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24/12/2025

Education Growth in Batam: City Plans Gradual Increase in Teaching Workforce.

Batam Mayor Amsakar Achmad confirmed that the city government will continue increasing the number of teachers as the number of schools and students grows each year. Speaking to reporters on Monday, December 22, 2025, he said the expansion of educational institutions makes additional teaching staff unavoidable, even as Indonesia faces a broader national shortage of educators.

24/12/2025

Border Modernization: Malaysia to Install 635 Autogates Nationwide by 2028.

Malaysia’s Immigration Department will install a total of 635 automated gates at 125 entry points nationwide by 2028. The rollout covers air, land, and sea checkpoints, including major gateways such as Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the Johor Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complexes. The initiative is designed to ease congestion and significantly reduce waiting times for travelers.

24/12/2025

Global Cyber Threats: Amazon Blocks North Korean IT Infiltration Scheme.

Amazon has blocked more than 1,800 North Korean nationals from joining the company since April 2024, after detecting a sharp rise in suspicious applications for remote IT roles. According to Amazon Chief Security Officer Stephen Schmidt, applications linked to North Korea surged by nearly 30 percent over the past year, reflecting what Washington says is a coordinated effort by Pyongyang to earn and launder foreign currency through overseas tech jobs.

23/12/2025

Trade Protection in Indonesia: Government Clarifies Second-Hand Clothing Policy.

Indonesia’s Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises, Maman Abdurrahman, clarified that the government does not prohibit MSMEs from selling second-hand clothing. Speaking in Jakarta on November 17, 2025, he stressed that enforcement targets only the illegal import of used garments from overseas, not local thrifting activities.

Maman explained that second-hand clothing sales take many forms and are not inherently harmful. The real issue arises when imported used clothes enter Indonesia illegally, undermining domestic textile producers and disrupting fair market competition.

23/12/2025

Ride-Hailing Sector Update: Trans-Cab and Geolah Secure Full Licences in Singapore.

Trans-Cab and Geolah have been granted full ride-hail service operator licences by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), just days before their one-year provisional permits were due to expire at the end of 2025. The new licences are valid until Dec 31, 2027, replacing the provisional approvals issued on Jan 1, 2025. With this, both companies officially join CDG Zig, Grab, Ryde, Tada, and Gojek as fully licensed operators in Singapore’s ride-hailing sector.

23/12/2025

Mental Health Crisis After Disaster: Indonesian Children Face Trauma and Health Risks in Sumatra.

The Indonesian Pediatric Society (IDAI) in West Sumatra reported that approximately 65 percent of children in Palembayan sub-district, Agam Regency, experienced sleep disorders following the disasters that struck parts of Sumatra after November 25, 2025. The finding highlights sleep disturbance as one of the most common psychological effects on children after natural disasters in Indonesia.

According to Asrawati, Chair of IDAI West Sumatra, screening conducted on December 22, 2025, involved 61 children aged between 3 and 18 years. Results showed that 40 children experienced sleep disorders, while 21 did not. Further assessments using the Children’s Revised Impact of Event Scale found that 49 out of 55 children screened, or 89 percent, were at risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder.

19/12/2025

Cross-Border Connectivity: Melaka–Indonesia Bridge Proposal Sparks Economic Hopes and Fiscal Concerns.

The Melaka state government is preparing to present a feasibility study on a proposed bridge connecting Pengkalan Balak in Masjid Tanah to Indonesia to the National Physical Planning Council. The 47.7-kilometer structure is expected to cut travel time between the two countries to about 40 minutes. Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh said the study, scheduled to begin in January, will be refined before being reviewed at the national level.

19/12/2025

Wildlife Crime Pipeline: How Rhino Horn Smuggling Reached Singapore’s Borders.

On Nov 8, Singapore customs officers intercepted 20 rhino horns weighing 35.7kg, alongside 150kg of animal parts including bones, teeth, and claws. Hidden in a shipment of furniture fittings from South Africa, the haul was valued at S$1.13 million and marked Singapore’s largest-ever rhino horn seizure. The cargo was en route to Laos, following a trafficking route that stretches nearly 9,000km across continents.

19/12/2025

Nuno Loureiro, MIT Fusion Director, Shot Dead at 47, Leaving a Scientific Future Interrupted.

The promise of a new dawn for humanity—a future powered by clean, near-limitless energy—was violently extinguished on a quiet street in Brookline, Massachusetts. On the night of 16 December 2025, a single act of brutality ended the life of Dr. Nuno F. G. Loureiro, a 47-year-old professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Director of its prestigious Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC).

Shot multiple times at his home, Nuno Loureiro, one of the world’s most influential fusion physicists, succumbed to his injuries the following morning. His death is not merely a local homicide or an academic tragedy. It is a seismic rupture felt across laboratories, ministries, and energy markets worldwide—a violent interruption of one of humanity’s most ambitious scientific pursuits.

The unsolved murder of Nuno Loureiro, a man working to harness the power of the stars, forces an unsettling question: what does it mean when the future of clean energy is derailed not by physics, but by human violence?

18/12/2025

Orchard Towers Transformation: Former Nightlife Hub Becomes New Home for Cornerstone Church.

Once infamous for its nightlife scene and s*x trade activities, Orchard Towers has entered a new phase with the arrival of Cornerstone Community Church. The church held its first weekend services at the mall on Dec. 13 and 14, marking a symbolic transformation for the building that once drew public safety concerns.

Cornerstone Community Church purchased more than 19,000 square feet of retail space on the fourth floor of Orchard Towers in January for S$54.5 million. The space spans six units, including one that was originally a cinema before being converted into a disco pub during the mall’s nightlife era.

18/12/2025

Capital Punishment in Singapore: High Court Rejects Fresh Challenge to Mandatory Death Penalty.

Singapore’s High Court on Dec. 16 dismissed a constitutional challenge to the country’s mandatory death penalty for certain drug offences. The petition was filed by human rights activists and relatives of three executed drug convicts, marking the first legal challenge to the decades-old law in 15 years.

18/12/2025

Illegal Abortion Network: Jakarta Apartment Exposed After Three-Year Operation.

The Directorate of Special Criminal Investigation of Jakarta Police, known as Ditreskrimsus Polda Metro Jaya, has uncovered an illegal abortion practice operating from an apartment on Jalan Jenderal Basuki Rahmat in East Jakarta. The operation was promoted through two websites using the names Klinik Aborsi Promedis and Klinik Aborsi Raden Saleh, giving the false impression of licensed and professional medical services.

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