In a 50-hectare research plot in Papua New Guinea, researchers tracked more than 21,000 trees before, during and two years after the severe 2015-17 El Niño drought. Tree deaths were significantly higher after the drought than during it. Only 5.2% of the area's rainfall fell in the dry season during the drought, against 13.1% before and 9.6% afterwards. Trees on valleys and on ridges responded differently: valley trees died more before and during the drought but bounced back quickly afterwards. The researchers could not pin down exactly why the delayed deaths happened, but the pattern suggests survivors were weakened enough to die later.

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.