A King's Burial, a Secret Meeting, and the US Speaks: The VICE Evening Bulletin

US Officials Blame 'Administrative Error' on TNI General's Immigration Woes
US Embassy officials are pointing the finger at some erroneous "security protocols," for an immigration block on top Indonesian general Gatot Nurmantyo and his family. Gatot was turned away by airport staff after trying to board a flight to Washington DC for an anti-radicalism conference late last week. —Reuters

Anies Admits to Closed-Doors Meeting With Jakarta Reclamation Project Developers
Opposition to a controversial plan to build, then develop, a chain of man-made islands off the coast of Jakarta was one of Anies Baswedan's biggest campaign promises. But once he won, the project was suddenly back on. Now word has broke that Anies met with developers at the home of Prabowo Subianto, his main political backer, months ago. But don't worry, Anies said, all he did was listen. —Jakarta Post

Indonesia Named One of the World's Most Vegetarian Friendly Countries
Although, the entire thing looks pretty suspicious. There's no way there are literally hundreds of vegetarian restaurants in Indonesia, and low-levels of meat consumption probably say more about rural poverty rates than access to veggie friendly food, but whatever, at least we have tempe, I guess. —Coconuts

Indonesian Lawmakers Just Passed The Most-'Realistic' Budget In Years
The new national budget reportedly takes into account lower tax revenues than last year's budget in the hopes of heading off the kinds of deficit crises that plagued the nation on the tail-end of this year. Indonesia's tax collectors still can't collect all the taxes the country needs, so, under the new budget, smokers and poor rural residents are taking the hit. —Jakarta Globe

Thailand Starts King's Funeral Ceremony
Thai mourners took the streets in the hundreds of thousands as they prepared to lay to rest King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a revered figure who passed away last year at 88 years old. The funeral is expected to last for five days as the Southeast Asian nation says goodbye to a man who died the world's longest-reigning monarch. —BBC

Taoist Medium Accidentally Boils Himself Alive In Malaysia
A 68-year-old magic man died in Malaysia's northern Kedah State after climbing into a wok filled with boiling water and remaining inside for 30 minutes. He was pronounced dead of heart failure and covered in second-degree burns by the time he was pulled from the wok. Malaysia's Taoist federation said the so-called "human steaming" event was more a magical stunt that an actual religious practice and called it "not advisable." —Today Online

Japan Adds LGBT, Selfie, and Honey Pot to Dictionary
Trying to learn Japanese? Well, the official dictionary just added 10,000 new words, including "LGBT," "jidori" ("selfie"), "hanii torappu" ("honey trap"), and "Isuramu-koku" (Islamic State), so you might need some "diipu rāningu" ("deep learning") for this one. —Japan Times

Cambodia's Hun Sen Pardons Opposition Member Jailed Over Fake News
Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a formal pardon for an opposition party senator sentenced to seven years in jail for posting a fake government document online claiming that Cambodia and Vietnam were going to dissolve their borders. It's a touchy subject in a Cambodia, a country that still views its wealthier neighbor with an eye of suspicion. But the pardon is also strange timing for Hun Sen, who just recently announced plans to dissolve the opposition party outright. —Reuters

Indonesia's Widows are Stuck In a Web of Poverty, But There's a Way Out
There's a dark side to "till death do us part"—or at least there is if you're a woman in Indonesia. Windows are seen as pitiful, lustful, or helpless women. But there's something we can do about it. —VICE

Watch the Trailer for Daniel Day-Lewis's Last Film Before Retirement
The long-awaited first trailer for Phantom Thread, director Paul Thomas Anderson's first feature since 2014's Inherent Vice was released this week. Information about the movie has been pretty sparse so far—save for the fact that it stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a dressmaker in 1950s London, is the last film he made before announcing his retirement, and supposedly inspired him to make gowns full time. —VICE