Tel Aviv

A Filipina caregiver, once part of a faceless crowd of foreign workers, surprised Israel by winning one of its most popular TV singing contests. She won the Israeli version of the popular show the X-Factor.

The world’s second-largest bus depot, Tel Aviv’s Central Bus Station, is home to ghosts, spooks and bats.

Israel’s elections later this month will be a test of how politically motivated 2011’s protesters in that country were. In a series of protests, tens of thousands took to Tel Aviv’s streets to protest climbing housing costs. But polls indicate that its the right-wing parties that are building momentum in the election.

Israel’s home to some 60,000 African migrants, most of whom fled violence and persecution in their home countries. But as tensions rise in Israel between the country’s Jewish citizens and the migrants, Israel’s government is being pressured to act. But many of those facing deportation have few options, even if they wanted to leave.

In Tel Aviv, one of the first things you notice is the city’s large population of feral cats. Though the city has a program to spay and neuter them, it’s small and doesn’t target enough cats to reduce the population.