- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin: Bob Woodward book
- Neural networks, machine learning? Nobel-winning AI science explained
- Boeing delivers 27 MAX jets in September despite strike
- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- Geoffrey Hinton, soft-spoken godfather of AI
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China says to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports
- China stocks rally fizzles on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- China stocks rally peters out on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Taiwan's Foxconn says building world's largest 'superchip' plant
- Nobel literature jury may go for non-Western writer
- From Bolivia to Indonesia, deforestation continues apace
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case faces verdict in sex crimes trial
- Top economic official 'confident' China will hit 2024 growth target
- COP29 fight looms over climate funds for developing world
- Shanghai stocks soar to extend stimulus rally amid Asia-wide drop
- Will Tesla's robotaxi reveal live up to hype?
- 'Invisibility' and quantum computing tipped for physics Nobel
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street falls
- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
Catholic faithful hail 'a great pope' on Benedict's death
Catholics expressed sadness and admiration Saturday for former pope Benedict XVI, following news of his death aged 95.
"We are distraught... despite his critics, he was truly a great pope," said Davide Di Tommaso, 30, as he visited St Peter's Square from the southern Italian region of Molise.
The square in front of St Peter's Basilica was busy with holiday visitors when the news broke, three days after the Vatican had warned that Benedict's health was worsening.
"He was a fighting pope who deeply loved the Church," said Charbel Youssef, a 31-year-old Frenchman visiting on a pilgrimage.
He said he and his fellow pilgrims prayed for the late pope, who shocked the Catholic Church in 2013 by stepping down, citing his declining physical and mental health.
He "truly fulfilled his role as a shepherd on Earth. He took it very seriously, and that was a good thing for us," he said.
Benedict, whose birth name is Joseph Ratzinger, was a brilliant theologian who staunchly defended traditional Catholic values on issues such as abortion and gay marriage.
But he alienated many Catholics, while he also struggled to lead the Church, with his eight-year papacy marred by in-fighting and the global scandal over clerical sex abuse.
Milo Cecchetto, a young Roman, said he had been hit hard by Benedict's death, telling AFP: "He was a very reserved person, but... he did a lot for the Church.
"He opened the way for Francis. We don't yet realise what he did, but I think history will remember it."
Meanwhile in Germany, where Ratzinger was born, flags flew at half-mast across his native Bavaria.
Mourners gathered at St Oswald's church in his home town of Marktl am Inn, where a mass would be held in his honour later Saturday.
Dane Cupic, 68, travelled to Marktl from nearby Austria, saying it was "very important" to be at the church service "to say goodbye".
- 'Great example' -
Benedict's body will be displayed from Monday morning in St Peter's Basilica, to allow the faithful to pay their respects.
The funeral will take place in St Peter's Square on Thursday morning, overseen by Pope Francis, the Vatican said.
The pope emeritus had been living a quiet life in a former convent inside the Vatican grounds since becoming the first pope to resign in six centuries.
Karl Michael Nuck, a 55-year old at St Oswald's church, defended Benedict's record on abuse, saying he was "not the only one who did not sort it out".
It was "a bit one-sided" to blame him alone for the Church's failure to stop paedophile priests.
And in St Peter's Square, United States tourist Michael Dauphinee hailed Benedict as a "great example".
"Finding the courage to say, I'm not what my church needs right now -- I think that's a pretty impressive decision to make," said Dauphinee.
"I'm a Protestant, but as a leader in general, he sets a great example of knowing your own limitations."
Y.Jeong--CPN