Egyptians go to the polls tomorrow to vote for a new president for the first time since Hosni Mubarak was ousted during the revolution last year. Two of the front-runners in the presidential race with a realistic chance of winning are devout Islamists, which is troubling for Egypt's Coptic Christians. They are Egypt's largest religious minority and many of them don't think any of the candidates are capable of protecting them from the religious violence that has been steadily increasing.
Pope Benedict XVI appealed for global peace and reconciliation before an estimated 100,000 people during his annual Easter Sunday message in St. Peter's Square. The pontiff called for dialogue in Syria and an end to unrest in Mali and Nigeria.
Egyptian Copts gathered Tuesday at St Mark's Cathedral in Cairo for the funeral of Pope Shenuda III, who died Saturday at age 88 after having led the Christian minority for 40 years. Shenuda will be buried at St Bishoy monastery in the Nile Delta.
In an exclusive report we meet the fighters defending one of Syria's few remaining rebel strongholds. Next, shock and anger in Lebanon, after a local TV channel airs images of a domestic worker being brutally beaten. Finally, the passing of a patriarch- Egypt's Coptic Christians mourn the death of Pope Shenouda III who died after a long illness aged 88.
In Mali, the Tuaregs who once fought for Muammar Gaddafi have returned home with a new quest for independence. However, their clashes with government troops have forced 30,000 people from their homes. In Nigeria, religious violence has both Christians and Muslims on edge. Our reporters meet refugees lost in the chaos with no help in sight. Finally, the Africa Cup of Nations heads into the final with Zambia facing Ivory Coast.
Nigeria is battling a bloody insurgency launched by radical Islamist sect Boko Haram. The group want to overthrow the government and establish an Islamic state. In January, a string of attacks in the north of the country killed 185 people. As President Goodluck Jonathan confronts the violence in the town of Kano, tensions continue to simmer.
As violence continues in Syria, the Christian community has kept relatively silent. But the Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo, Archbishop Jean-Clement Jeanbart tells France 24's Annette Young that while he believes President Bashar al-Assad is a good man, he fears time is running out for the Syrian leader.
Two years ago, Nigerian security officials thought they had killed Imam Abubakar Shekau. But the leader of the Boko Haram Islamist group is alive and has released a new video threatening the Nigerian state.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is facing a double challenge with a series of sectarian attacks by the Boko Haram Islamist group and deadly protests over a fuel subsidy removal.
Are the Taliban poised to enter into new negotiations? They say they are and will open a political office in Qatar to prove it. Meanwhile, people in Beijing want the Chinese government to take a leaf out of the US's book when it comes to pollution. Finally, in India’s Kashmir valley, many of the area's Christians were forced to spend Christmas in fear.
