For thousands of years Polynesian navigators sailed across thousands of kilometres of open ocean and reached nearly every island in the vast Polynesian Triangle, without charts or instruments. They steered by the rising and setting of stars, and read ocean swells, wind patterns and the flight of birds that return to land each evening. The knowledge was held by navigators and passed from master to apprentice, often in the form of song. Each island kept a guild of navigators with high status, who could trade for aid or evacuate people in times of famine.

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.