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BBC news 2012-03-26

BBC News with Jerry Smit

The Russian president has warned that a mission to Syria by the UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan may be the last chance to avoid civil war. Dmitry Medvedev was speaking after talks in Moscow with Mr Annan, who wants Russia to take a firmer stance against President Bashar al-Assad. Steve Rosenberg reports from Moscow.

Russia had already declared its support for Kofi Annan's peace initiative. Today, Dmitry Medvedev explained why. This, President Medvedev said, was perhaps the last chance to avoid a protracted bloody civil war in Syria. Moscow is a long-time ally of the Syrian government, a key supplier of arms. The Russians have some influence there. Will they use that to put pressure on President Assad to end the fighting? That's something which President Medvedev did not say.

President Obama has warned North Korea that it could face further sanctions if it goes ahead with its plans to launch a rocket next month. Speaking in Seoul, Mr Obama said it would be difficult to go ahead with a food aid package if Pyongyang carried out the launch. He also criticised China's approach to Pyongyang's actions.

"What I've said to them consistently is rewarding bad behaviour, turning a blind eye to deliberate provocations, trying to paper over these not just provocative words but extraordinarily provocative acts that violate international norms - that's not obviously working."

Pope Benedict has condemned drug trafficking and corruption at a huge open-air Mass in Mexico. Around 300,000 people gathered to hear the Pope's message beside the Christ the King monument in Silao, one of the most important symbols of Mexican Catholicism. James Read has more.

This open-air Mass was the main event of Pope Benedict's first visit to Mexico. He used it to address the country's most pressing problems. In the face of violence, corruption and poverty, he urged Catholics to look to their faith and put aside thoughts of revenge. At a time of suffering, he said, the Church offered consolation, strength and hope. Catholicism is under pressure in Mexico from both secularisation and evangelical churches, but the warm reception given to the Pope shows that it remains deeply embedded in the soul of the nation.

French prosecutors have issued preliminary murder and terrorism charges against the elder brother of Mohammed Merah, the man who shot dead seven people, including Jewish children, in the city of Toulouse. Prosecutors say there are indications that Abdelkader Merah helped his brother to prepare the attacks. But his lawyer said he had no role in the killings and denied earlier reports that he'd been proud of his brother's actions.

World News from the BBC

An explosion in the Colombian capital Bogota has killed three students. The authorities said the blast appeared to have happened by accident as the students were handling explosives and drinking alcohol. Police found bomb-making instructions and propaganda for the Farc rebel group in the wreckage of their flat. A fourth student and several neighbours were injured by the explosion.

People in Senegal have gone to the polls in a run-off vote to decide if the current President Abdoulaye Wade will win a controversial third term. He's facing his former Prime Minister Macky Sall, who has the backing of all the defeated opposition candidates. Thomas Fessy reports from Dakar.

This run-off vote very much felt like a referendum with voters either for or against the incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade. His candidacy for a third term sparked weeks of unrest earlier this year. Candidates who were defeated in the first round last month have all backed Macky Sall, joining an "anyone but Wade" coalition. But both candidates have said they couldn't envisage defeat, prompting fears of renewed violence if the results are disputed when they start to come in.

The Hollywood film director James Cameron has begun a descent to the bottom of the world's deepest ocean trench in the western Pacific. Mr Cameron, who directed the film Titanic, is making the 11km dive in a specially designed submarine to explore and film the floor of the Mariana Trench. If he succeeds, it'll be only the second manned expedition ever to go there and the first for half a century. Mr Cameron will have to spend 10 hours curled up like a foetus in a tiny submersible, the Deepsea Challenger.

Cricket fans who are eagerly awaiting Monday's clash between Sri Lanka and England are furious about a 10-fold increase in ticket prices. Fans who want to go to the opening game in Galle will now have to pay up to $60. A Sri Lankan cricket official told the BBC it was because of the high demand to see England.

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