Millions of Muslims gathered in Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. And if TripAdvisor reviews are any indication, these pilgrims were going to love the journey. Online reviews for Mecca’s Grand Mosque average 4.96 stars, far higher than all of Europe’s top tourist sites combined, according to a study by Australian scholar Tom van Laer and Elif Izberk-Bilgin, who teaches marketing at the University of Michigan. Reviews of Christian, Jewish and Hindu holy sites were similarly enthusiastic.

But these euphoric ratings may be a little misleading, the authors found, more reflective of the contributors’ spiritual experiences than of the “mundane, practical details” of their pilgrimage.

As fears continue that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could spread, tough decisions are being made to bring it to an end. One of these is that President Félix Tshisekedi has taken control of the country’s response efforts. Mosoka Fallah sets out why this is significant, drawing parallels with how Liberia reversed its devastating outbreak after President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf took over its management in 2014. For his part Anthoni van Nieuwkerk unpacks research done through the lens of crisis management that draws on the dynamics of the 2014 crisis.