Pope holds his own in the tweet stakes

Pope Francis has racked up 40 million followers on Twitter, the Vatican said on Wednesday, underlining the Catholic leader’s status as one of the world’s biggest social media players.

The total, spread across accounts in nine languages, leaves Francis, 80, neck and neck with his occasional online sparring partner, US President Donald Trump (40.3 million followers), but still trailing the likes of Katy Perry (104 million followers).