CITES, the global treaty body that regulates wildlife trade, has lifted its trade sanctions on Laos, which had been imposed in 2023 over failure to rein in criminal networks and to regulate bear bile and tiger farms. The Standing Committee, meeting in Geneva on 4 November, said Laos had made significant progress, so it can again trade CITES-listed species such as long-tailed macaques without special restrictions. The review is not over: continued monitoring of Laos's compliance will decide whether it can keep exporting. Some conservationists call the move premature, pointing to a 2025 investigation that found 35 shops in Vientiane and Luang Prabang selling ivory, rhino horn and pangolin scales, largely to Chinese tourists. Illegal wildlife trade is estimated to be worth billions of dollars a year globally.

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.