this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at midday: the family of shamima begum say she should face a police investigation, but they want the government to help bring her home from syria. a 27—year—old man apears in court charged with the murders of three elderly men in exeter. thousands of criminals are to be monitored 2a hours a day using gps tracking technology. the funeral of emiliano sala, who was killed when his plane crashed into the channel, is taking place in argentina. and in half an hour here on bbc news, click takes a look at how the future of data storage might be within us all, in our dna. good afternoon 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 the 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. nicola benyahia is a psychotherapist who runs a counselling service forfamilies affected by radicalisation. she set it up in 2015 after her teenage son rasheed left the country

and travelled to syria to join is. he was killed six months later. thank you for being with us on bbc news this afternoon. what sort of factors do you think need to be borne in mind before any decision is made about the case of shamima? obviously i think it is a case—by—case situation. that is the case—by—case situation. that is the case with any individual that has made the choice to go over and join daesh. i think a thorough assessment of the individual is required, and again, to process any investigation, and possible prosecution. a lot of people will have read the interview she gave to the times newspaper and heard the remarks that she made and they will feel, she is not showing any signs of remorse, it is too great a risk to have her back here. what would you say to that? it is difficult to make that snap decision

from just a video of the words that she says. that is why a thorough assessment of her would be required, because we are unsure whether she does have remorse from the words she is saying, because she could be suffering from the effects of post—traumatic stress disorder, or trauma. you have to remember, when somebody is out there, they suffer from paranoia, they fear people around them, and i think that is what we need to bear in mind, because even with my son, when he was out there, this is the kind of thing that he was showing, this paranoia, because people are watching them and listening to everything they are saying, so she may be filtering what she's saying because of that. what about the practicalities of this? if she has brought back to this country, she is interviewed and debriefed, however thatis interviewed and debriefed, however that is handled, what about dealing with the psychological effects of

what she has experience, if she is to have any hope of resuming what most people would refer to as normal, everyday life? the uk is very equipped to deal with these interventions. i would very equipped to deal with these interventions. iwould hope very equipped to deal with these interventions. i would hope there would be a real wraparound intervention for not just would be a real wraparound intervention for notjust shamima, but also her family. intervention for notjust shamima, but also herfamily. my intervention for notjust shamima, but also her family. my heart goes out to the family, who have been experiencing this for many years, and they are holding a life sentence themselves, and i would hope they are being supported as well. are you surprised that this seems to have come so surprised that this seems to have come so unexpectedly to people? we have known that a large number of fighters and supporters had gone to syria and we knew that islamic state was on the point of being defeated. should there have been more preparation for this? certainly, we have been talking about this for a couple of years, returnees, and the complexity of it. it should not come asa

complexity of it. it should not come as a shock to any of us. we have been talking about this. for the public, it is security and safety thatis public, it is security and safety that is paramount. we also have to think about how we are going to, if we decide to bring these people back. thank you for being with us this lunchtime. a 27—year—old man has apeared in court charged with the murder of three elderly men in exeter. alexander lewis—ra nwell was before magistrates in the city. joining me now from outside exeter magistrates' court is naomi dymond. yes, 27—year—old alexander lewis—ranwell yes, 27—year—old alexander lewis—ra nwell appeared at exeter magistrates' court this morning during a short two minute hearing. during that time the charges were read to him, he faces five, three of which are charges of murder, and those are of 80—year—old anthony payne, who was found dead at his home in the city earlier this week and richard and roger carter,

84—year—old twins who were also from the city. the charges relate to incidents between the tenth on the 12th of february. he was facing a further two charges of grievous bodily harm with intent, and they relate to a further two incidents in north devon on the 9th of february, and exeter on the 11th of february. during the very short two minute hearing today, he was remanded in custody and will appear at exeter crown court on monday morning. thanks very much. 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 60,000 offenders, 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. joining me now from our southampton studio isjohn apter, the national chair of the police federation of england and wales. thank you for coming in to talk to us. thank you for coming in to talk to us. what do you make of this extension of tagging? i think the better use of gps tracking is long overdue. many other parts of the public and private sector have been using this for many years, so it has come far too late, but i am glad that the justice system is now embracing a better use of technology, so on that side of things, i welcome it. listening technology, so on that side of things, iwelcome it. listening to the justice secretary, things, iwelcome it. listening to thejustice secretary, david gauke, talking about this this morning, he was saying he thinks it could help the police. do you think this could be useful to police officers, given

this is aimed at probation offenders who are currently being monitored by the probation service? who are currently being monitored by the probation service ?|j who are currently being monitored by the probation service? i have spoken to police officers in the trial areas and they will say it is a good use of technology, but it does add extra workload to police officers because when an offender or somebody on bail triggers an alarm that they are ina on bail triggers an alarm that they are in a location that he should not be in, police officers have to respond and deal with that, but i would much rather my colleagues deal without any consequences of a crime. in your piece, danny shaw said this would prevent offenders from reoffending, especially in harassment, stalking and domestic violence cases. that is not the case. it will highlight where those suspects and defenders have been so the risk is still there and the risk is significant, especially in those types of offences. we need to be cautious. is it more likely it will deter people from continuing a pattern of harassment because they know they cannot deny it, the

evidence will be there? for some, that will be the case and that is why i welcome this but for those persistent offenders who do not fear the consequences of the judicial system, this will merely give us the evidence that we need to be the case against them. we cannot ignore the risk. the other thing is, we know that the public have very little faith in thejudicial that the public have very little faith in the judicial system. that the public have very little faith in thejudicial system. many of my colleagues have very little faith. what we cannot have is for this very good technology to be used asa this very good technology to be used as a cost saving exercise and to be used to prevent putting people in prison who should be in prison. it isa prison who should be in prison. it is a great addition to the toe box that we have two track offenders and get evidence to put them away but it should not be an alternative to putting those who deserve to be in prison in prison. thank you. 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. 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 by some for his controversial resignation honours list in 1976, a document which became known as the lavender list. the draft copy appeared in her handwriting on lavender notepaper. on the line is the former labour mp austin mitchell, who famously interviewed lady falkender from her bedside. thank you for being with us. pleasure. give us a sense of this woman, because she has passed into history. she was a very charming

woman. i was got on well with her, but she was dedicated to harold wilson, and people like bernard donoghue, his speech writer, who came into contact with her in the course of work, find her to talk. it was almost as if she had the marriage relationship with harold wilson. they had worked together for so long, it was a fairly intense relationship. she kept his feet on the ground, but in a sense, i think went to her head when she was her plot —— when she was his political secretary because she made contact with lots of people, some of them show business people, who she would not normally have come across. she idolised him. she put people like that on the lavender list. that was the accusation against her. do you think it was true? i think she

admired some pretty curious people, andi admired some pretty curious people, and i have no doubt she admired some good people and she put her friends on the list, that is all it was. harold wilson should never have agreed to it. it should have been scrutinised more carefully. do you think it damaged his reputation?m damaged his reputation. i interviewed her after that, in bad, actually, because she wanted to a nswer actually, because she wanted to answer the critics. —— in bed. there we re answer the critics. —— in bed. there were lots of criticisms from the conservatives, who thought this was a way of attacking harold wilson. can you imagine anyone in modern politics being able to have such an influence on a prime minister who was not an elected member of the party? yes, i can, because if you trust people and have a long—standing relationship, then you need somebody like that, to keep your feet on the ground, to keep you

in contact with the real world. she was good about that, but when i interviewed her, it was a show business spectacular. she was in her house, joining tbl and it was surrounded by the journalist and the press. i was a very raw interviewer, andi press. i was a very raw interviewer, and i sat by the bad and she a nswered and i sat by the bad and she answered the question is like a stateswoma n. answered the question is like a stateswoman. it was effective theatre. she was certainly a theatrical figure and lots of ways, but she wrote once about harold wilson, while i despair over his ideological limitation sometimes and i'm ready to resign if necessary, if his tactical subtlety is ever betray my beliefs. do you think he had to agree —— do you think she had a good measure of harold wilson, because some people accuse him of being more interested in tactics than ideology? he was a good leader and his main aim was to hold the party together. she was a hindrance to that. she had

party positions of her own, and she wa nted party positions of her own, and she wanted to persuade him in some cases. i think it is a fair assessment of wilson, but not of wilson the prime minister because he was above that kind of thing. but he did toe the party together and that was a great achievement. at times it infuriated her because it meant it was pandering to people she disliked. there was a tension in the relationship. there is an any close relationship. there is an any close relationship between the prime minister and his assistants. an intriguing relationship nonetheless. we will never quite get to the bottom of that. thank you. 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". a 27—year—old man has appeared in court charged with the murders of three elderly men in exeter. 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 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. we would never have imagined 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 translation: without a doubt, we would never have imagined 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. that funeral is taking place now and we will bring you pictures from argentina as soon as we have them. president trump has defended his decision to use emergency powers to build a wall on the us border with mexico. democrats have described the president's decision as unconstitutional,

and have promised to take their battle all the way to the supreme court. meanwhile, robert mueller, the man investigating alleged russian interference in the 2016 american presidential elections, has called for president trump's former campaign manager, paul manafort, to be jailed for between 19 and 2a years. mr manafort was one of the first people to be investigated by the mueller inquiry into allegations that the trump campaign colluded with russia. 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. 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 us vice president mike pence has pressed european countries to withdraw from the iran nuclear deal. speaking at the munich security conference, this morning the vice president urged the european union to stop undermining

the us sanctions on iran. the time has come for all of us to act. the time has come for our european partners to stop undermining us sanctions against this murderous revolutionary regime. the time has come for our european partners to stand with us and with the iranian people, our allies and friends in the region. the time has come for our european partners to withdraw from the iran nuclear deal and join us as we bring the economic and diplomatic pressure necessary to give the iranian people, the region and the world the peace, security and freedom they deserve. some other stories in the news 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. one—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 ——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. 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. nice to meet you. and you. 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 is 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 your goal, because both ends are blocked up. there's no light, 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. there has been no shortage of light this week, with all the wonderful sunshine. a lot more cloud around today compared with what a lot of you have seenin compared with what a lot of you have seen in the last few days. lewis and harris still have rain, and a few spots, too, across orkney and shetland. breezy in the western areas but temperatures are still above where they should be, although

not quite to the levels of yesterday. into tonight, the southerly breeze will continue to strengthen. it will turn wetter into northern ireland later into the night but temperatures don't drop much from daytime values. more sunshine to start tomorrow. clouding over from the rest. sunshine to start tomorrow. clouding overfrom the rest. the rain in northern ireland spreads into western scotland. temperatures a bit higher than today. hello. this is bbc news with shaun ley. the headlines: 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". a 27—year—old man has appeared in court charged with the murders of three elderly men in exeter. 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. nigeria has delayed its presidential and parliamentary elections for a week. the decision came just five hours before the polls were due to open. after an outcry from hollywood's big names, the organisers of this year's oscars abandon plans to present some awards during the adverts. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's richard askim. good afternoon. the first of the day's fa cup fifth round matches is about to kick off. it's brighton & hove albion of the premier league against championship side derby county who've already knocked out one top—flight team, southampton in round three. seven—time fa cup winner ashley cole is on the bench for derby. brighton have made eight changes from their last premier league line—up.

later on today newport county will be aiming to pull off what their manager says would be the biggest fa cup shock of all time. league two newport welcome manchester city. whatever the result it promises to be quite an occasion at rodney parade. it wasn't long ago that the club was out of business. they only made it back into the league in 2013. but they've already knocked out middlesbrough and leicester city, and today host the premier league champions, with the chance to make it through to the quarter—finals.