SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Finance Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday announced expanded government spending to help households battle inflationary pressures in the city-state, but promised a balanced budget in the years ahead. The prime minister-in-waiting also told parliament the Asian financial hub would implement the 15% global minimum corporate tax rate spearheaded …

KYIV (Reuters) – Germany and France are expected to sign bilateral agreements on security commitments with Ukraine on Friday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visits their respective capitals. WHAT ARE THESE SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS? The Group of Seven nations signed a joint declaration at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July …

PARIS (Reuters) – France captain Kylian Mbappe’s expected departure from Paris St Germain is a huge loss for the team, but may be good news for him, fans said on Friday after widespread reports that the 25-year-old forward told his team he was leaving. Mbappe, a member of France’s 2018 …

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit ended higher against the US dollar today, tracking the positive sentiment on the equity market, analysts said. At 6 pm, the ringgit rose to 4.7765/7820 against the greenback compared to Thursday’s close of 4.7800/7850. Bursa Malaysia closed higher, with the key index rising 0.34 per cent, …

(Reuters) -Slovak President Zuzana Caputova on Friday sought to block reforms scrapping a special prosecution branch dealing with high-level crime and lowering punishments for financial crimes by sending them to the Constitutional Court for review. Slovakia’s parliament approved the reforms last week amid public protests as well as concerns, including …

KUALA LUMPUR: The authorities are relying on tip-offs from the public to find the remaining 28 detainees who escaped from the Bidor Temporary Immigration Depot in Perak on Feb 1. Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that of the 131 who escaped, 101 have been arrested while two …

PHNOM PENH: Two Taiwanese men have been sentenced to two years in jail each after they staged a fake kidnapping from a Cambodian seaside resort and posted video of it online, a court said on Feb 16. Chen Neng-chuan, 31, and Lu Tsu-hsien, 34, were arrested after they posted a …

PUTRAJAYA: The floor rate of fares for the economy and executive express buses is set based on the fare schedule, with the executive class being subject to supply and demand, while the economy class is regulated and set by the government, according to the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad). Apad …

(Reuters) – Arsenal have learnt from their capitulation in last season’s Premier League title race and are hoping to play with more consistency this time around in the “most important” part of the campaign, manager Mikel Arteta said. The north London outfit were top of the league for nearly 250 …

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean security guards were acting within the law when they removed a man who was heckling President Yoon Suk Yeol as he was making a speech at a university graduation ceremony, the president’s office said on Friday. Videos widely shared on X showed several members of …