in just a few days from now, pope francis will fly to egypt to offer his personal support to egypt s coptic christians. he ll find a community filled with apprehension, targeted byjihadist extremists, and subject to persistent discrimination and sectarian violence. elsewhere in the middle east, in syria and iraq, the plight of christians is even worse. my guest today is the general bishop of the coptic church in the uk, bishop angaelos. do christians have any future at all in the middle east? bishop angaelos, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. do you think there is something substantively different about the nature of the threat faced by coptic christians in egypt today? because they have faced threats for many, many years. yes. we have faced threats for centuries, and particularly over the past decades, but to have suicide bombers in churches is is a shift, and it looks like the mirroring of attacks in other parts of the world. and think that is why it has shocked the egyptia
it s 8am in singapore, 1am in london, and 8am in beijing, where china s foreign ministry has raised new worries about north korea s nuclear programme. the chinese foreign ministry has called for calm, and an end to words or actions that could further raise the tension on the korean peninsula. but at the same time, spokesman lu kang said beijing had serious concerns about pyongyang s nuclear ambitions. translation: china s position on north korea s nuclear issue is clear and consistent. we have repeatedly stressed that the situation on the korean peninsula is highly complicated and sensitive. all parties concerned should exercise restraint and make joint efforts to ease tension in the region, rather than provoking each other and making things worse. we hope the countries which are really committed to regional peace will not stoke the tension there. we must guard against anyone who tries to achieve their own political ends by taking advantage of the regional situation to play u