Hundreds of mourners flocked to Milan's Sforza Castle Tuesday to pay their respects to Italian literary giant Umberto Eco, the intellectual phenomenon behind the best-selling "The Name of the Rose".

Fans gathered outside the writer's home in the north Italian city applauded as Eco's coffin, laden with white roses, was carried to the imposing 15th century citadel and laid in state in a courtyard, under a presidential guard.

Germany will on Tuesday open a shelter for homosexual refugees with space for more than 120 people, the association behind the project said.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Marcel de Groot, who runs the Schwulenberatung advisory center which is responsible for the project, said the Berlin shelter will house gay, lesbian and transsexual migrants. 

Four Palestinian women have turned heads in the Islamist-run Gaza Strip by doing what would pass unnoticed in many other places in the world: riding their bicycles.

The women are bucking tradition in the enclave hit by three wars since 2008 and under Israeli blockade.

Italian Premier Matteo Renzi on Sunday warned he could call a high-stakes confidence vote in his government in a bid to unlock a parliamentary deadlock over gay civil unions.

"We are at a crossroads," Renzi told a national assembly of his center-left Democratic Party (PD). "I am ready to call a confidence vote."

Pope Francis on Sunday urged Catholic politicians in places which still have the death penalty to suspend executions during his ongoing Holy Year of Mercy.

The specific request was made as part of a broader appeal for an international consensus on abolishing capital punishment, which did not refer to any particular territory or country.

The Philippine Catholic church on Sunday defended boxing hero Manny Pacquiao for his opposition to gay marriage, saying he was only quoting the Bible.

But Father Jerome Secillano also said over radio station DZMM that Pacquiao should respect homosexuals and not judge and condemn them after the eight-division world champion last week described them as worse than animals.

France marks the centenary of the start of the Battle of Verdun -- the longest battle of World War I which became a symbol of the country's suffering -- on Sunday, focusing on educating the young rather than honoring veterans.

With all the combatants now dead, the military element of previous commemorations will be replaced by a visit to the battle site by thousands of French and German children for a memorial ceremony.

Italy was in mourning Saturday following the death of Umberto Eco, the intellectual and literary giant who wrote "The Name of the Rose" and was cherished as one of his country's favorite sons.

Eco, who had been suffering from cancer, passed away at his Milan home late on Friday, his family told Italian media. He was 84. 

Russia's parliament on Friday debated a controversial homophobic bill to fine and jail people for up to 15 days for coming out in public as gay.

Lawmakers expressed support while rejecting the bill in its current wording as not legally valid.

Pope Francis insisted Thursday that abortion was always a crime but hinted that the Church could exceptionally relax its ban on contraception for women at risk of contracting the Zika virus.

"Abortion is not a lesser evil. It is a crime," Francis said in response to a question about how best to combat the outbreak across Latin America of a virus linked to birth defects.