Thousands of mourners dressed in black gathered in Cairo on Tuesday for the funeral of Egypt’s Orthodox Christian Pope Shenouda.

The US sought to drum up international backing for ways to stem the bloodshed in Libya as forces loyal to Moammar Gadaffi waged fierce gun battles.

An absence of Islamist slogans from Tunisia’s revolt punches a hole in the argument of autocrats that they are a bulwark against religious radicals.