Author: Verified News Online

AdvertisementMalaysiaThis Week in AsiaEconomicsIn Malaysia’s Johor, silicon dreams meet parched realitiesAs global tech titans invest billions in data centres to power the AI revolution, the state’s most precious resource is fast evaporating
Reading Time:4 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPUshar DanielePublished: 8:00am, 17 Nov 2025Malaysia’s southern state of Johor is being transformed by a torrent of tech investment.AdvertisementGlobal heavyweights – Microsoft, Nvidia, ByteDance – are pouring billions into vast data centres, the digital foundries that underpin the international AI industry and cloud economy.
For Malaysia’s government, these investments are nothing short of transformative, representing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to vault ahead in Southeast Asia’s technology race.
But for Johor residents like Muhammad Azrien Mohammad Ali, the future arrives with a simple, daily anxiety: will water still flow from the tap?
“This year I have experienced three water disruptions,” the 3..

Dates advance for Indians in employment category visas in December. US visa bulletin for December has good news for Indians as there has been some forward movement for EB-2 and EB-3 final action dates for Indians. For Indian applicants in the EB-1 category, Final Action Date advances 1 month with a cut-off date of March 15, 2022. In the EB-2 category, Final Action Date advances 1 month 14 days with a cut-off date of May 15, 2013. In the EB-3 category, Final Action Date advances 1 month with a cut-off date of September 22, 2013.Dates for Filing Applications remain unchanged for EB-1 category with a cut-off date of April 15, 2023; EB-2 category Filing Dates remains unchanged with a cut-off date of December 1, 2013; EB-3 category Filing Dates remain unchanged with a cut-off date of August 15, 2014.”A visa must be available before you can take one of the final steps in the process of becoming a lawful permanent resident. Because more prospective immigrants want lawful permanent residency t..

A section of MAGA is upset that Vivek Ramaswamy has Trump's endorsement but Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn't. Amid MAGA mayhem triggered by President Donald Trump's rage against Marjorie Taylor Greene, GOP leader Vivek Ramaswamy still dominated social media chatter as MAGA supporters exclaimed that Trump rescinded support for Marjorie but made a fresh endorsement for Ramaswamy — as MAGA equations are changing. While Trump and Greene's fallout was mostly over the Epstein files, Greene objected to Trump's H-1B stand and said America does not need foreign workers. Greene said she would introduce a bill to stop H-1B visa program completely though Trump believes America needs certain foreign talent. The H-1B row amid MAGA was triggered last year during Christmas when Vivek Ramaswamy called out American culture and said American education system does not produce enough STEM workers needed for American tech companies and hence companies have to rely on H-1B. Ramaswamy ..

AdvertisementJapanThis Week in AsiaLifestyle & CultureJapan’s ‘monster parents’ heap misery on teachers with absurd demandsThings have got so bad that Tokyo is creating guidelines recommending police and lawyers be called to handle difficult parental encounters
Reading Time:4 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPJulian RyallPublished: 8:00am, 16 Nov 2025Updated: 8:13am, 16 Nov 2025When the cherry blossoms fail to bloom on cue or a lunch menu falls short of expectations, teachers in Japan know what to expect: a barrage of late-night emails, angry phone calls and, increasingly, a sense of despair.AdvertisementThe problem has reached such proportions that authorities in Tokyo are planning official guidelines intended to protect educators from parental harassment and establish boundaries around what schools can be asked to do.
According to a draft released this month by the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education, the guidelines are “aimed at enabling teachers and other school staff to work with pea..

AdvertisementUnited StatesWorldUnited States & CanadaCharlotte, North Carolina, becomes latest target of Trump’s immigration crackdownFederal agents have been deployed as part of the US president’s push to conduct large-scale arrests in Democrat-led cities
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPBloombergPublished: 7:49am, 16 Nov 2025A new deployment of federal agents arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday as part of US President Donald Trump’s expanding immigration enforcement campaign, marking the latest push to carry out large-scale arrests in Democratic-led cities.
Advertisement“We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed,” Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
She did not provide any details of the deployment, including how many officers were there or what their duties would be.
The arrival in Charlotte marks the latest expansion of a campaign that has..