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Today the complex and violent Islamist insurgency which is plaguing the north of Mozambique

and driven more than half a million people from their homes now complicated by the activities

of mercenaries. Where to find a large rather unused space to conduct mass vaccination, why

not try the airport? We hear from Singapore where they're racing to inoculate their priority

group, members of the aviation and maritime industries. We're in Liberia, where the much sought

after but rather unlovely sea cucumber is at risk through overfishing. They sell for a

tidy sum in China but it's a risky business for the divers. And finally a return home for

one of the groups stranded by the pandemic lockdowns and border closures, sailors from the

Pacific Island of Kiribats who found themselves stuck in Germany.

First to Iraq with the Pope, the first such visit by a papal entourage from Rome and entailing

intensive security preparations. The aim was to boost the morale of the dwindling Christian

community which over the last decade has been the target of several attacks by Islamic

state militants. Interreligious dialogue was also on the agenda, a Pope meeting a grand

diatola witnessed by Mark Lohan.

Beyond the gratitude and the relief at receiving it, I felt rather uncomfortable too and actually

slightly uneasy admitting it now that I, a healthy 37 year old, got my two doses of

the coronavirus vaccine well before those whose need is far greater, many elderly or

frontline workers. But I was becoming a rare breed of vamp less ghoulish than it sounds.

Vatican accredited media personnel on board the papal plane to Iraq. And so all 74 vamps

were vaccinated by the Vatican, truly a salvation from the virus.

This was a trip of many firsts, the first ever papal visit to Iraq, Pope Francis's first

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