CAIRO – Mohamed Bakkar spends most of his time in a small workshop in Zamalek, an upscale neighbourhood set on a Nile island, surrounded by dozens of colourful puppets he designed and created himself.

An impressive array of tools, from hammers to screw drivers, hang in an orderly fashion on the wall above a sign that plays on the famous Egyptian proverb “The carpenter’s door is lose,” instead saying that “The carpenter’s door is in good shape.” 

ZUWARA, Libya - It is a quiet Friday morning on Libya's western coast and a group of environmental volunteers is taking a boat to Farwa, an uninhabited island that lies northwest of the country and close to the border with Tunisia.

The three activists park their car in the fishing port in the town of Abu Kammash, known locally as Bukamash, before jumping on a tiny boat. It's a short distance to the island, but the waters are shallow and they will have to walk the last 200 metres. 

BEIRUT, Lebanon - When photographer Paul Conroy and the UK's Sunday Times veteran war correspondent Marie Colvin decided to turn back in the tunnel that was taking them out of the Baba Amr district of Homs, Syria, they knew they were taking a huge risk.

BETHLEHEM, Palestine - These are floors where pilgrims and churchgoers have stood and worshipped in the birthplace of Jesus for millennia.

In the Church of the Nativity, burning oil lamps infuse the air while the hushed voices of international pilgrims are heard.

Some visitors kiss the glistening star in the grotto of the church, where according to tradition Jesus was born.

DUHOK, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Umm and Abu Ahmed could not have children of their own. So when the middle-aged Sunni couple from Mosul heard the Islamic State (IS) group was selling Yazidi orphans, they decided to take one in. For $500, they bought five-year-old Ayman. 

Abu and Umm Ahmed bought all kinds of toys for Ayman, changed his name into Ahmed, taught him how to memorise the Quran and enrolled him in a local school. For 18 months, they raised him like he was their own son.

DOHA - Ajyal, the Arabic word for "generations," was born out of the ashes of the defunct Doha Tribeca Film Festival, the luxurious film jamboree that ran from 2009 until 2012.

Instead of launching another major regional film fair, Doha Film Institute CEO Fatma Hassan Alremaihi and her board chose to found a festival partially overseen by, and directed toward, youth and families.

We don't shy away from bringing mature subjects to the table. We underestimate how youth think; how smart they are and how receptive they can be

ISTANBUL, Turkey - It all starts in one foreboding evening in a taxi. The year is 1963. Two men sit motionless while momentary looks of apprehension flicker across their stony faces.

The taxi reaches a roadblock and an exchange occurs between the two passengers and the police guard at the checkpoint, who then lets them go. Soon, they reach their destination - a bakery. Before they leave the taxi, one of the two coldly shoots the driver in the head. The camera remains stationary, like the men who are unfazed by the violence.

GAZA STRIP - For 16-year-old Gaza teenager Abdallah Qassem, getting to school every day is a challenge. 

Just a few months ago, it would take him only 15 minutes to walk to the Julis public high school. But after losing both of his legs during the Great March Return protests, he is now confined to a wheelchair, making the journey much more complicated. 

Shahad al-Rawi's debut novel, The Baghdad Clock, which won the First Book Award at the Edinburgh International Book Festival earlier this year, takes readers on a journey into the history of Iraq and explores how Iraqis deal with the traumas of the past - both recent and distant.

The Baghdad Clock evokes life growing up in Baghdad in the 1990s and 2000s through the eyes of a young unnamed female protagonist. The world she knows is irrevocably changed in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War when US-led troops drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. 

LONDON - In one of Ghost Hunting's most harrowing scenes, a Palestinian prisoner urinates on himself as he stares in contempt at his Israeli captor.

"God damn you!" the infuriated prison guard screams. "We have no one to clean this up - whoever makes the mess must clean it up himself!"