Pope Francis on delicate mission in Orthodox Bulgaria

World leaders are gathering in Rome this weekend for the first in-person G20 summit since the pandemic. Thousands of protesters marched to demand climate action.

Jair Bolsonaro's bodyguards attacked reporters who were covering the president as he walked the streets of Rome talking to his supporters. The reporters said they will file a police complaint.

This week, France 24 commemorates the 30 years of the dissolution of the USSR. We continue our journey through former Soviet republics in Georgia, where the Georgian Orthodox Church enjoys considerable power and influence. After 70 years of communist oppression, it turned into a driving force to achieve independence and rebuild the country. Today, its position is threatened by the country’s pro-European liberal youth.

In this edition we head to the Italian capital Rome, which has long attracted the cream of French artists. The prestigious setting of the Villa Medici is home to the Academy of France, and each year a select group of contemporary artists receive a fellowship, allowing them to work on their dream project in a uniquely cossetted setting. Our reporters Luke Brown and Xavier Chemisseur were lucky enough to get a sneak peek of what the artists-in-residence have been working on.

The Russian Orthodox Church supports the invasion of Ukraine. But in Germany, a Russian Orthodox monastery is providing shelter and safety to Ukrainian refugees. Politics, they say, are left at the door.

Italians poured into the streets and squares of Rome in massive numbers on Wednesday as the A.S. Roma soccer team defeated Feyenoord to win the Europa conference league final.

In the southern French city of Nîmes, the passion for Ancient Rome is more alive than ever. For the past decade, the city has been holding the Great Roman Games show every spring. Legionaries, centurions and gladiators invade the city and bring its incredible Roman monuments back to life: in particular the arena, where the Great Games are organised. Thousands of people, young and old alike, turn out to be transported back to the Rome of Julius Caesar.

Giorgia Meloni, whose far-right Brothers of Italy triumphed in Sunday’s general election, has succeeded in channelling both the aspirations of conservative voters and resentment of Mario Draghi’s unelected government, without fully renouncing her party’s neo-fascist roots.

We look at reactions from the European and world papers after Italy elected its first far-right leader. We also look at British reactions to the plummeting of the pound.

In a Facebook post, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni revealed that one of the victims who died in the shooting was her friend.

The election in September of the far-right Giorgia Meloni as Italian premier has sent shockwaves around Europe, not least in Brussels.

In Ukraine, fake news continues to fuel the information war. In recent days, a video purporting to show a Ukrainian Orthodox church on fire has appeared on social networks, with captions accusing "Radical Ukrainians" of arson.