Budget 2020 countdown: The Budget with one eye on a no-deal Brexit and the other on a general election

The Independent.ie team are with you as Budget 2020 is revealed. Whether you’re for or against it, carbon tax will be the most controversial element of the package… but how will it affect our back pockets? We’ll bring you the latest news, views and analysis – as well as the opportunity to contact our in-house KPMG tax experts for one-on-one advice after noon.

Brazilian superstars in town

Samba fever hit Singapore as about 40 fans turned up at the JW Marriott Singapore South Beach to catch the Brazilian national football team, including superstar Neymar, before they left the hotel for training at the Kallang Football Hub yesterday evening.

The five-time world champions are here for the Brazil Global Tour, where they will take on Senegal and Nigeria in international friendlies at the National Stadium on Thursday and Sunday, respectively.

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S4 Capital's digital content unit to merge with U.S.-based agency

(Reuters) – Martin Sorrell’s advertising vehicle S4 Capital on Tuesday said its digital content unit, MediaMonks, would merge with U.S.-based marketing agency Firewood as the company pushes further into a lucrative digital space.

The deal, which values Firewood at up to $150 million, will be funded in part through an issue of shares to raise about 100 million pounds ($122.94 million), S4 Capital said in a statement.

Fire on KPE at Upper Paya Lebar Road exit

SINGAPORE- A fire has broken out on the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) towards the Tampines Expressway at the Upper Paya Lebar Road Exit.

The Upper Paya Lebar Road Exit is closed, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) tweeted on Tuesday afternoon (Oct 8) at about 1.30pm.

A Twitter user (@alvinyhteo) tweeted at about 2pm: “KPE towards punggol, upper paya lebar exit car on fire. Avoid at all cost. If not u get into the jam…”

The story is developing.

Chilling 999 call woman made before thug ex stabbed her 5 times in brutal attack

London Stock Exchanges shares slammed after withdrawn Hong Kong bid

London Stock Exchange Group LSE, -6.09% shares stumbled 6% after Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing 388, +2.30% said "it is not in the best interests of HKEX shareholders to pursue" its takeover bid. The LSE had said it was opposed to the offer.

Federal deficit estimated at $984B, highest in seven years

Republicans upset over budget deal

Former Trump Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski gives his take on the new two-year budget deal and President Trump’s feud with “The Squad.”

The federal budget deficit for 2019 is now the highest in seven years coming in at an estimated at $984 billion.

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That comes to 4.7 percent of gross domestic product

The Congressional Budget Office released the numbers on Monday.

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The deficit has only passed $1 trillion four times, right after the period following the global financial crisis, according to The Hill.

The deficit is $205 billion higher than it was in 2018, a jump of 26 percent.

The CBO has warned that the nation's debt is on an unsustainable path.

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Budget watchers note that the main drivers of the deficit, however, come from automatic spending programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

EasyJet shares weaken as airline says profit to be at high end of forecast

Shares of low-cost airline easyJet EZJ, -5.25% weakened in early trade on Tuesday, as the company said its headline pretax profit for the year will range between £420 million and £430 million, which it said was the upper half of its previous guidance, on an 8.6% rise in passenger traffic and a 1.4 percentage point drop in load factor. The company said its second-half revenue per seat at constant exchange rates will grow by around 0.8%, which is stronger than its previous estimate of "slightly down" due to strikes at rivals British Airways and Ryanair as well as what it called "yield optimization self-help initiatives." It said fiscal first-quarter bookings are in line with last year and it will grow capacity for the year at the low end of its historic range.

Qiagen shares stumble on sales warning, CEO departure

Qiagen QIA, -20.86% shares stumbled 17% as the diagnostics firm said third-quarter sales at constant exchange rates will grow 3% instead of the previous estimate of 4% to 5% growth. Qiagen blamed the downturn on weaker-than-expected developments in China. Qiagen also announced its CEO, Peer Schatz, will resign. Further, Qiagen decided to suspend ongoing next-generation sequencing-related instrument development activities and take a pretax restructuring charge between $260 million and $265 million.

Activision Blizzard suspends e-gamer for Hong Kong comment

A professional videogame player was suspended for making a pro-Hong Kong comment, in another case of a U.S. multinational succumbing to the pressure of China.

The Blizzard unit of Activision Blizzard ATVI, -0.05% suspended Chung “Blitzchung” Ng Wai for a year after donning a mask and saying “liberate Hong Kong” in a post-match interview.

Blizzard also took away his prize money and removed him from what was called the Grandmasters event, which can award $200,000 to the top finisher. Blitzchung is one of the top players of a game called Hearthstone.

China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. 700, +0.31%TCEHY, -1.01% has a 4.9% stake in Activision Blizzard, and was the company that decided to pull Houston Rockets games off the air in China after General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted an image that read, “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”

The NBA attempted to distance itself from Morey’s comment, which in turn opened the league to criticism from Americans.

The protests in Hong Kong, which have drawn world-wide attention, started off as the rejection of an extradition bill but has transformed into months of violent clashes between protesters and police of the semiautonomous government, which is legally part of China.