The retired German pontiff has apologized for any "grevious faults" in the way he dealt with sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, but denied any personal wrongdoing.

Pope Francis delivered on the reforms promised years ago by allowing any baptized Catholic — man or woman — to lead major departments at the Vatican.

Huge crowds of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered in Bnei Brak to mourn Chaim Kaniesky, a prominent rabbi. Police were out in force to prevent a repeat of a deadly stampede at a pilgrimage site 11 months ago.

Pope Francis took an elevator to board his flight to Malta to "avoid unnecessary strain." The trip to Malta comes one day after he apologized to Canada's indigenous communities for abuses at residential schools there.

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, on trial for corruption, says the pontiff gave his blessing for payment to a UK security firm to facilitate the release of a Colombian nun being held by an al-Qaeda affiliate in Mali.

Security forces and members of the public clashed repeatedly as pallbearers carried the journalist's coffin. Veteran reporter Shireen Abu Akleh was shot in the head while covering an Israeli military operation.

Israel's police chief has ordered a probe into the actions of officers at the funeral of reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in Jerusalem. Germany's top diplomat, Annalena Baerbock, said she was "deeply shocked" by the events.

Family and friends of British journalist Dom Phillips attended his funeral near Rio de Janeiro. The last rites for Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, who was killed while working with Phillips, were held a day earlier.

South Africa's president calls for a crackdown on the illegal sale of alcohol to underage drinkers, as a thousand mourners turn out for the funeral of the 21 teenagers who died mysteriously in a night club. Also in the programme: protests calling for the restoration of civilian rule continue in Sudan. And finally, an international collective of dancers have been pushing back against the concept of afro dance.

Speaking to reporters while en route home from Canada, Pope Francis said he didn't use the term "genocide" during his trip because it never came to mind.

DW correspondent Jan-Philipp Scholz traveled to the Ukrainian town of Chaplyne and attended the funeral of one of the boys who died in the attack.

John Paul I is known for one of the shortest papal reigns in history, but he has now reached one of the last steps in the Catholic Church's sainthood process.