Hello, this is David Austin with the BBC news.
Pope Francis has decided not to allow married men in the Amazon region to become priests. It comes despite a shortage of clerics in isolated areas, and a vote in favor of such a change by a synod of bishops at the Vatican in October. Our Rome correspondent Mark Lowen reports. It is a highly divisive issue within the Catholic Church whether to allow the ordination of married men in isolated regions of the world, such as the Amazon to address the shortage of priests. Ordinating married men in the Amazon would have made an exception to the tradition of clerical celibacy that has existed within the Roman Catholic Church since the 12th century. The Pope's response will be warmly welcomed by the conservative wing of the church, which had warned that changing celibacy rules in one region of the world could have set a precedent elsewhere. But some on the more reformist wing of the church will see this as a lost opportunity to loosen what is a tradition rather than a doctrine.
The President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that his military will attack anywhere in Syria if Turkish troops currently in the North of the country come under fire again from Syrian government forces. In a speech at an air base in Ankara, the president threatened to use the air force as well as the army. Here's Richard Galpin. President Erdogan's threat comes after recent skirmishes between the two sides killed both Turkish and Syrian troops in the northern province of Idlib. The last area of Syria still under rebel control. Turkey backs some of the rebel groups in the area and is alarmed by the recent major advances of Syrian forces into the province. The president claimed in his speech that Syrian forces were now being pushed back. A senior advisor to President Erdogan told the BBC they would teach the Syrians a lesson.
The veteran Senator Bernie Sanders has narrowly won the New Hampshire primary, the latest stage in the contest to choose a Democratic Party candidate for the White House. He said that his victory was the beginning of the end for President Trump. His success marks him as the front-runner on the left of the party. But for centrists, the picture is less clear.
The Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says his country is failing to meet five of the seven targets meant to improve the lives of indigenous people. The goals were introduced more than a decade ago to address the inequalities faced by Australia's aboriginal and Torres Strait islander populations. From Sydney, Phil Mercer has this report. Soaring rates of incarceration and a widening gap in life expectancy continue to blight the lives of many indigenous Australians. The Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the disadvantages suffered by aboriginal children were a national shame. Indigenous leaders are to be given more control over the way the targets are managed. Phil mercer reporting.
World news from the BBC.
