The two days of incessant rain in Banjarnegara, Central Java, finally stopped on Friday afternoon two weeks ago. Sinem, 55, seized the opportunity to pluck some taro leaves in the yard of her house in Jemblung hamlet, home to about 300 residents. She planned to cook a favorite dish of her husband, Suhaedi, 58.

The rain had prevented many people from leaving their homes. The freezing air at the foot of Mount Tlagalele pierced the bones. Before becoming a cassava and corn farm in between the albasia plants and the shrubs, the hill's slopes had been a community forest. Tlagalele is located on the right side of the residential areas through which the Karangkoba-Dieng highway cuts.

A leaked document from the Defense Ministry Inspectorate-General about a Rp4-trillion purchase of Brazilian rockets two years ago has been leaked to the media, causing a controversy. The document said the purchase was too expensive. It mentioned an alleged Rp1 trillion markup.

NURDIN Halid, who oversaw the Golkar Party's national congress in Bali last week, read out the results of the vote for the party's chairman. The winner, with 534 of 537 ballots: the incumbent, Aburizal Bakrie. "Agreed?" Nurdin asked the floor. The participants roared back: "Agreed!"

After the Chaos

President Joko Widodo has prohibited his ministers from attending parliament sessions until the mayhem there is over, reasoning that the cabinet members' presence could worsen the conflict between his administration and the opposition. "There might be a misunderstanding if we join," Jokowi said at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, last week.

The plan was hatched in late October at the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party's meeting room at the Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD). In attendance were representatives from the parties that supported Prabowo Subianto's failed bid for the presidency in July. The agenda: formulating a strategy to frustrate Basuki Tjahaja 'Ahok' Purnama's ascent to the seat left by Joko Widodo when he became president.

By shuttering the Dolly red-light district earlier this year, Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini intended above all to keep local children away from the sex industry.