his funeral will be held on the 5th ofjanuary and will be presided over by pope francis. world health officials call on beijing to share accurate covid data, as england becomes the latest country to control arrivals from china. queen guitarist brian may and members of england s women s football team are among those celebrated in the uk s new year s honours list. the former pope, benedict xvi, has died at the age of 95. the vatican says he passed away this morning at his residence there. his health had been worsening in recent weeks. benedict served as head of the roman catholic church for eight years until 2013, when he became the first pope in 600 years to announce his retirement. he was german by birth, and was known for his conservative theological outlook. bells tolling this was the moment his death was confirmed in rome. you can hear the bells ringing, in st peter s square in vatican city. the vatican says pope benedict s body will lie in state from monday in st peter s
had a difficult papacy. as you - were in touch about? he certainlyl had a difficult papacy. as you said, child sexual abuse scandals dogged much of his time, especially in the latter years. much of his time, especially in the latteryears. but much of his time, especially in the latter years. but it has to be said that he helped to jump start the process to discipline or defrocked these predator priests. compared to his predecessor, he was quite. he was very much quoted for a speech he made following the death of the previous pope when he said how much filth there is within the church. that was a speech that raised eyebrows but was very prophetic. as you said, these child sexual abuse scandals hounded his papacy and also in the year before he resigned his pgpgcy in the year before he resigned his papacy was shaken by this scandal called the vatican vati leaks where