this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 11: the family of shamima begum say she should face a police investigation, but they want the government to help bring her home from syria. thousands of criminals are to be monitored 2a hours a day using gps tracking technology. the funeral of footballer emiliano sala, who was killed when his plane crashed into the channel, is taking place in argentina. the presidential election in nigeria has been postponed by a week, five hours before voting was due to begin. and dateline london, here on bbc news in half an hour, discusses the labour leader jeremy corbyn‘s moves on brexit. that's with carrie gracie. good morning and welcome to bbc news. the family of a teenager from london who travelled to syria to join

the group that called itself islamic state have said they would welcome a police investigation into her actions, but they think the government should help to bring her home. shamima begum, who is now 19 years old, is pregnant and living at a refugee camp. ben ando reports. al—hol refugee camp in northern syria, it's here shamima begum and hundreds of others have come after fleeing the imminent fall of the islamic state. now 19 and heavily pregnant, she may give birth at any moment. her family have appealed to the british government to get her home, saying in a statement... shamima left the uk four years ago with three friends. in interviews now she seems unrepentant and the home secretary said he wants to block her return,

though it's not certain he can. it is morally unacceptable to refuse her entry, as well is legally unacceptable, because otherwise she would be stateless and no person in the world can be stateless under the law. her family say she'd been brainwashed. and some believe that process can be reversed. we have worked over the last ten years with fairly hardline, violent extremists, who have renounced their ideology, have remorse for their actions, and have taken part, actually, in helping others move away from extremist tendencies and violent ideologies. mi6 has warned that returnees can bring with them dangerous skills and shamima herself has said that she expects to face a police investigation and, possibly, terrorism charges. ben ando, bbc news. jim matthews is a former british soldier who fought with kurdish forces against isis in 2015. mr matthews was charged with terror offences by the british government,

which were later dropped. hejoins me now. thank you for coming in. first of all, in the case of shamima begum, what do you make of the situation she finds herself in? what does the british law say about this because my own experiences of british terror law is it is not clear, not consistent, not readily understandable or predictable? it should be all of those things. i think she is in a separate category from the fact all is fighters and militants and so on. i understand the case may not be straightforward because she was a child when she went there. she could have been groomed and brainwashed. she has been pregnant and so on. this case does not exist in isolation. the people of that region, syria generally, and the north of syria, where i thought, simply do not have the infrastructure and resources to

cope with the thousands of captured is fighters, of terrors, also the refugees. the kurdish forces that i fought alongside were very recently considering releasing a large number of is fighters because they simply cannot hold onto them, they do not have the capacity. in other words, if there is any process of prosecuting her, it would have to be donein prosecuting her, it would have to be done in this country? she is a british citizen and we are told she is entitled to come back. should she be allowed to get off a flight and resume a normal life? she will not be subjected to criminal proceedings where she has, i do not think, it is not feasible. there is a case for saying there is an international responsibility here. the kurdish led forces were asking host countries, the us, uk, britain, france, to take some of these people back and try them at home. there is clearly a

great deal of reluctance politically to do that? understandable fears about if someone comes by, will they simply bring the ideology with them, adi has committed to the cause as they were when they went out and made to be a security risk in the future? how should that handled? it is not simple or a call i would like to make but there is an international responsibility. it is not enough to follow the katie hopkins brigade and say, we do not wa nt hopkins brigade and say, we do not want to. this case does not exist in isolation, it is a world problem and it should be dealt with at that level. are you surprised we are not better prepared for this because we have known that is has been on the defensive for a few months, and we are told by the security services that they have quite a large number of people who left this country to go and fight for is? my own experience of british terrorism law leads me to think it is in disarray. what happened to you when you chose to come by? you were obviously

fighting against is but to go off to fighting against is but to go off to fight for another country, another entity, you are technically breaking the law anyway because you are supposed to not do that, you're supposed to not do that, you're supposed to not do that, you're supposed to fight as a british citizen. why have i not been prosecuted? exactly. citizen. why have i not been prosecuted ? exactly. what citizen. why have i not been prosecuted? exactly. what happened to you? it has been argued that i broke the law technically. charges we re broke the law technically. charges were dropped. i did not break the law. the law is not clear consistent. it is broadly worded and open to interpretation. it has a lwa ys open to interpretation. it has always been controversial. when it was brought in, it was argued in the commons that it could be used against kurdish people fighting against kurdish people fighting against saddam hussein, and who then came to the uk. jack straw, the then home secretary, said that was ludicrous. what happened when you got of the ferry? i was arrested immediately. where you debrief, did they want to know about what you had seen, where they are looking for

information, or were they looking at you as a subject? i was questioned widely at first. i do not think the special branch officers who picked me up had much of the breed. they did not know much though it was casting a very wide net. when i was taken to london, to a police station in london, i was questioned by far more experienced and knowledgeable special branch officers. their questions were very specific. do you think that is the sort of interrogation that shamima begum should face? they have lots of intelligence about is militants and their supporters. the problem is what they do without intelligence and how they use and when. my legal tea m and how they use and when. my legal team have told me, it sometimes happens that the british intelligence services are reluctant

to give over intelligence to a defence lawyer, which they obviously have to do if they try someone. and that makes it difficult to mount a defence. and people potentially slip the net. apparently that is a factor. these are interesting questions they will have to look at closely before they decide what to do with shamima begum. absolutely. jim matthews, former british soldier who fought alongside kurdish forces against islamic state, thank you for joining us. a 27—year—old man has appeared before magistrates in exeter this morning, charged with the murder of three elderly men. the bodies of two 84—year—old twins and an 80—year—old man were found in the city less than 2a hours apart. alexander lewis—ra nwell from croyde in north devon is also charged with two offences of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. the case has been sent to the crown court. mr lewis—ranwell has been remanded in custody. thousands of criminals in england and wales will be tagged with gps trackers to allow authorities to constantly track them. the current tags, which are worn by around 60,0000 people, are linked to a fixed address,

such as an offender's home, with alerts generated if they are not there at certain hours. our home affairs correspondent danny shaw reports. we have gps technology in our cars and on our smartphones. after 100 yards... now it's being used to track the movements of offenders and suspects on bail. this is a demonstration of how the satellite tags are fitted, using an expert who has helped set up the scheme. the ankle tag sends an alert if someone goes to an area they're banned from or isn't attending a rehabilitation course when they should be. beeping. it gives us very detailed information as to where that person potentially has been, where they've been tracked. it gives us evidence to be able to present to the relevant criminal justice agency to take that appropriate action. the offender satellite tracking has been operating in three areas since last november. it'll be rolled out across england and wales by the summer. tags will monitor 4,000 people every year. it'll be used in cases of domestic

abuse and stalking to keep offenders away from victims. david blunkett was the first politician to trial satellite tracking, launching a scheme when he was home secretary 15 years ago. but progress stalled due to contractual disputes and technical problems. the government will be hoping it has more success this time. danny shaw, bbc news. lady falkender, who was political secretary to the former prime minister harold wilson, has died at the age of 86. formerly known as marcia williams, she was a controversial and influentialfigure. she was the former labour prime minister's right—hand woman during his two periods in office during the 1960s and ‘70s , and was blamed for his controversial resignation honours list in 1976, a document which became known as the lavender list. a planned visit by the chancellor, philip hammond, to china next week is no longer going ahead.

the move follows reports china was angered by a speech this week in which the defence secretary, gavin williamson, signalled the uk s intention to send an aircraft carrier to the pacific. a spokesman for the treasury said the visit was never confirmed or announced. president muhammadu buhari has called for nigerians "to refrain from all civil disorder and remain peaceful" after presidential elections there were postponed by a week, just hours before polls were due to open across the country. the independent national electoral commission blamed the delay on logistical difficulties, after reports of problems distributing voting material. a short time ago, i spoke to our news correspondent in abuja, tomi 0ladipo, who brought us up to date with the latest developments. the commission gave this middle of the night statement, and did not open the floor for any questions from journalists when they made the announcement. they said that they had reviewed their operational and logistical processes and found that it would not be feasible

to hold the elections this weekend. and it is interesting, because they had been questioned for weeks, even months now, because there were lots of problems coming up and they insisted that they were ready to hold the elections and they would not postpone and just a matter of hours before the vote, they called it off. postponed it, rather. there have been some reports that there had been missing ballot papers, and other materials to do with the election, that the commission was trying to track down before it would allow polling to take place. have you heard any more about that? well, there were lots of questions and problems that people had raised to do with the ballot papers, to do with some of the sensitive material, as it is called, like results sheets, documents on which the votes are tallied. some people even complained that they had either not received their voters' cards or had found multiple voters' cards for an

individual at the stations. there had been lots of these problems but the electoral commission insisted that these were not significant enough to cause a disruption to the electoral calendar, but now it turns out they have changed their minds. a former cardinal has been removed from the priesthood by the catholic church after being found guilty of sexually abusing children and adults. theodore mccarrick was once archbishop of washington dc. he is the most high—profile catholic figure to be dismissed from the priesthood in modern times. some other stories this hour: the government is considering forcing mobile phone companies to open their networks to competitors, to improve reception in rural areas. ministers want 95% of the uk to have a mobile signal by 2022. 0ne—fifth of the uk lacks an adequate signal for basic mobile services. one of britain's busiest railway lines will be closed for nine days from today, causing major disruption to passengers. network rail is carrying out major

engineering work between three bridges and brighton, a stretch which it says is the cause of many delays. child car seats which are illegal to use in the uk are still available to buy online, according to a consumer watchdog. "which?" says it found the seats, which are made of fabric, offer "almost no protection" in a crash and sell for as little as £8. the funeral of the footballer emiliano sala is being held in his home town in argentina. the 28—year—old striker died after the plane he was flying in crashed into the english channel as he was travelling to his new club, cardiff city. aisling mcveigh has more. a hometown hero returned too soon. for the residents of this small argentinian town, this was not the way they wanted to welcome back one of their most successful sons. translation: without a doubt, we would never have imagined everything that we are seeing now. there are 3000 of us and we remain shocked and overcome

by the situation, but still trying to give emiliano sala the farewell that he deserves. emiliano sala grew up playing football here in progreso until the age of 1a, when he left to pursue bigger opportunities. recognition seemed to come belatedly to the 28—year—old, when he was bought by cardiff city from nantes, for a club record of £15 million on the 19th of january. but then, just two days later, the plane carrying him and pilot david ibbotson, from france to his new home, crashed into the english channel. after a two—week search, mr sala's body was found in the wreckage. mr ibbotson remains missing. now the residents here are preparing to say their final goodbye while promising that mr sala will stay eternally in their hearts. aisling mcveigh, bbc news. for many military veterans, returning to civilian life can be difficult, not least because of the mental scars that are left

after spending time in a warzone. military charities have warned they are struggling to cope with the increasing demands on their mental health services. here's our defence correspondent jonathan beale gary still has nightmares about his time in afghanistan. he did two tours of helmand and saw friends killed in combat. like many soldiers, gary has been left with visible scars, too. but his wound wasn't caused by bombs or bullets. he lost his leg after he fell on it. he blacked out after self—medicating with drugs and alcohol. well, there was loads out there for me. but it doesn't come knocking on your door. i'm worse now than i've ever been, to tell you the truth, really. i'm really, really bad. i'm suicidal at the minute, so.... gary is being helped by two other veterans who've set up a helpline for comrades in crisis. this is a message i got yesterday. a lady calling. i won't tell you the name. she's worried her grandson

is about to take his own life. so david calls him. eventually i got him on the phone. we had a long chat. i got him to come down from his crisis point. he needs to know that there are people out there who can help them. david and simon run courses for those who work and live with veterans. their focus is providing immediate support. the british military is exceptional in what it does in training people and moulding them into what they need to be for whatever role they choose to do. the same isn't done preparing people to become civilians again. for too many, help's come too late. i never thought that he was suicidal. you know, ijust thought that he was, you know, he couldn't sleep. they can see that somebody has, unfortunately, lost their limbs, or whatever, but with mental illness it'sjust invisible. the ministry of defence is stepping up research, support, and funding for vetera ns' mental health, but it's notjust about money. it's the system that needs fixing. jonathan beale, bbc news.

the headlines on bbc news: the family of shamima begum, the teenager who went to syria to join the islamic state group, has called on the uk to bring her back "urgently". thousands of criminals in england and wales will be tagged with gps trackers to allow authorities to trace them 2a hours a day. the funeral of footballer emiliano sala, who died in a plane crash in the english channel last month as he headed for his new club cardiff city, is taking place in his native argentina. deep beneath the valleys of south wales, the rhondda railway tunnel took coal to swansea's ports for more than 70 years. it closed in 1968, but now campaigners are hoping to turn it into one of the world's longest underground cycle routes. tomos morgan has been to take a look inside. hidden away under the mist and green hills is a highway. an old rail track that once connected the coal towns

of the valleys and the ports of south wales. and after 60 years of laying dormant, the rhondda tunnel could get a new lease of life as a cycle path. but at the moment, this is the only way down. it is a 60 foot abseil down into the heart of the tunnel. hello? hello. i'm hugh. steve mackey has grown up with this lying on his doorstep. i started coming in here when i was ten and i would sit there marvelling at the work and the workmanship and the craftsmanship of the tunnel. opened in 1890, for almost 80 years, trains ferried coal and also passengers through the hills to the port of swansea. after a temporary closure in the late ‘60s on safety grounds, it never reopened. its rebirth as a cycling

footpath has become the rhondda tunnel society's full—time goal. i don't care how long it takes to open the tunnel, it needs to be opened because it a magnificent track. atjust over two miles long, this would be the longest cycling tunnel in europe and the second longest in the world. if it were to reopen. but the project is still in its infancy. although a recent survey concluded that most of the structure was in a good condition, the cost to rejuvenate the site could be as much as £10 million. yet one of the engineering consultants has already tested out the proposed new cycle track. the unique experience was not be able to see where you are going because both ends are blocked up, there was no light, as much as you could say at the end of the tunnel. gas monitor reading... the next stage is transferring ownership from highways england, who originally ran the railway, to local authorities here in wales. after that it will be full steam

ahead to get the funds in place so that this old rail track can be what the heart of this community wants. tomos morgan, bbc news. now a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. good morning. it wasn't so long ago that newport county were out of business — they only made it back into the league in 2013 — but today they're hoping to pull off what their manager says would be the biggest fa cup shock of all time. they've already knocked out middlesbrough and leicester, and today they host the premier league champions manchester city, for the chance to make it through to the quarterfinals. we've got to believe we've got a chance of winning. they are exceptional — the first team, the second team, or the third team. i think their under—23s would be good team as well.

so it's going to be a very, very difficult evening, but we've got belief, we've got to go out there and play to the highest level that we can play at, and hopefully a few of them have an off day, because then it'll get interesting. we're going to suffer, because they are taller and stronger than us, so in some areas they are better than us, and we have to try to bring our game in the way we are stronger than them. so that is... which team is going to control these areas or bring their own game in their own side — in that moment it will be an advantage to us. the weekend's action got under way last night and watford are the first team into the quarterfinals. they beat qpr 1—0 at loftus road, etienne capoue with the goal that took them through. daniel armstrong scored his first goal for ross county, to help them into the scottish challenge cup final — and it was something special. his corner curled straight into the net, setting them on their way to a 2—1victory over

east fife. they'll play either connah's quay or edinburgh city, who meet in the second semifinal tonight. the leaders of rugby union's premiership, exeter, had a bit of a shock last night. gloucester came from behind to beat them by 24—17, ben morgan scoring the try that ensured his side became only the third team to beat exeter this season. and in the pro1li, edinburgh fought off a spirited dragons side to secure a crucial bonus—point win, and stay in the hunt for a play—off place. all yesterday's results and today's fixtures are on the bbc sport website. great britain's men have suffered their first defeat in the hockey pro league. they lost 2—0 to australia in perth, to drop down to third in the table, behind belgium and the netherlands. britain's next match is away to argentina in april. it's semifinals day at the welsh 0pen snooker, with a last four not too many people would have predicted. this evening hossein vafaei

from iran will take on australia's neil robertson. before that stuart bingham is up against the man who pulled off the biggest shock of the tournament. joe o'connor, who only turned professional last year and is ranked 102, earned his place by knocking outjohn higgins, the four—time world champion. coverage is on bbc wales, as well as the red button and bbc sport website, from one o'clock. just over two years ago british sprinterjames ellington was injured in a road accident, alongside fellow sprinter nigel levine. the pair were riding on motorbikes when they were involved in a crash in tenerife. reports at the time suggested that ellington‘s injuries were "career ending", but he's made a remarkable recovery, and is ready to return. a lot of people are going, you've already achieved it. but in my head, for me, i've always done athletics to be, kind of... i want to be one of the best in the world, or i want to be the best. i love the sport, but i don't want to do it just to keep fit. so when i come back —

that's not a question — i'll be back. but that's not my goal. my goal is to come back and be the same, if not better than i was before. that's all the sport for now. now for the weather. not quite the clear blue skies many had yesterday but some sunshine through this weekend. cloud at times. the mild themes continue as well. the cloud we do have could produce rain here and there but there will be a lot of dry weather here and there. if you shower is still to the north of scotland. cloud to the south. a south—west wind blowing, still feeding in mild air. temperature is not as yesterday. more sunshine for

northern england this afternoon compared to the morning. sunny spells in northern ireland and pleasant conditions in areas of scotland. but shower is pushing in a shetland. much of the uk is in double figures if not the low teens. into tonight the cloud will strengthen more. —— the wind will strengthen more. —— the wind will strengthen and the clyde will break up. damper into northern ireland as we head towards tomorrow. temperatures not dropping a huge amount at night. frost—free on a sunday morning. this weather front will be pushed in by low pressure from the atlantic on sunday. but as it goes eastwards it will thin and fragmented. in northern ireland, enjoy an extra few hours in bed perhaps until the rain has passed through late morning. some rain

across the rest of the country but even that fades away. eastern england is best for sunshine in the morning but claudia in the afternoon. monday, a bit breezy across the north of scotland. wind up to 50 mph. some rain there and also in northern england. further south, cloud breaks up at times and there is some sunshine. temperatures are lower than the last few days but still above where they should be. the same into tuesday and wednesday. rain at times in the north and west. hello and welcome to dateline london. i'm carrie gracie. this week: what is the emergency? the us president says it s an invasion of drugs and crime on the southern border. his critics say its a constitutional crisis of his own making. and six weeks to go till march 29th. we take a close look

atjeremy corbyn s moves on the brexit board. my guests today, bronwen maddox, director of the institute for government, 0wen jones, columnist for the guardian newspaper, henry chu, international editor of variety, and thomas kielinger, author and long—time correspondent of die welt. welcome to you all. thanks for joining us. do you want the good news or the bad news? 0n the one hand, the united states avoided another government shutdown this weekend as the president signed a spending bill. 0n the other, he declared a national emergency which democrats condemn as an unconstitutional abuse of power and vow to overturn. henry, let's start with you. did you fall off your chair when you heard there was going to be an emergency? the barfor a there was going to be an emergency? the bar for a following of one's chairduring the bar for a following of one's chair during this presidency is pretty high. this did not clean it for me. from the beginning of this

presidency, donald trump has shown scant regard for the constitution he was sworn to uphold, whether it is the ban on muslims entering the country or his own financial benefit from the presidency. the fact he is moving us into territory that none of us that we could going to come i do not find that surprising. if this was a national emergency, you could have declared it a couple of months ago, before he subjected the us to the longest government shut down in history and