On 12 November 1938, three days after the Kristallnacht pogrom, Nazi Germany issued the Decree on the Elimination of Jews from Economic Life. It prohibited Jews from selling goods and services or working in a trade, cutting them off from the German economy. The measure was the culmination of years of exclusion that began in 1933. The Nazi state treated the economy as a means of preparing for war, with heavy rearmament and tariffs aimed at self-sufficiency, and the seizure of Jewish businesses was part of that effort.

Israeli reports also say the cabinet directed the military to prepare for a possible new attack on Iran.

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.