Kokpar is a Central Asian horseback game in which riders compete to carry a heavy weighted sack, traditionally a goat carcass, into a goal. Versions of it have been played for centuries across the region, sometimes with hundreds of riders on each side, and it doubled as a community ritual as well as a competition. Under Soviet rule collectivisation limited private horses and many nomads moved into towns, so the game nearly died out, though it was never formally banned. Since independence it has returned as part of a wider revival of nomadic traditions, helped by government-funded games and social media. Organisers are now trimming the most dangerous parts: the field is shorter, teams are smaller, goals are made of hay instead of concrete, and the sack is a 25-kilo dummy. Traditionalists warn that the rough edges were part of what made the sport popular, and a player in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan died earlier this year.

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.