"Everybody is consuming more news today than they ever have before, but in different ways," said John David "JD" Long-Garcia, editor-in-chief of Angelus News. "We're looking for ways ... to connect with people on a larger platform."

Duterte, who won by a landslide in the May elections with 16.6 million votes, promised to "listen to the murmurings of the people" as he vowed to relentlessly fight the "problems that bedevil our country."

There were 437 incidents of anti-Muslim hatred recorded in 2015, up from 146 the year before.

In recent weeks debate has erupted over whether there are two popes sharing authority in the church, or whether Francis is the sole successor of St. Peter.

The announcement is an astonishing twist in a political career that saw Boris Johnson serve as lawmaker and mayor, building a public profile built on Latin quips and rumpled eccentricity, while nurturing a poorly concealed ambition to lead his country.

The international community must eventually relocate the more than 60,000 Syrians trapped in the remote desert near the border to safe countries, said Doctors Without Borders, adding that Jordan cannot be expected to shoulder the responsibility alone.