The Namib is a coastal desert stretching more than 2,000 kilometres along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Namibia and northwest South Africa. It has been arid or semi-arid for roughly 55 to 80 million years, which makes it possibly the oldest desert in the world. Its coastal sand seas include dunes around 300 metres high, the second tallest in the world after those in China's Badain Jaran Desert. Rain is almost absent here, with some areas getting just 2 millimetres a year. Much of its moisture instead comes from fog, which rolls in from the ocean on more than 180 days a year in coastal areas.

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.