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US Passport Not as Powerful as It Once Was
Not So Mighty Anymore:
The US Passport
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Oct 18, 2025 2:44 PM CDT

Not So Mighty Anymore: The US Passport

Document ties for 12th place on global list, based on visa-free access to other countries

(Newser) - The US passport, once the world's most powerful, has slipped to 12th place in the latest Henley Passport Index—its lowest ranking in two decades. The index, published by Henley & Partners and based on International Air Transport Association data, measures the number of countries a passport holder...

Stomach Bug Takes Down US Swimmers at Worlds

Several athletes miss races but relays still bring in medals

(Newser) - It's the worst possible time to get sick. Several members of the USA Swimming team were hit with acute gastroenteritis—aka the stomach bug—while at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, a rep for the team told NPR on Sunday. The medical staff is treating affected athletes...

Top 10 Countries for Life Expectancy

Monaco has world's highest life expectancy, at 88.6 years on average, per Visual Capitalist rankings

(Newser) - Life expectancy in the United States is an average of 78.6 years , but that doesn't hold a candle to how long people can expect to live in some other nations. Using data from the UN's World Population Prospects portal, Visual Capitalist looked at life expectancy at birth...

The 10 Richest Cities in the World
The 10 Richest
Cities in the World
Apr 12, 2025 9:00 AM CDT

The 10 Richest Cities in the World

New York is No. 1, while Chicago comes in at No. 10

(Newser) - One way to define a rich city is to count how many rich people live there. Conde Nast Traveler draws from the latest data to anoint New York City the richest in the world, given that it has more than 380,000 millionaires (up 45% in a year) and 66...

The Most Powerful Passports in the World

Singapore is No. 1 in a new ranking

(Newser) - Those who have a passport from Singapore appear to have an edge on all other world travelers in one respect. A new assessment of the world's "most powerful passports" by Henley & Partners ranks Singapore's as No. 1 because it allows visa-free entry to 195 out of...

Singapore Will Soon Let Residents Have Cats

Currently, more than 80% of the population technically can't have them

(Newser) - More than 80% of the population in Singapore is currently not allowed to have a cat as a house pet, but that is set to change come September. As the Guardian explains, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) was created in 1960 to address a housing crisis in the island...

Taylor Swift, Singapore Cut Deal and Neighbors Aren't Happy

Enter the growing industry of event tourism

(Newser) - We know Taylor Swift concerts generate billions in consumer spending . And now we know countries are willing to pay big for the advantage, at the cost of their neighbors missing out. Earlier this week, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong confirmed the country's tourism board paid an undisclosed sum—...

10 Most Expensive Cities in the World

Three US cities—NYC, San Francisco, LA—make EIU ranking

(Newser) - With inflation now seeing a steady downward trend , economists are cautiously optimistic, but even that bit of positive news might not help much if you're in one of three US cities that have just earned a dubious distinction. Per the Hill , the Economist Intelligence Unit's annual "Worldwide...

The Right to Own a Car Now Costs $106K in Singapore
In Singapore, Owning
a Car Costs $106K—
Before You Buy It
in case you missed it
Oct 8, 2023 11:25 AM CDT

In Singapore, Owning a Car Costs $106K— Before You Buy It

Cost of certificate is putting the 'Singaporean Dream' out of reach

(Newser) - Singapore is the world's most expensive place to own a car—and the biggest cost involved has more than quadrupled in recent years. Under a quota system introduced in 1990 to cut traffic congestion, the city-state sells 10-year "certificates of entitlement" allowing the holder to own a car,...

This Is the Most Innovative Nation on Earth

Switzerland is No. 1, again, while the US falls one spot

(Newser) - Monday has already proven a banner day for innovation, with the Nobel Prize in medicine bestowed on Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for their work that helped develop the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. Now, certain nations around the world can crow about their placement on the World Intellectual Property Organization's...

Singapore Set to Hit a Grim Milestone on Friday
Singapore Executes
First Woman Since 2004
UPDATED
Jul 28, 2023 4:26 AM CDT

Singapore Executes First Woman Since 2004

Saridewi Djamani was convicted of trafficking just over an ounce of heroin

(Newser) - Singapore executed a woman Friday for the first time since 2004. Saridewi Djamani, 45, was convicted five years ago of trafficking just over an ounce of heroin, though she testified that she had been stocking up for personal use, the BBC reports. The hanging was the 15th drug-related execution in...

Singapore Executes Man Over 2.2 Lbs. of Pot

Tangaraju Suppiah had maintained his innocence

(Newser) - Despite protests that spread far beyond its borders, Singapore on Wednesday executed a man who was convicted in 2018 of aiding an attempt to smuggle 2.2 pounds of cannabis into the country. British billionaire Richard Branson was among those urging Singapore to give Tangaraju Suppiah clemency, warning, "Singapore...

Singapore to Decriminalize Sex Between Men

At the same time, prime minister worries activists with proposed amendment on marriage

(Newser) - In what LGBTQ activists called "a win for humanity" after a yearslong struggle, Singapore will repeal its law prohibiting sex between consenting men. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made the announcement Sunday in an annual policy speech on national TV, per the BBC . "The government will repeal Section...

Cultured Meat Industry Just Got a Boost

It's like other meat, only without the dead animal

(Newser) - Marketing departments still haven’t decided what to call it yet, but there is increasing demand for cultivated (aka cultured, cell-grown, or no-kill) meat, at least in Singapore. That’s where US-based Good Meat has teamed up with food-processing behemoth ADM to build “the world’s largest bioreactors to...

'Zero to Singapore on This': Disabled Man Is Hanged

Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, 34, had been on death row for over a decade

(Newser) - Singapore on Wednesday executed a mentally disabled Malaysian man condemned for a drug offense after a court dismissed a last-minute challenge from his mother and international pleas to spare him. Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, 34, had been on death row for over a decade after he was convicted of trafficking about...

Singapore Decides This Disabled Man Must Hang

Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose IQ is 69, loses final appeal over drug smuggling

(Newser) - A Malaysian man with a mental disability lost a final legal appeal Tuesday against his death sentence in Singapore and faces execution soon, a lawyer and rights activists said. Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam has been on death row for more than a decade for trying to smuggle less than 1.5...

Parkgoer Says He Was Nearly Killed in Otter Attack

Graham George Spencer says he sustained 26 bites in just seconds

(Newser) - A British man saw a pack of about 20 otters on a nearby path in the Singapore Botanic Gardens in late November. What happened next nearly killed him. Graham George Spencer says the group "went crazy" after a runner using the same path as the animals approached them. He...

This Is the World's Most Expensive City

Israel's Tel Aviv tops the Economist Intelligence Unit's list

(Newser) - Looking to bust out of this joint and set down roots elsewhere in the world? If you're planning an expat move to one of the cities on the Economist Intelligence Unit's most recent list, you'd better bring some extra cash. Per the BBC , the Economist Group's...

Man to Be Hanged for Bringing Bundles of Pot Into Singapore

Appeal that centered on claiming confession was coerced was dismissed Tuesday

(Newser) - A man in Singapore is going to be hanged for bringing three bundles of cannabis into the country. Omar Yacob Bamadhaj, 41, lost an appeal Tuesday of a sentence handed down in February. In July 2018, Bamadhaj had hopped across the border from the tiny city-state into Malaysia to run...

During Pandemic, This Nation's Economy Takes Top Billing

Switzerland is No. 1 on WIPO's Global Innovation Index for 132 economies around the world

(Newser) - To get through something like a pandemic, countries have had to innovate—especially when it comes to keeping their economies humming. And there are "reasons to be optimistic" on that front, according to one of the editors of the World Intellectual Property Organization's annual Global Innovation Index , which...

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