Two US companies, American Deep Sea Minerals and American Ocean Minerals Corporation, have applied to the US government for licences to explore seabed in international waters near the Cook Islands, Kiribati and French Polynesia. One area covers about 101,000 square kilometres, the other nearly 90,000. The seabed there holds polymetallic nodules, avocado-sized rocks containing nickel, manganese, copper and cobalt. The route bypasses the UN-linked International Seabed Authority, which regulates mining of the high seas, and local officials and environmental groups are objecting. Other US applications cover areas near Guam and the Clarion-Clipperton Zone between Hawai'i and Mexico.

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.