Schooling, Quah compete in men’s 100m butterfly heats

Team Singapore swimmers Joseph Schooling and Quah Zheng Wen will be attempting to qualify for the Olympic Men’s 100m butterfly semi-finals. The heats — which will see Schooling swimming alongside 21-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps in Heat 6 — will be held at 1.20am, Friday, Singapore time.

Q2 GDP results

Singapore’s final second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data is due to be released at 8am and is likely to confirm sluggish growth in the April-June period, with the outlook clouded by concerns over Brexit and weakening global demand. The median forecast in a Reuters survey of 13 economists predicted that GDP in the April-June quarter expanded by 0.8 per cent from the previous three months on an annualised and seasonally adjusted basis. That would be the same as the Government’s advance estimate of second-quarter GDP released on July 14.

Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum

The annual Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum at National University of Singapore will be held at 6.30pm on Thursday, with National Development Minister Lawrence Wong as guest speaker. Organised by the NUS Students’ Political Association, the event presents students with the opportunity to engage in a dialogue with prominent political figures on local and international issues.

Singtel financial results

Singtel is due to announce financial results for its first quarter to end-June. The leading telco reported a 12.8 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit to S$942 million for its fiscal first quarter in 2015 after recording a net exceptional gain of S$47 million, with divestment gains from venture investments and Airtel Africa’s tower assets. Excluding exceptional items, underlying net profit grew 1.6 per cent. Group operating revenue was also up, increasing 1.5 per cent to S$4.21 billion while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 1 per cent during the period.

Tackling haze

Asean member states will continue to review the haze and fire occurrences in the region over the past year and discuss measures to monitor, prevent and mitigate transboundary haze pollution in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli will be attending the event which will include discussions on the implementation of the Asean Sub-Regional Haze Monitoring System that is developed by Singapore.

Weather forecast

Thundery showers are expected in the morning. Temperature are expected to range from 24°C to 32°C.