In his annual Christmas Day blessing, the pontiff condemned killing in Iraq, Syria and Pakistan and the "brutal persecution" of religious and ethnic minorities.
As part of a series on hashtag activism in 2014, Audie Cornish speaks with Obiageli Ezekwesili of the Open Society Foundation. Ezekwesili was one of the early promoters of the hashtag #bringbackourgirls, about schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria in April.
In the landscape of modern Africa, they are a link to the long-ago past. They know everything about plants and animals. But their way of life — and language of clicks — may be doomed.
Abdelmalek Gouri had been a wanted criminal in Algeria for nearly 20 years. His Islamic State splinter group was blamed for killing hiker Herve Gourdel in September.
Tunisian voters chose a figure from the regime of the ousted dictator for president - opting for slow change rather than risking the chaos that has occurred after uprisings in other countries.
Tunisians voted Sunday for a new president in a contentious race. The election marks another important milestone in the one country where the Arab Spring has been mostly peaceful.
The election pits interim President Moncef Marzouki against challenger Beji Caid Essebsi, who held a post in the ousted regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.