Our motorcycle stopped in front of a cliff nearly 100 meters high. The sandy path that we had been following for an hour ended abruptly there. A limestone wall was in front of us, trees to the right, and bushes to the left. I decided to get off the motorcycle and walk through the bushes.

Some large trucks are lining up in front of the warehouses. Parked right outside the warehouse doors, they are ready to load and transport rice. Sacks of rice are stacked up to the entrances of warehouses that line a four-kilometer stretch in Cai Be District, Tien Giang Province, Vietnam. Most of the rice in Cai Be is for the local supply in Vietnam.

The halal logo welcomed guests entering Cafe Bayan at Hotel Santika Mataram in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) last week. No beer or other alcoholic beverages were on tap. An assortment of dishes on the menu came with the halal guarantee for Muslim visitors. The three-star inn holds the status of 'hilal one', meaning that the hotel is equipped with the minimum requirements for the basic necessities of a Muslim. "There are instructions on the direction of the qibla in the room ceiling, ablution places and a prayer hall for the congregation," said Reza Bovier, general manager of Hotel Santika Mataram.

Throughout his first year in office, President Joko Widodo faced a series of problems, some of them caused by his own political decisions, others by the turbulent global economy. This affected the public's level of satisfaction with his government, which according to a number of surveys, had declined significantly.

On his way to Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said's cellular phone rang. An aide of President Joko Widodo was calling with important news. That very morning, on Tuesday two weeks ago, the President summoned Sudirman to the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta. Sudirman cancelled his flight without even knowing what they would discuss.

Although Sofyan Djalil, Indonesia's minister of national development planning, rushed to Tokyo on Sunday evening, September 27, he failed to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Japanese leader was attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.