BBC News with Fiona MacDonald

Prince William's wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, has given birth to a son. Palace officials say the baby was born at 24 minutes past four in the afternoon and weighs eight pounds six ounces-- that's just over three and a half kilograms. The boy, who will be known as the Prince of Cambridge, is the third in line to the British throne and would in time also become head of state of 15 other Commonwealth countries. A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were delighted with the news. Rob Broomby reports from outside the hospital where the baby was born.

It's a boy. The news was carried by a messenger from the hospital unit where the duchess is recovering to Buckingham Palace shortly after a statement was released to the press. The letter has been placed on an easel there with the flourish of a royal proclamation of old. William and Kate's first child, the new-born prince, will be the third in line to the throne. The birth will mark a change in focus for the royal couple as they grapple with family life and duties in the media spotlight. Mother and son are doing well. Both families have been informed. The duchess will stay in hospital overnight.

William's father, Prince Charles, said he was enormously proud and happy to become a grandfather for the first time. Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron hailed the royal birth as an important moment in the life of the nation, but above all, a wonderful moment for a warm and loving couple.

"It's wonderful news from St Mary's, Paddington, and I'm sure that right across the country and indeed right across the Commonwealth people will be celebrating and wishing the royal couple well. It is an important moment in the life of our nation, but I suppose, above all, it's a wonderful moment for a warm and loving couple who got a brand-new baby boy.”

The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canadians were delighted to learn of the arrival of the newest member of the royal family who would be a future sovereign of Canada.

Huge crowds have welcomed Pope Francis in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in his first overseas visit as head of the Roman Catholic Church. He joined a parade through the streets of Rio in an open vehicle, dismissing the authority’s advice to use a bullet-proof popemobile. The Argentine-born pope returns to his native South America to join more than a million Roman Catholics from all over the world in a youth festival. Here's Julia Carneiro.

Thousands of people have been crowding the streets of Rio city centre to greet Pope Francis outside the city's Metropolitan Cathedral. People in the city centre where the pope will pass on his popemobile are chanting, waving their arms and carrying flags of their countries. Over 300,000 people registered for the World Youth Day, and here, there are flags from Mexico, Paraguay, and especially Argentina, where the pope was born and most foreign visitors are coming from.

That report from Julia Carneiro reporting from Rio de Janeiro there on the pope's visit.

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Officials in Iraq say they fear several senior al-Qaeda prisoners have escaped in a concerted assault on two prisons near Baghdad. One official said as many as 500 inmates got away from the Abu Ghraib prison. In a similar attack on the Taji prison, officials said the guards stopped anyone escaping. In total, 29 people were reported to have been killed. Here's Richard Galpin.

Suicide bombers detonated cars packed with explosives outside the gates of Abu Ghraib as other militants opened fire on the guards. More suicide bombers then entered the jail on foot. The well-planned attacks succeeded in freeing a large number of prisoners. One politician in Baghdad is quoted as saying around 500 had escaped, including many senior members of al-Qaeda. But this has not been confirmed so far by the government.

The United States has welcomed the European Union's decision to list the military wing of the Lebanese group Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation. The White House spokesman said the EU move, which makes it illegal to raise funds for Hezbollah in Europe, sent a message to the Lebanese group that it could not operate with impunity.

One person has been killed and 26 injured in renewed clashes between supporters and opponents of the deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo. Rival activists threw stones at each other in Tahrir Square and police fired tear gas to try to disperse the crowds. Twenty of Mr Morsi's supporters have been arrested for possession of illegal weapons.

The United Nations children's agency, Unicef, says 125 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to female genital mutilation; a little further 30 million are at risk in the next decade. In what it called the most comprehensive compilation of data ever, Unicef questioned people in 29 countries, mainly in Africa and in the Middle East.

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