i'm bob abernethy. it's good to have you with us. >>> protests broke out in egypt this week after the suicide bombing of a coptic christian church in alexandria on new years day. more than 21 people were killed. security officials blamed islamic extremists inspired by al qaeda. muslim, jewish and christian groups in the u.s. condemned the violence, as did president barack obama and pope benedict xvi. meanwhile, the leader of egypt's copts said his country must do more to address the concerns of its christian minority. he met with several muslim leaders, who all appealed for calm following the attack. egypt and several european countries increased security at coptic churches as they prepared to celebrate the coptic christmas on friday. the u.s. state department expressed concern over what it says is an increase in violence against christians. the department cited recent attacks on christians in iraq and nigeria as well as in egypt. >>> in pakistan, funeral services were held for the governor of the punja

>>> welcome, i'm bob abernethy. it's good to have you with us. today, a special report on the events and issues we seahea in 11. we do this with the help of kim lawton, managing editor of this program, kevin eckstrom of religion news service, and e.j. dionne of the brookings institution, "the washington post," and georgetown university. before we begin our discussion, as we close out the first decade of the new millennium we remember some of the stories that set the stage for the news we expect to cover in 2011 and beyond. our managing editor kim lawton took a look back at the events of the last decade. >>> the terrorist attacks on september 11, 2001 were perhaps the defining moment of the decade, and the repercussions are still being felt on many fronts. in the wake of the tragedy, mainstream muslim leaders tried to spread a message that islam is not synonymous with terrorism. but those efforts were complicated by an expanding extremist movement that recruits over the internet, as well as several high-profile arrests of muslims plotting more att

i'm bob abernethy. it's good to have you with us. as anti-government protests continue to build in egypt and other parts of the muslim world, more than 2,000 arab scholars and activists issued an urgent appeal for human rights and democracy. the group's statement said any political reforms must include respect for freedom, including the freedom of religion. and they urged more dialogue between islamists and secularists. the diverse coalition included prominent activists from more th 20 nations. >> meanwhile, a report released this week by the pew forum on religion and public life says the number of muslims in the world will rise at a faster rate than other groups over the next 20 years. the muslim population worldwide is expected to reach 2.2 billion in 2030, up from 1.6 billion today. in the u.s., the number of muslims is expected to double in the next 20 years to more than 6 million. other findings -- pakistan will replace indonesia as home tthe world's largest sli opulation. and in some european coun