In the decade since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi seized power, Egypt has built dozens of motorways that zigzag across Cairo -- crushing entire neighbourhoods, precious green spaces and historic gravesites.
The administration of Sisi, a former army general who rose to the presidency in 2013 after deposing Mohamed Morsi, has placed a massive premium on construction projects, in what experts call a "bulldozer" development policy.
Vast crowds of worshippers hurled pebbles in the "stoning of the devil" ritual Wednesday as the biggest hajj pilgrimage since the Covid pandemic draws to a close in Saudi Arabia.
From dawn in Mina, hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims began pelting three concrete monoliths representing Satan under soaring temperatures before heading to Mecca for a final "tawaf" -- circling the Kaaba, the giant black cube at the Grand Mosque.
Fighting raged in the Sudanese capital on Tuesday, the eve of the Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday, after paramilitaries seized Khartoum's main police base.
Fighting in the city between the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo is now concentrated around military bases.
At the same time in Sudan's west, the conflict is worsening to "alarming levels" in Darfur, the United Nations warned.
As climate change and global population growth pose ever greater challenges for agriculture, Israeli technology offers a wealth of inventions and advanced tools to help farmers adapt.
At an avocado orchard in a kibbutz in central Israel, a tractor slowly pulls a device through the trees.
Flag-sized attachments that evoke canoe paddles on the mobile platform gently stroke the plants to draw the pollen using an electrostatic charge, then let them rub off on the next row of trees.
If a landmark reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran has eased tensions in the Gulf, clouds have also lifted at the hajj pilgrimage, where Iranian visitors finally feel welcome again.
Seven years of enmity between the Sunni and Shiite powers had made for a cool reception for Iranian pilgrims joining worshippers from around the world for the massive event.
But at the current hajj, held three months after Riyadh and Tehran agreed to repair relations, the atmosphere is suddenly very different.
A controversial exiled Iranian opposition group is coming under increased pressure in Europe as it nervously eyes the intensification of European talks with Tehran in search of reviving a deal on the Islamic republic's nuclear drive.
Supporters of the People's Mujahedin (MEK) regard it as the sole credible opposition group based outside Iran, although it is held in deep suspicion by many Iranians, including those opposed to the clerical authorities.
For many Sudanese struggling to survive the war, a taste of the sheep Muslims traditionally sacrifice for the feast of Eid al-Adha is but a distant memory.
The conflict, now in its third month, has brought death and turmoil and displaced millions in the country that was already poverty-stricken before the fighting erupted.
Like many Khartoum residents, Hanan Adam fled with her six children when the battles broke out in mid-April between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
As dawn broke over the occupied West Bank, Mamoun Abu al-Rob and his son crossed into Israel, where a volunteer was waiting to take them to a hospital.
Past the Rehan crossing in the northern West Bank, where Palestinian workers were passing through a dimly lit corridor, Abu al-Rob walked towards Yael Noy's car as his six-year-old son, Adam, dozed in his arms.
Their destination was a hospital near Tel Aviv, where Adam was to receive follow-up treatment after suffering from eye cancer.
Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims crowded the rocky rise known as Mount Arafat on Tuesday to pray at the height of an annual hajj pilgrimage held in the fierce Saudi Arabian summer.
As temperatures soared to 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit), groups of white-clad worshippers recited Koranic verses on the hill, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon.
Some took selfies under the clear burning sky before flocking down Mount Arafat after sunset, heading to nearby Muzdalifah where they will spend the night praying.
The United States said Monday it would stop funding scientific research with Israeli academic institutions in the West Bank, taking a new step away from validating the occupation of Palestinian territories.
The decision by President Joe Biden's administration reverses a move made under Donald Trump that rejected the wide international consensus that Israel illegally occupies the West Bank, which it seized in the 1967 Six-Day War.
