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BBC news 2012-03-27

BBC News with Fiona MacDonald

Pope Benedict has arrived in Cuba at the start of a three-day visit. He was welcomed at the airport by President Raul Castro as well as military bands and an artillery salute. Pope Benedict said he had come to Cuba as a "pilgrim of charity" and would pray for peace, liberty and reconciliation. Sarah Rainsford gives us a sense of the expectations for the visit.

We have a huge amount of expectations surrounding the visit. Part of it simply because Cuba is right now at the centre of world attention and for a politically isolated island like this one, that's something pretty unusual. I spoke to a lot of people who aren't Catholic who say that they'll attend the Masses both in Santiago and in Havana just because they want to be there because it's such a major event for this island. The Catholic Church hopes that this can revitalise the faith on the island of Cuba, which is atheist for 40 years.

President Raul Castro said socialist Cuba allowed full freedom of religion. He stressed that Cuba was determined to defend its independence in the face of the US embargo.

The former head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has been charged in France over his alleged involvement in a vice ring that procured prostitutes. The charges came after he was questioned by judges in the city of Lille over the allegations. Mr Strauss-Kahn was later released on bail. Christian Fraser reports from Paris.

This was a surprise hearing, and it's not yet clear why Dominique Strauss-Kahn was called by magistrates before a scheduled appearance later this week. The allegations relate to his supposed involvement in a vice ring that hired prostitutes for hotel orgies in Lille, Paris and Washington. He's been placed under formal investigation. In other words, the judges believe there is a case to answer. Eight people have already been charged including a senior police officer. Mr Strauss-Kahn is not denying he attended these parties; he denies he knew the women present were prostitutes.

The moderate Islamist Ennahda party, which heads Tunisia's coalition government, says it won't support calls by conservatives to enshrine Islamic law, or sharia, in the country's new constitution. From Cairo, here's Jon Leyne.

The moderate Islamist party that secured the most seats in recent elections want the wording of the old constitution to remain the same, stating only that Islam is the state religion. That will disappoint conservatives and relieve liberals and secularists who fear a tide of Islamism sweeping across the region in the wake of recent revolutions.

Clashes have broken out between armed forces from Sudan and South Sudan in several disputed border regions. Both sides accuse each other of starting the fighting, which comes a week before the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is due to visit the Southern capital Juba for a summit. An armed forces spokesman in Juba told the BBC it was the biggest confrontation since the South gained independence last July.

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The Israeli foreign ministry says Israel is cutting all contact with the United Nations Human Rights Council after it condemned Jewish settlement building in the West Bank and decided to set up a committee to investigate the issue. A foreign ministry spokesman said that Israel would not allow any mission from the Human Rights Council to enter Israel or the West Bank.

A member of the Nato-led forces in Afghanistan has been shot dead by a man dressed in Afghan police uniform in the east of the country. An Isaf spokesman said the incident happened at a police checkpoint. Earlier in a separate incident in the southern province of Helmand, two British soldiers were killed by a man in Afghan army uniform. The attacker died when coalition forces returned fire. Unofficial reports suggest the incident was inside a military base in Helmand province.

The German car maker BMW is recalling 1.3 million cars worldwide due to a battery fault that could result in electrical problems or even a fire. From Berlin, Stephen Evans reports.

The luxury car maker said it was recalling all its middle of the range Series 5 and Series 6 models built from 2003 until 2010. The problem is a cover on a cable, which may have been badly fitted so leading to the electrical system not working properly and perhaps even to a fire. But BMW emphasised that it knows of no cases where there have been car crashes or people injuring themselves.

The BBC has learnt that the British government is in talks to sell a majority state-owned bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, to Abu Dhabi. It could sell up to a third of its 80% stake in RBS. A BBC correspondent says if the sale goes ahead, it's likely to make a loss. The government invested more than $72bn of taxpayers' money four years ago to stop it collapsing.

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