Indonesia Prepares For North Korean Missiles, Japan Opens Drive-Thru Funeral Parlor, and More: The VICE Evening Bulletin

Indonesia News

North Korean Missiles Can Reach Indonesia In Just 16 Minutes
Like it or not, we need to prepare for possible nuclear attack from North Korea, said Amarulla Octavian, an Indonesian National Army (TNI) official. According to TNI calculations, Indonesians would only have 16 minutes to protect themselves from a nuclear missile from North Korea. Octavian said that the TNI have prepared fighter jets and bunkers if such an attack takes place. —Viva

Indonesia Second Most Football Crazed Country In The World
We lost the top spot to Nigeria, where according to a research by Nielsen Sport, 83 percent of the population say they enjoy football. In Indonesia, the number is 77 percent. Nielsen Sport also found that football is an interest that many Southeast Asian countries share. In their research, the interest for the sport in Thailand and Malaysia is higher than countries with football teams that have won world championships, like Spain, Brazil, Italy, and Germany. —CNN Indonesia

It’s Going to be Even More Difficult to Buy Properties in 2018
One of the main challenges in Indonesia’s real estate market is that the demand is way higher than the supply. Maryono, the director of BTN Bank, said that there needs to be 13.38 million more homes in Indonesia to meet the current demand. Other than that, there’s not enough land to build new properties. Plus, the majority of Indonesians who need these homes only make Rp 3 million ($221 USD) or less a month, making it hard for them to get approved for a house mortgage. —Tempo

Aqua Fined Almost $1 Million For Violation of Business Competition Law
The producer of the bottled water Aqua, PT Tirta Investana, has been ordered by the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) to pay a fine of Rp 13.84 billion ($968,800 USD) to the state. KPPU also fined the distributor of Aqua, PT Balina Agung Perkasa Rp 6.29 billion. The decision was based on the October 2016 report by the producer of Le Minerale bottled water, which says that Aqua and its distributor had tried to prohibit shops from selling Le Minerale products, or they would have to buy Aqua at higher prices. —Beritagar

International News

Malaysian Lawmakers Complain That AirAsia Uniforms are ‘Too Revealing’
Two lawmakers, both of them men, urged Malaysia’s aviation authority to take a second look at the uniforms female flight attendants wear on AirAsia flights, claiming that the iconic red outfits might “arouse passengers.” The pair were immediately slammed online as having too much time on their hands. —Straits Times

Indian Couple Asks for Bitcoin as Wedding Gift
Prashant Sharma and Niti Shree, of the Indian tech hub Bangalore, decided to forgo the traditional wedding gifts for some cryptocurrency in their Bitcoin wallet. Together, the couple received about 100,000 rupees, or $1,559 USD, in Bitcoin. —BBC

Japan Opens Drive-Thru Funeral Parlor
The new drive-thru funeral parlor is an off fit in a country where funerals are deeply traditional affairs, but in a country aging as rapidly as Japan theres a serious demand for funeral parlors. Some say the drive-thru—which is in Nagano prefecture—is so elderly mourners can stay in their cars. But others wonder if it signals a shift in the nation’s culture. —Quartz

Philippines Sacks Navy Chief, Allegedly Over South Korea Arms Deal
What happened to Vice-Admiral Ronald Joseph Mercado? Yesterday he was the head of the Philippines 23,000-strong Navy. Then suddenly today he was out a job. Government officials are keeping quiet on the reasons why (loose lips and all), but one source thinks it might have something to do with a power struggle between the defense secretary and Mercado over the $358 million USD purchase of two frigates from South Korea. —Reuters

Everything Else

Too Many People Are Still Using ‘Password’ as a Password
Look, just stop it. OK? Oh, and don’t use “starwars” either. —VICE

Bacteria Can Live in Ice Cubes, But Not in Whiskey
So I guess that makes that glass of whiskey on the rocks is actually better for you than a club soda. Who knew? —VICE

What It’s Like Being a Virgin at 40
Here’s a hint: it’s nothing like a rom-com. It’s actually really sad. —VICE