BBC news with David Austin.
The US state of Michigan has appointed an expert in corporate bankruptcy as the emergency manager of the financially distressed city of Detroit. It's the biggest state takeover of a major US city for years. Jonny Dymond reports.
Michigan's state governor Rick Snyder announced that his candidate virtually certain to be accepted for emergency financial manager was Kevyn Orr, a lawyer with a background in restructuring, the governor did not means his words. This is a crisis, he said, Detroit is broke and bleeding, its population has fallen from a high of two million to around 700,000, its services are overstretched, its financial future deeply uncertain. This may not be the city's nadir, bankruptcy still looms if Mr. Orr can't get a grip on Detroit's finances.
Pope Francis has celebrated mass in a Sistine Chapel for the first time since assuming office. Speaking without notes, the Pope said little in his homily to review his vision for the future of the church beyond urging his fellow cardinals to shun worldliness and be more focused on the Gospels. Otherwise, he said, the Roman Catholic Church risked being reduced simply to a non-governmental organization.
"We can walk as long as we want, we can build many things, but if we don't confess to Jesus Christ, this doesn't work, we will become a compassionate NGO." The organization of Islamic cooperation has expressed its hopes for better relations between Islam and Christianity under Pope Francis, that was the case under his predecessor. The head of the organization said in a letter of congratulation to the new pope that he hoped for cordiality and sincere friendship.
The worst offending countries involved in the illegal ivory trade had been given a strict deadline to improve the situation or face sanctions. The decision was taken on the final day of a major international conference on regulating the trade in wildlife species. Danny Aeberhard has more.
The body that regulates the wildlife trade CITES has singled out 8 countries for particular attention. These include the nations, where most illegal ivory ends up, China and Thailand, but also three African states, where elephant poaching is a serious problem, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and three major transit states Malaysia, Vietnam and Philippines. Six have submitted plans to tackle the problem, but CITES says all eight could be sanctioned if action isn't taken by 2014. Danny Aeberhard.
The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has defiantly rejected criticism of Constitutional changes. There has been been concern in the European union and among human rights groups at curbs on the power of the Constitutional court, the central bank and the media. But Mr. Orban said not one could present a singel fact to back up accusations that the changes were anti-democracy.
World news from the BBC.
United States Defense Department says one of its military aircraft has fired a flare to warn off an Iranian fighter jet which came too close to a US surveillance drone operating over the Gulf. The Pentagon Press secretary Gorge Little said the incident occurred on Thursday when the Iranian aircraft came within 30 kilometers of the unarmed drone. He said the drone and two escorts were flying over international waters at all times.
The British Prime Minister David Cameroon has met the French President Francis Hollande for talks on the crisis in Syria. Mr Hollande echoed a call from his Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius for an end to the European Union's arms embargo on Syria. Mr. Hollande said this would help the rebels who are trying to remove the government of President Assad.
"We also have to assume our responsibilities, we can not allow people to be massacred as they are today by a regime which has shown that for the moment it does not want to have any discussions or political transitions."
A series of coordinated car bomb and suicide attacks have hit Iraqi government buildings in Baghdad, at least 24 people were killed. The Foreign Culture and Justice Ministries were struck, all close together in the heart of the capital, a number of gunmen were killed.
The South African Health Minister says nearly 30% of school girls are HIV positive compared with just 4% of boys, because older man are exploiting the girls, Aron Motsoaledi said it was clear that the girls were not having sex with boys at their own age, but with men he described as sugar daddies.
Police here in Britain have arrested the editor of a national newspaper, his deputy and two other former editors over phone hacking allegations. All four are from the Mirror group. It's the first time newspaper journalists outside the News-Corp, media empire belonging to Rupert Murdoch have been arrested in connection with the scandal.