Reuters

(Reuters) - GSK has raised 1.25 billion pounds ($1.52 billion) from selling its entire remaining stake in consumer healthcare firm Haleon, the British drugmaker said on Friday.

GSK sold around 385 million shares at 324 pence apiece, amounting to a 4.2% stake in Haleon. The company was formed in a merger of GSK and Pfizer's consumer healthcare businesses in 2019.

The sale was at a discount of about 2.5% to Haleon's last close of 332.4... (continue reading...)

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the sea off its east coast, Yonhap news reported, citing South Korea's military.

(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies)

(Reuters) - Slovak doctors will meet on Monday to assess Prime Minister Robert Fico's health and discuss the possibility of transporting him from Banska Bystrica to the capital Bratislava, local media reported on Friday without citing sources.

Fico remains in a serious but stable condition and is able to speak a little, the country's President-Elect Peter Pellegrini said on Thursday, a day after an assassination attempt that sent shock waves across... (continue reading...)

SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - China is widely expected to hold benchmark lending rates steady on Monday, a Reuters survey showed, although expectations are growing for a cut in the mortgage reference rate as the authorities scramble to boost housing.

The loan prime rate (LPR), normally charged to banks' best clients, is calculated each month after 20 designated commercial banks submit proposed rates to the People's Bank of China.

The... (continue reading...)

(Reuters) - China will allow local government authorities to buy some homes at "reasonable" prices to provide affordable housing, Vice Premier He Lifeng told an online meeting on housing policy on Friday, the official news agency, Xinhua, said.

China will cut interest rates of mortgage loans and down-payment ratios for homebuyers to boost lacklustre property demand, according to three statements released by its central bank on Friday.