The Komodo naval drills bring together 49 countries including sworn geopolitical rivals such as North and South Korea, and India and Pakistan. Experts say Indonesia is quietly filling the role of neutral go-between for a region scored by competing claims to seas and territories.

The 54-year-old went to collect rubber on a plantation in Jambi province last Sunday and her family reported her missing when she did not return home. Two days later, a search party found the woman’s body in a reticulated python’s stomach.

Mawi learned the art of ‘tiger summoning’ as a boy and became such a prolific hunter, he caught the attention of conservationists, who pointed him to another path. Now a honey farmer, he helps to convince other tiger hunters to retrain, but Indonesia’s fight to protect wildlife remains a struggle as demand for skin and other animal parts persists.