Pope Francis

ISIL claimed responsibility early on Jan. 22 for Baghdad's suicide attack, via the group's Amaq news agency on its Telegram channel.

Two men blew themselves up in a crowded Baghdad market on Jan. 21, killing at least 32 people in Iraq's first big suicide bombing for three years, authorities said, describing it as a possible sign of the reactivation of the ISIL.

Pope Francis and Britain's Queen Elizabeth became the latest high-profile figures to join the global vaccination campaign against the coronavirus, as the U.K. reported it had surpassed more than three million cases since the pandemic began more than a year ago.

Thousands of truckers endured Christmas Eve stranded near a major British port, ensnared in the chaos unleashed by a new coronavirus strain, as Western nations accelerated vaccination programmes.

Christmas festivities began on Dec. 25, with hundreds of millions across the world under coronavirus restrictions celebrating a pared-down version of a holiday typically marked by travel and large gatherings.

The Vatican announced that Pope Francis will read his Christmas message from inside the Vatican instead of from the outdoor central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica because of new coronavirus restrictions in Italy.

Pope Francis urged world leaders on Thursday to divert funds used for armaments to confront problems such as the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure vaccines reach the poor and most vulnerable nations.

On Tuesday, President Klaus Iohannis penned a message on the unveiling and consecration in Bucharest of a bust of Pope Francis.

A bust of Pope Francis, made by sculptor Darie Dup, will be unveiled next Tuesday on Schitu Magureanu Boulevard in Bucharest.

Surging fatalities in Latin America helped push the global coronavirus death toll above 400,000 on June 7, even as Europe emerged from its virus lockdown with infections increasingly under control there.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke with Pope Francis about the global challenge posed by the coronavirus pandemic and invited him to visit Greece when corcumstances allow it, his office said on Wednesday.