Singapore

Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin has renounced his U.S. citizenship, a move expected to save him hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes stemming from the company's impending initial public offering. The Brazil-born 30-year-old became a U.S. citizen in 1998 but has lived in Singapore since 2009. Giving up his citizenship will allow him to avoid paying taxes on billions of dollars of capital gains when Facebook launches its IPO Friday. Singapore does not have a capital gains tax. Saverin gave up his citizenship in the first quarter of this year, the U.S. Internal Revenue...

STATUS UPDATE: Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin has renounced his U.S. citizenship. The Brazil-born 30-year-old became a U.S. citizen in 1998 but has lived in Singapore since 2009. THE ADVANTAGE: Giving up his citizenship will allow him to avoid paying taxes on billions of dollars of capital gains when Facebook goes public on Friday. Singapore does not have a capital gains tax. THE OFFICIAL REASON: His spokesman says that because Saverin plans to invest in Brazilian and global companies that have strong interests in entering Asian markets, "it made the most sense for him to...

SINGAPORE — Singapore sentenced a Swiss man to three strokes of a cane and five months in prison yesterday for spray-painting graffiti on a subway car, reinforcing the city-state’s reputation for severely punishing minor crimes. Oliver Fricker, 32, pleaded guilty to one count each of vandalism and trespassing for breaking into a train depot and drawing graffiti on two subway carriages on May 16. Fricker’s lawyer, Derek Kang, said his client would appeal. “He feels the sentence is too high, and so do I,’’ Kang told reporters.

Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin has renounced his U.S. citizenship, a move expected to save him hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes stemming from the company's impending initial public offering. The Brazil-born 30-year-old became a U.S. citizen in 1998 but has lived in Singapore since 2009. Giving up his citizenship will allow him to avoid paying taxes on billions of dollars of capital gains when Facebook launches its IPO Friday. Singapore does not have a capital gains tax. Saverin gave up his citizenship in the first quarter of this year, the U.S. Internal Revenue...

SINGAPORE — Singapore will hold a “Window Safety Day,’’ backed by threats of dire punishment, to highlight a growing problem of windows falling from high-rise apartment buildings in the densely populated city-state. Last year, 71 windows fell off buildings and 44 did so in 2008, the government’s Housing Development Board and the Building and Construction Authority said in a statement yesterday. The wobbly windows apparently have not caused much damage on the ground.

SINGAPORE -- Ultra-tidy Singapore is lifting its notorious ban on chewing gum after 12 years -- but getting a pack won't be entirely hassle-free. Wrigley's Orbit gum has just started appearing in pharmacies along with several other brands. Before Singaporeans even think about unwrapping a pack, however, they must submit their names and ID card numbers. If they don't, pharmacists who sell them gum could be jailed up to two years and fined $2,940. The decision follows new trade talks that included pressure from US Representative Philip Crane, an Illinois Republican, whose state is home to...

SINGAPORE -- Mr. Fussy is thinking: I have died and gone to heaven. Serendipitously, Mr. F. has fetched up on the fussiest little country on earth. Singapore is the famous "nanny state," where no aspect of human behavior is too trivial to escape the government's watchful eye. The regime cares whether you jaywalk or chew gum (don't!), whether you marry a well-educated woman (do!), and whether you plan to organize an opposition political party (highly unadvisable). Mr. Fussy's beloved Lonely Planet guidebook casually mentioned that bringing recreational drugs into Singapore might not...

SINGAPORE -- Though I used to wail about the smell to my mom when I was a child, I admit there is one habit of hers I pleasurably embrace wherever I find myself these days: strong morning coffee. Its heady fragrance, dark and damp. The fruity bitterness. That streak of flavor it leaves caressing the roof of one's mouth. And, of course, the jolt of energy. I suspect I'm not much different from others in that sense. Coffee drinkers share a common ground whether holding a Styrofoam cup from Dunkin' Donuts or sipping from a delicate porcelain espresso cup in Italy.

SINGAPORE -- Singapore executed a 25-year-old Australian today for drug trafficking, despite numerous appeals from the Australian government and hours after the condemned man had a "beautiful last visit" with his family. Nguyen Tuong Van was hanged before dawn as a dozen friends and supporters, dressed in black, kept an overnight vigil outside the maximum-security prison. His twin brother, Nguyen Khoa, was dressed in white. Vigils were also held in cities around Australia, with bells and gongs sounding 25 times at the hour of his execution.

SINGAPORE - Singapore raised its security alert and bolstered its defenses yesterday after receiving information about a terrorist plot to attack vessels off the coast of the city-state in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, a Cabinet minister said. Malaysia and Indonesia have also stepped up maritime and air patrols in the Malacca Strait, where millions of barrels of oil pass daily. Singapore’s navy warned Thursday that a terrorist group was planning attacks on oil tankers and other vessels but provided no details.

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. said its profit jumped 30 percent in the first quarter because of a large tax credit and better results at its units in Thailand and Indonesia. SingTel said Thursday that profit for the January-March period rose to 1.29 billion Singapore dollars ($1.03 billion) from SG$992 million a year earlier. Operating revenue rose 3 percent to SG$4.78 billion from SG$4.64 billion. SingTel said profits were boosted by a SG$270 million tax credit. The company said without the tax credit and other one-time items, underlying profit in the quarter rose 2.5 percent...

Procter & Gamble Co. said Thursday that beauty executive Virginia Drosos will leave the company Sept. 1 and several key beauty categories will move their headquarters to Singapore. The world's largest consumer product company said Drosos, global president beauty, skin, cosmetics and personal care, was the architect behind the move but elected not to move herself because it was in the best interest of her two teenage children and husband. P&G, which makes Olay skin cream and Tide laundry detergent, also said it is moving its skincare, cosmetics and personal care...

Eight Indonesian maids have fallen to their deaths from high-rise apartments in Singapore this year, and the Indonesia Embassy said Tuesday it is pushing for a ban on cleaning outside windows. Indonesia, which supplies about half of Singapore's 200,000 maids, has asked employment agencies to include a clause in work contracts that prohibits maids from cleaning the outside of windows or hanging laundry from high-rise apartments, Indonesian Embassy Counsellor Sukmo Yuwono told the Associated Press.

A human rights group has urged Singapore to lift a travel ban on a prominent opposition leader so he can attend a conference in Norway. The New York-based Human Rights Foundation called on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a letter Tuesday to allow Singapore Democratic Party Secretary-General Chee Soon Juan to speak at the Oslo Freedom Forum in May. Chee has been banned from traveling outside Singapore since he declared bankruptcy in...

Rangers manager Ally McCoist has held talks with the American businessman trying to buy the financially stricken Scottish club. Bill Miller is one of three bidders being considered by the administrators tasked with saving the 140-year-old Glasgow club, which is in bankruptcy protection. McCoist says he spoke to Miller for an hour on Friday in a conference call, describing the talks as "very encouraging. " Miller is chairman of Chattanooga, Tenn.,-based Miller Industries Inc., which markets towing and recovery equipment.

Dubai's shipyard operator DryDocks World has filed a claim with a special tribunal in the city-state as part of an effort to push forward its $2.2 billion debt restructuring. Court records show the Dubai World Tribunal is scheduled to hear a case Monday filed by the company involving Decree No. 57, a law issued by Dubai's ruler in 2009. The company made the filing Sunday. The legislation allows subsidiaries of state conglomerate Dubai World such as DryDocks World to apply for protection from creditors through the court.

Singapore has raised taxes on property purchases by foreigners and companies in a bid to ease record real estate prices. The Finance Ministry said in a statement that foreigners and companies must pay an additional 10 percent stamp duty for residential property purchases starting Thursday. The ministry said permanent residents who buy a second property and citizens who buy a third or more properties will pay an extra 3 percent. Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said investment in Singapore's real estate market is larger than ever.

A news report says a judge in Singapore has sentenced a 48-year-old odd-job worker to 24 cane lashes and 13 years in prison for a two-year burglary spree. The New Paper reported Friday that District Court Judge Paul Quan called Bay Buck Siong “a menace to society’’ for breaking into 145 apartments between 2009 and earlier this year and stealing 900,000 Singapore dollars ($728,000) worth of valuables. The paper said Bay has already served two jail terms for burglary, and that he promised not to burglarize homes again.

A Singapore court has ruled four people can be extradited to the U.S. to face conspiracy charges related to the smuggling of radio control devices to Iran, including 16 items found in improvised explosive devices in Iraq. The court said Friday the four Singaporean citizens have 15 days to appeal the ruling. Singapore arrested the four defendants in October. The U.S. Justice Department had alleged they made tens of thousands of dollars for arranging the transportation of 6,000 radio devices manufactured by a Minnesota firm in five shipments from June 2007 to February 2008.

Asian stock markets climbed Monday after U.S. unemployment fell to its lowest in three years, suggesting a stronger recovery in the world's No. 1 economy that could benefit the region's exporters. Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 1.1 percent to 8,924.98. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.2 percent to 1,976.93 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was 0.5 percent higher at 20,867.92. Australia's S&P ASX/200 added 1.1 percent to 4,296.80, while benchmarks in Singapore and the Philippines also rose.