Brief moments when strangers exchange a meaningful gesture or word, like a knowing smile to a stressed parent at a market, can strongly affect whether people feel they belong. A University of Georgia sociologist has named these moments evanescent interactions: short, positive, emotionally charged encounters that signal "you've been noticed and you are welcome here". They are so ordinary that people rarely think about them. In earlier research on why undergraduates dropped out, former students said that a single caring encounter with someone at the university might have kept them, while its absence left them feeling invisible. The idea is that small, deliberate acts of acknowledgement help counter loneliness in friendship groups, workplaces and society.

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.