Parasites are a huge share of life: by some estimates they make up a large fraction of all species, yet conservation has focused on charismatic animals like pandas and tigers. Parasites are often specialised to a single host, so when the host declines or goes extinct, its parasites can vanish with it. Ecologists argue that parasites also hold ecosystems together: they shape food webs, regulate host populations and can drive evolution. Parasite ecologists are now pushing for them to be counted in conservation, and a few, such as the Californian condor's lice, have already been the subject of deliberate protection efforts.

Indonesian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka handed his resignation to parliament after questions were raised about his eligibility for office and his academic credentials. Gibran is the son of former president Joko Widodo, and his resignation came as Widodo publicly backed the president, Prabowo Subianto. Gibran had been elected vice president in 2024 as Prabowo's running mate. His candidacy was made possible by a 2023 Constitutional Court ruling on the minimum age for candidates, which was itself controversial. Parliament will now consider the resignation.

Angkor, near Siem Reap in northern Cambodia, was the capital of the Khmer Empire, which ruled much of mainland Southeast Asia between roughly the 9th and 15th centuries. At its height the city spread across about 3,000 square kilometres, making it the largest pre-industrial city on Earth by area. Its growth depended on water: huge reservoirs called barays, along with canals and embankments, stored monsoon rain and carried it to rice fields. That system let farmers harvest more than once a year and fed a very large population through the dry season. The temple complex of Angkor Wat, built in the early 12th century, is the best-known monument and still stands at the heart of the park.