Our daily lap around the world

🇸🇬 Singapore is now the world's most expensive city for luxury living. The Julius Baer Lifestyle Index, which evaluates the cost of 20 items associated with a high-end cosmopolitan lifestyle, found Singapore surpassed Shanghai for the top spot in 2023, with Hong Kong, London, and NYC rounding out the top-five. Miami, which ranks 10th on this year’s list, saw the largest annual cost increase among all major cities over the past year (+22%).

🇪🇺💻 Meta is reportedly planning to charge EU users a monthly fee for ad-free access to its platforms. Under the new proposal, EU users would have the option to either allow Meta to use their data for personalized advertising, or pay $10+/month for ad-free access to their Facebook and/or Instagram account. Meta’s plan, which still has to be approved by regulators, is aimed at satisfying new EU laws requiring social media platforms to seek consent before capturing user data for personalized ads.

🇮🇷 Iran is cracking down on its international schools to combat “Westernization.” Analysts say the move stems from general anti-US sentiment following recent widespread protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini (which Iranian leaders blamed on America and Israel), the US’ withdrawal from a nuclear deal in 2018, and reimposed US sanctions on Iran. Under the new regulations, an estimated 90% of Iran’s current international student population is now banned from attending such schools.