Carnival is the festive season just before Lent, the Christian fast of roughly 40 days before Easter. It runs through Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday and Shrove Tuesday, also called Mardi Gras ('Fat Tuesday'). Traditionally, butter, milk, eggs and meat were eaten up in these days so nothing went to waste before the fast, which is why pancakes, doughnuts and buns are tied to the season. Parades, street parties, masks and elaborate costumes let people set aside their everyday identity and feel part of a crowd. On Shrove Tuesday many Christians also reflect on what to repent and what to give up for Lent, and churches burn last year's blessed palm branches to make the ashes used on Ash Wednesday.

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.