In March 1951 Iran's parliament, pushed by Mohammad Mossadegh, nationalised the British-controlled Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, which many Iranians saw as reclaiming national wealth and Britain saw as theft of its biggest overseas asset. Britain responded with economic pressure: it refused Iranian oil receipts on international markets, blockaded the coast and stopped tankers carrying Iranian oil, banned exports such as sugar and steel, froze Iranian assets and shut the Abadan refinery. After two years of strain, a British- and American-backed plot in 1953 removed Mossadegh.

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.