Muslim pilgrims pray at Mount Arafat in hajj apex

• Thousands of pilgrims gathered before dawn around the hill and the surrounding plain where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his last sermon
• While some arrived early to take advantage of the relatively cool morning, many pilgrims will remain for hours of prayers and Koran recitals until the evening

Million-plus pilgrims to begin hajj under blazing sun

• About 1.4 million pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia ahead of the multi-day hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam that must be performed at least once by all Muslims with the means
• Authorities have ratcheted up anti-heat measures such as extra shade to avoid a repeat of last year, when 1,301 people died as temperatures hit 51.8C (125.2F)

Qatar table tennis says ‘prepared to escalate’ after chaotic vote

• Tuesday's 104-102 vote to Soerling ended in such acrimony that the ITTF's annual general meeting was suspended.
• The world body said the assembly was "disrupted by outsiders" after the election result was announced.

Snakes on a plane: Indian smuggler caught with venomous vipers

• Mumbai Customs issued photographs of the seized snakes, including blue and yellow reptiles squirming in a bucket
• Those small creatures, listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, were "ingeniously concealed" in a plastic crate

How social media can ‘trigger’ eating disorders in young people

• Young women and girls are much more likely to suffer from illnesses such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder, though rates among men have been increasing.
• Research has shown the percentage of people worldwide who have had some kind of eating disorder during their lives rose from 3.5 percent in 2000 to 7.8 percent in 2018.

New metro cuts through Saudi social divisions

Huge crowds flock to Vatican for Pope Francis’s funeral

• Some people waited overnight to be first in the queue for the ceremony, which will be attended by world leaders including US President Donald Trump
• The Argentine pontiff, who died on Monday aged 88, sought to steer the centuries-old Church into a more inclusive direction during his 12-year papacy

Trump, Zelensky to attend Pope Francis’s funeral Saturday

• The Argentine pontiff, 88, died on Monday after a stroke, less than a month after returning home from five weeks in hospital battling double pneumonia
• Francis died in the Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican residence where he lived during his 12-year papacy, and his body was laid out in its chapel on Monday evening

As world mourns, cardinals meeting to decide the date for Pope Francis’s funeral

• Francis, the head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, died at his home in the Vatican on Monday aged 88 after suffering a stroke
• Tributes have poured in from around the globe for Francis, a liberal reformer who took over following the resignation of German theologian Benedict XVI in 2013

War against elite universities: Trump ramps up conflict against defiant Harvard

• Harvard stands out for defying Trump, in contrast to several other universities and a string of powerful law firms that have folded under intense pressure
• The impacts are already being felt on a campus that has produced 162 Nobel prize winners and whose alumni range from Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg to 8 US presidents