A decade on, Spain remembers Tuesday as the day Al-Qaeda-inspired bombers ripped asunder four packed commuter trains, killing 191 people, as its security forces now grapple with new and emerging jihadist threats. The Spanish royal family led by King Juan Carlos, as well as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, will join a mass for victims in Madrid's Almudena Cathedral, a solemn ceremony for a nation still wary of extremist Islamists and "lone wolves" lured to their cause. The shrapnel-filled bombs detonated at 7:40 am on March 11, 2004, in packed commuter trains headed to Madrid's main Atocha railway station, massacring 191 people and wounding about 2,000. Antonio Gomez, a married 48-year-old bank computer designer with daughters now aged 10 and 15, was in a train at Atocha when a bomb detonated.

Scotland lock Jim Hamilton wants to end his career having won a Six Nations title and believes that is a realistic prospect. Earlier in the Championship they suffered a humiliating 20-0 loss to England in Edinburgh. But they were just some 80 seconds away from beating title contenders France at Murrayfield on Sunday only for Jean-Marc Doussain to convert a somewhat fortunately-awarded penalty to give Les Bleus a lucky 19-17 win. Scotland have not won the tournament since claiming the final edition of the then Five Nations in 1999 and 31-year-old Hamilton, who plays his club rugby for French side Montpellier, knows he may not have many more chances to lift the Championship trophy.

In his first year, Pope Francis has blown a breath of fresh air through the Catholic Church that has been felt across the globe. But there is no doubt that he has shaken up the way things are done at the head of the Church, triggering concern, reticence and even a degree of opposition within the Vatican establishment. Elected exactly a year ago on Thursday, Francis quickly developed a rapport with the faithful far beyond the confines of the Holy See.

Socialist Michelle Bachelet, on a mission to narrow the gap between rich and poor, was to be sworn in Tuesday for a second term as Chile's president. The 62-year-old, who initially served as the South American country's first female leader between 2006 and 2010, defeated conservative Evelyn Matthei in a landslide runoff on December 15. In this second stint at the helm, Bachelet will have a chance to cement her legacy as a transformative leader who experienced the horrors of the 1973-1990 Augusto Pinochet military dictatorship firsthand. Her father died after being tortured for remaining loyal to leftist president Salvador Allende in the 1973 coup that saw Pinochet come to power.