Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters

An Egyptian farmer holds soil to show the effects of a drought on a farm formerly irrigated by the Nile River, in Al-Dakahlya, about 75 miles from Cairo, on June 4. Egyptians are concerned that Ethiopia's ambitious hydroelectric dam project on the Nile will impact downstream neighbors.

By Hamza Hendawi, The Associated Press

CAIRO — Politicians meeting with Egypt's president on Monday proposed hostile acts against Ethiopia, including backing rebels and carrying out sabotage, to stop it from building a massive dam on the Nile River upstream.

Some of the politicians appeared unaware the meeting with President Mohammed Morsi was being carried live on TV. Morsi did not directly react to the suggestions, but said in concluding remarks that Egypt respects Ethiopia and its people and will not engage in any aggressive acts against the East African nation.

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NASA Earth Observatory / NOAA

Egypt's Nile River valley and delta takes center stage in this night-light picture of the Middle East. The image was acquired on Oct. 13 by the Suomi NPP satellite's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite. The city lights of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem shine above and to the right of the Nile, while the island of Cyprus glows in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The lights seen in this image have been brightened during processing to make the city lights easier to distinguish.

This outer-space view from the Suomi NPP satellite gives you much of the Middle East at one glance, with Egypt's Nile River Valley and Delta shining as the centerpiece.

The black-and-white image was captured on Oct. 13 and unveiled this week as part of NASA's "Black Marble" project. Suomi's VIIRS imaging instrument is well-suited to spot the glow of city lights as well as fires and other light sources in the night, and the satellite documented the nighttime glow around the globe during dozens of passes in April and October. The pictures from all those passes were assembled to create an all-around view of our planet at night.

This particular view takes in the Nile all the way down from Alexandria and the broad river delta, through Cairo, through to the Nile's big bend at Luxor and onward to the Aswan Dam. But there's much more to this picture than the Nile: Tel Aviv and Israel glitter to the right of the Nile Delta, which makes this picture particularly fitting for Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. The island of Cyprus is an oasis of light in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, with the Turkish coast above. Athens shines out in the upper left corner. And in the lower right corner, a string of lights leads from the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah to Mecca.

Who knew that one picture could take in so many of the world's historical centers of holiness and wisdom?

Suomi's view of the whole Holy Land serves as today's offering for the Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar, which presents a fresh view of Earth as seen from space every day from now until Christmas. There's much more to the Black Marble project: For additional imagery, check out NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Flickr photo gallery or the NASA Earth Observatory. To explore a clickable, zoomable, 1.46-gigapixel version of the globe at night, head on over to the GigaPan website. And to find out what the not-so-black Black Marble is telling us about light pollution, check in with the International Dark-Sky Association.

More space calendar entries:

• 2012 Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar
• Day 1: A fantastic Chinese fan
• Day 2: Satellite shows a Grander Canyon
• Day 3: Typhoon stirs awe — and alarm
• Day 4: Glittering nighttime view of Riyadh
• Day 5: Night lights shine on 'Black Marble'
• 2011 Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar
• 2010 Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar
• The Atlantic: Hubble Advent Calendar
• Zooniverse Advent Calendar

In the second and third images, you can see how development has lined the Nile and Mississippi rivers. (In the bottom image, the Mississippi appears at top, above the ISS, angling upward and to the right from the bright blob of New Orleans).

NASA via EPA

A handout photograph made available by NASA on 17 November 2010 showing Sicily and the 'boot' of Italy, at night with the Mediterranean Sea representing most of the visible water in the view and the Adriatic Sea to the right of centre. Tunisia is partially visible on the left in this night time image shot by one of the Expedition 25 crew members aboard the International Space Station flying 354 km above Earth on 28 October 2010.

NASA via Reuters

A night time photograph made by an International Space Station Expedition 25 crewmember shows the bright lights of Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt on the Mediterranean coast as well as the Nile River and its delta which stand out clearly in this image released by NASA and taken October 28, 2010.

NASA via Reuters

A night time photograph made by an International Space Station Expedition 25 crewmember shows a view of the northern Gulf coast in this image provided by NASA and taken October 29, 2010. The lights of Mobile Bay, New Orleans and Houston are visible as well as the Interstate Highway 20 cities of Jackson, Shreveport, Dallas and Fort Worth as the view extends northward (left) to Little Rock and Oklahoma City.