October 30, 2025 | 11:00 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tempo English compiled the top 3 news on Thursday October 30, 2025. Here are the highlights: Taiwan Rejects Indonesian Basreng Cracker Over Prohibited Substance; Prabowo to Hold Special Meeting on Whoosh High-Speed Train Debt; and Vatican Delegation to Visit Indonesia in December 2025 to Advance Istiqlal Declaration.
The following is the list of the top 3 news on Tempo English today:
1. Taiwan Rejects Indonesian Basreng Cracker Over Prohibited Substance
The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) has seized a shipment of Basreng, an Indonesian fried meatball snack, at the border. As reported by Focus Taiwan, the product was detained because it contained 0.93 grams per kilogram of the preservative, benzoic acid.
According to Taiwan's official Standards for Specifications, Scope, Application, and Limitation of Food Additives, the specific product category to which this snack belongs is strictly prohibited from containing such artificial preservatives. The TFDA formally declared that the preservative level present in the basreng constitutes a violation of the nation's Food Safety and Sanitation Act.
The product, identified as Basreng Cracker, weighed 1.008 kilograms. It was imported to Taiwan by Sheba Enterprise Co. from the manufacturer Isya Food. The TFDA confirmed that the basreng was either returned or destroyed at the border.
The basreng was one of 17 imported products that failed the border inspection on Tuesday. Other rejected goods included cheeses from France and Switzerland, which were found to contain excessive levels of Escherichia coli bacteria.
2. Prabowo to Hold Special Meeting on Whoosh High-Speed Train Debt
President Prabowo Subianto is set to hold a special meeting to discuss the polemic surrounding the high-speed train debt for the Bandung-Jakarta route (KCIC), also known as Whoosh.
The statement was conveyed by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, after meeting with Prabowo at the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, October 29, 2025.
"(Regarding Whoosh) we will discuss it separately," said Airlangga at the Presidential Palace Complex in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, October 29, 2025.
Airlangga did not specify when or who would be invited to the special meeting. Once again, he stated that the Whoosh issue would be the subject of a separate discussion. "There will be a separate discussion," he said.
3. Vatican Delegation to Visit Indonesia in December 2025 to Advance Istiqlal Declaration
Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs Nasaruddin Umar announced that a Vatican delegation is scheduled to visit Indonesia in December 2025. This trip serves as a follow-up to the Istiqlal Declaration signed in September 2024.
"We've had intensive meetings with Roman authorities. They are eager to follow up on the Istiqlal Declaration, which is deemed to be more concrete and measurable," Nasaruddin stated in an official Ministry of Religious Affairs' statement released in Jakarta on Thursday, October 30, 2025.
Nasaruddin made this announcement after participating in the "Daring Peace" International Peace Forum in the Vatican, Rome. During the event, Nasaruddin met with Pope Leo XIV and several world religious leaders, where they discussed the implementation plans for the Istiqlal Declaration.
The Grand Imam of Istiqlal Mosque specified that the upcoming meeting will center on three core themes: dehumanization, post-war situations, and environmental preservation.
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