurate with his income as a public servant and if he declared them.

HIGHLIGHTS

	Marina apologises for gaffe She erroneously attributed Dr M's threat.
	Avian or Evian problem? PMO gaffe has netizens crying 'fowl' Participants served Evian at a cost of living council meeting.
	Hearing of Rosmah’s bid to disqualify Sri Ram postponed It will now be heard on Feb 17.

Forests for sale

Environmental groups have raised alarm over the purported sale of forest lands on the internet.

This was after the Rimba Disclosure Project survey found some 43,539 hectares of forest land for sale on property listing sites.

The land includes plots in forest reserves, indigenous customary land and ecologically sensitive areas that are prone to flooding.

Some of the listings also list the forest land for sale as "sultanate land".

HIGHLIGHTS

	Khairy sues Lokman, Islamic preacher This is over posts on vaccination.
	Several episodes of heavy rain expected until March Strong and continuous 10-20kph winds expected.
	Warisan wants carbon trading deal axed Shafie Apdal says it was never approved.

  

A daily glance at Covid-19

• 5,720 new cases yesterday (Feb 3).
  
  
• The number of new Covid-19 clusters have seen a steep rise, climbing to 332 from 274 a week ago.
  
  
• The infectivity rate stands at 1.15, significantly higher than the 1.0 threshold. A sustained value above 1.0 leads to an exponential spread of the virus.

What else is happening?

• A church based out of a shophouse in Kota Kemuning, Shah Alam, was destroyed in a fire. Police said preliminary investigations did not indicate any sign of foul play.
  
  
• The Health Ministry has promised to extend assistant medical officers whose contracts will be expiring this year amid plans of a protest.
  
  
• The forthcoming PKR election in April is set to incorporate online voting, a first for any political party in the country.
  
  
• Police are investigating another custodial death case, the fifth in just three weeks.
  
  
  

HIGHLIGHTS

	MP horrified by cop's 'whip migrants' suggestion Teresa Kok says it's a barbaric act.
	Wee: Punishing driving schools is RTD head's personal view The transport minister says it's not a policy.
	Govt will not force Covid-19 jabs on children - KJ Minister says gov't will provide encouragement.

What are people saying?

	Southeast Asia's new-old cold war By Thitinan Pongsudhirak
	Centralised labour quarters will improve workers' welfare By Ong Kian Ming
	'MACC weaponised to protect the corrupt' By Malaysiakini readers