March 13, 2021

The Pope and the Ayatollah

28 minutes

Pope Francis' recent visit to Iraq was the first by a pontiff to the country. It was aimed at boosting the moral of the persecuted Christian minority and promoting inter-religious dialogue. Mark Lowen travelled with the papal delegation and witnessed the moment the Pope met the most powerful Shia cleric in Iraq - the Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani.

In Mozambique the government is struggling to deal with armed groups whose motives are often unclear. So as reports started coming in, in recent years, of an Islamist insurgency in the far north –– it wasn’t easy to know who the players were. Since 2017 there have been repeated accounts of attacks – and military reprisals – in Cabo Delgado province. Andrew Harding visited the region.

Singapore has taken pride in its track and trace technology throughout the pandemic. Now, it is in the midst of a mass vaccination drive and has chosen to prioritise workers in the aviation and maritime industries. Karishma Vaswani went to Singapore’s main airport which has dedicated a whole terminal to the vaccine roll-out.

In Liberia, the business of farming sea cucumbers is proving profitable for some. The leathery marine animals are mainly sold to China where they are seen as an edible delicacy. But some species are becoming endangered. Lucinda Rouse met one man who runs a farming business - and watched a haul of sea cucumbers being brought in.

The Pacific island of Kiribati is said to be only one of a dozen nations which hasn't reported any Covid cases. Authorities there want to keep it that way. Last year many thousands of sailors from Kiribati were unable to return home before borders were sealed off. Nick Beake met a group who were stranded in Germany.

Presenter: Kate Adie

Producer: Serena Tarling

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