In Angola's southeastern highlands, where the Cuito and other rivers feed the Okavango river and Botswana's giant delta, local elders asked a conservation anthropologist for help. Outsiders were coming to hunt bushmeat without the permission of local chiefs, ignoring traditional rules on where and when to hunt, how many animals to take and how much to share with villagers. After months of talks, each village nominated one 'Watcher' to guard its woodlands, monitor popular hunting trails and make sure hunting follows traditional rules. The idea builds on the belief that everyone in the landscape, from farmers to fishermen to beekeepers, is a watcher of the land. The effort is run with the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project and the group Fundação Lisima.

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.