PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Malaysia’s Attorney-General (AG) Tommy Thomas has tendered his resignation. Tan Sri Thomas reportedly handed in his letter to interim Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday (Feb 28), business daily The Edge reported. No reason was given for his resignation although The Edge, quoting a source, said Mr Thomas wanted to […]
COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s new government on Friday (Feb 28) offered tax breaks and subsidised fuel to revive the island’s second international airport built with Chinese loans but which ended up a white elephant. The authorities announced plans to suspend the US$60 (S$84) departure tax for two years and allow airlines free landing and […]
SINGAPORE – Singapore Airlines (SIA) is cutting pay for management staff, with chief executive Goh Choon Phong leading the way with a 15 per cent salary cut, The Straits Times has found out. As the global coronavirus outbreak continues to hit demand for air travel, Mr Goh said in a note to staff on Friday […]
MANILA (XINHUA) – Philippine Airlines (PAL) said on Friday (Feb 28) that it has laid off 300 ground-based and management staff as part of a business restructuring plan to manage its losses sustained from travel restrictions to coronavirus-stricken destinations. The Philippines’ largest airline said it completed implementing on Friday “voluntary separation initiative for long-serving employees and […]
SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is looking to ban activities of the unregistered Singapore chapter of a secretive church at the centre of South Korea’s coronavirus outbreak. Five South Korean nationals and two Singaporeans are helping MHA with its investigations, the ministry said on Friday (Feb 28). The South Korean church, which […]
ROME/MILAN (Reuters) – Italy must block any attempt by the London Stock Exchange to break up the Milan Bourse as it seeks antitrust approval for its $27 billion acquisition of analytics company Refinitiv, a lawmaker from the ruling 5-Star Movement told Reuters on Friday. Davide Zanichelli of the lower house finance committee, said he had […]
(Reuters) – European shares slumped on Friday, on course for their biggest weekly decline since the financial crisis in 2008, on investor fears that the rapid spread of the coronavirus outside China could trigger a global recession. The pan-regional STOXX 600 index fell 4.2%, deepening its slide into correction territory, a 10% decline from its […]
SINGAPORE – A new coronavirus cluster, the fifth here, has surfaced in Singapore, the Health Ministry said on Friday (Feb 28), as it announced two new confirmed cases. Both are linked to Wizlearn Technologies, an e-learning solutions company located at 10 Science Park Road. Two of the earlier cases – 93 and 95 – are […]
MANILA (BLOOMBERG) – The Philippines and the US are considering a new military pact similar to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which President Rodrigo Duterte ordered terminated. The US Defence Department is “extremely concerned” with Mr Duterte’s decision, and diplomats from both countries are now “finding ways and means to see how we can come […]
MANILA (XINHUA) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has issued an executive order (EO) that prohibits vaping in public and enclosed places nationwide, citing serious health threats to people exposed to the products, the country’s presidential office said on Friday (Feb 28). Mr Duterte on Wednesday signed the EO No. 106 banning cigarette smoking in public […]