FROM next year, another 212,000 taxpayers here will no longer have to provide their salary information when filing their income tax.

Their employers will do it for them instead, under the second phase of the compulsory Auto-Inclusion Scheme started by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) this year.

WASHINGTON - NEW claims for US unemployment benefits fell more than expected in the past week, government data showed on Thursday.

The Department of Labour said the number of initial claims for jobless benefits in the week ending May 2 dipped to 601,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 635,000.

SALARIES in Singapore will tend to rise by less than the inflation rate this year - so real wages will actually shrink.

According to a survey by global consulting firm Hay Group, the median salary increase here for the next 12 months is projected to be 1.5 per cent.

HOUSEWIFE Rose Ng was unable to sleep so she decided to go for a walk near her home in Tampines early on Thursday morning. But as she stepped out at about 3am, she smelt something burning nearby.

On inspection, she saw oily black smoke pouring out of a provision shop directly under her second-storey flat in Block 477, Tampines Street 43. The shop's shutters were partially rolled up.