Gray wolves, wiped out in California about a century ago, are recolonizing the state, the most populous in the US. Their return reshapes ecosystems and landscapes, and it has split opinion: conservationists welcome the recovery, ranchers lose livestock and resent the animals, and others push for coexistence as numbers grow. Wolves are a protected species in California, so managing conflicts relies on tools such as compensation, deterrents and monitoring rather than culling. How the state balances science, public policy and wildlife management is being closely watched.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.