the pope has said he will take part in the mass celebrating palm sunday in the vatican. a smiling pope francis was discharged from a hospital in rome in just the last few hours where he was receiving treatment for bronchitis. our correspondent jenny hill is in rome. it s a lovely morning in rome. good news for the pope. it s a lovely morning in rome. good news for the pope. good news of the tens of thousands news for the pope. good news of the tens of thousands of news for the pope. good news of the tens of thousands of people - news for the pope. good news of the tens of thousands of people who - news for the pope. good news of the | tens of thousands of people who have come here to saint peters square. it s an enormous significance to catholics the world over because it s not holy week, the the most significant week in the catholic calendar. many were horrified on the idea that the pope might not be able to participate in the proceedings. he appeared very relaxed, smil
the pope has said he will take part in the mass celebrating palm sunday in the vatican. the 86 year old was discharged from a hospital in rome in the last few hours where he was receiving treatment for bronchitis. smiling and leaning on a cane as he left rome s gemelli hospital, the pontiff greeted well wishers and joked he was still alive. the vatican said he d resumed some work duties while in hospital, baptising a new born baby as well as sharing a dinner with some of the doctors and nurses. earlier i spoke to our correspondentjenny hill who had the latest on the ground. he s now out of hospital. as you say, he appeared very relaxed, smiling as he greeted well wishers outside the hospital, telling reporters that he will participate in that mass right here tomorrow. and, of course, you know, pope francis himself is more than aware that talk of his impending either resignation or demise have been filling the newspapers here, you know, joking with reporters. well, i m still
we will start in iran. politicians in iran are insisting that wearing headscarfs should be enforced rigorously they re demanding that judges enforce the law. across the country, a growing number of women are going out without hijabs in public. joining here with me is parham ghobadi from bbc persian service. just talk us through what is happening right now. why are authorities cracking down now? because of what we see is happening today in iran is that many women in big cities like tehran and other major cities, theyjust walk big cities like tehran and other major cities, they just walk around on the streets without headscarves and without hijab. without hijab, not only headscarves, for four decades iranian women had to wear to walk in the streets. now we see especially young women walking on the streets without any sort of hijab and iranian politicians and iranian dutch mic that has frustrated iranian hardliners. so the regime rigid regime is a a difficult position becaus
welcome to bbc news. the authorities in iran are vowing to enforce the wearing the latest series of tornadoes to have ripped through parts of the united states has left at least 11 people dead, they were killed in the states of arkansas and illinois. dozens have been injured and tens of thousands have lost power. some pictures coming through to us in the last half hour show the extent of the damage to homes in this residential area in the state of illinois. the picture is no better in arkansas where you can see homes have been completely flattened and businesses forced to close after devastating damage. the governor there, sarah huckabee sanders, has declared a state of emergency. here s sancha berg. dozens of storms and tornadoes left a trail of destruction. two of the fiercest touchdown in the southern state of arkansas, tearing off roofs, bringing down power lines, sweeping through homes with incredible force. the volume of itjust seems rather intense and it was extremely