Pope in Iraq, Sarkozy sentenced, vaccine row, Meghan Markle

"I'm happy to resume my travels." Those were Pope Francis' words to reporters before landing in Iraq, his first trip abroad since the Covid-19 pandemic. Francis, who has had his vaccine shots, is the first pontiff ever to visit the birthland of Abraham. The visit is fraught with sanitary issues, security concerns and a political hornet's nest, Iraq being a land where years of bloodshed have been fuelled by religious and sectarian rivalries. His first thoughts were for a Christian community that's dwindled from 1.2 million to 250,000 since the US-led invasion of 2003.