Photo Essays

Seen from the air, the fragility of humanity as it must have been in the Holy Land in centuries past is plain to see – ancient monasteries clinging to precipices, tiny fishing boats on the Sea of Galilee, deserts gnawing at the edges of towns. By Stephen Farell

The Muslim population in Western Europe has been growing since the 1960s. In most countries, Muslims now make up more than five percent of the total population. Despite social tensions, integration is making clear progress. By Aasim Saleem

The "Baalbek Reborn: Temples" app uses the latest technology to reconstruct the ruins at Baalbek, Lebanon

Behind Tayyibe Demirel's olive groves in southwest Turkey lies a vast, grey expanse, stripped bare by a coal mine eating into the rolling hillside. On the horizon, heavy smoke billows from three giant chimneys of the power plant by the town of Yatagan. By Ece Toksabay

The world's largest standing Buddha statues had survived for a millennium and a half in Afghanistan – until the Taliban destroyed them. By Nasim Saber and Hao Gui

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has compiled moving documents of contemporary history with a collection of images by Syrian photographers who have recorded daily life in the ongoing war. By Friedel Taube and Goran Cutanoski

Abraham was born in Iraq and this is where the whale swallowed Jonah, according to the Bible. Pope Francis' is travelling to an area steeped in biblical history.

Urban transport concepts in the global South, often promoted by organisations such as the World Bank, aim to encourage motorised private transport – at the expense of non-motorised forms, which have proven cheap and environmentally friendly there over the past century. In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, bans are being imposed on bicycle rickshaws on more and more roads. By Dominik Müller

Ten years ago, in February 2011, Yemenis took to the streets for freedom and the rule of law. But instead, the uprising turned into a war that has lasted for years. Impressions from a torn country. By Kersten Knipp

Ten years after Egypt's January 25 revolution, many of those who led protests are either disillusioned or in jail. By Cathrin Schaer