tonight at ten — the family of shamima begum, the teenager who joined the islamic state group, say they'll officially challenge the decision to revoke her british citizenship. in a letter to the home secretary, they say they're "sickened by recent comments she's made" but "as her family" they cannot abandon her. ms begum's family say they have full confidence in the british judicial system. also tonight... increased delays in disability benefit leaves tens of thousands of people not getting the money they're entitled to. people are lodging the appeals and the system just can't cope with the amount that are coming through. hey guys, it's alesha here. i'm going to show you all about the past. six—year—old alesha macphail, raped and murdered on the isle of bute, last year. a 16—year—old boy has been found guilty of her killing. the pope convenes a special summit to discuss the catholic church's

handling of child sex abuse allegations against clergy. 0k, 0k. and could break dancing feature as an olympic sport in paris? we sent our correspondent to have a go. i will not be competing in the olympics, obviously! and coming up in sportsday on bbc news — would a first half red card for celtic dent their europa league ambitions? we'll tell you just after 10:30. good evening. the family of shamima begum, the teenager who went to syria to join the islamic state group, say they will officially challenge the home secretary's decision

to revoke her british citizenship. in a letter they're sending to sajid javid, which has been seen by the bbc, they say they're "sickened by the comments she has made" in recent interviews, but "as her family" they "cannot simply abandon her" and will go to court. ms begum, who's living in a refugee camp in northern syria, gave birth to a baby boy a few days ago. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford has more. shamima begum is still stranded in the al—hawl refugee camp in syria, the al—hawl refugee camp in syria, the schoolgirl who went to join the islamic state group asking to come home. her sister, who has now written to the home secretary, talking about how the family had lost shamima to a murderous and misogynistic cold and saying they hope he understands why they are challenging his decision to take away the one thing the is her only hope at rehabilitation, her british citizenship. in brussels the labour leaderjeremy corbyn described the

decision to remove her nationality as an extreme manoeuvre. he said, as she was born in the uk she should be allowed to come back. the home secretary said yesterday it was his first duty to protect the public, but he'd consulted experienced lawyers who were experts in their field and no decision to take away someone‘s citizenship is taken lightly. but jeffrey someone‘s citizenship is taken lightly. butjeffrey roberts and qc, one of bryn‘s most senior international lawyers and a former united nationsjudge, international lawyers and a former united nations judge, says international lawyers and a former united nationsjudge, says despite sajid javid's protestations he has rendered shamima begum stateless and he should instead put her on trial in britain. she is born and bred in bethnal green. she is for us to decide what punishment she deserves by going off and joining this terrorist organisation as a child of 15. she's committed a crime that carries up to ten years in prison and it surely for a judge to decide

whether she deserves mercy or sympathy, not for a politician. book more than 500,000 people have signed a petition to parliament calling for all is members to be barred from the uk, suggesting sajid javid has significant public support, and shamima begum is still living in a tentin shamima begum is still living in a tent ina shamima begum is still living in a tent in a refugee camp in the desert, where she could be for many, many months. we are seeing a developing push back against the home secretary's decision at the moment? that's right, there was a lot of support from within his own party when he made the decision. you can see from that petition there is a lot of support out of the country for the idea that nobody who went to join is should be allowed back into the country and they should all have their citizenship revoked, and his decision was made on the grounds that he could take away her to citizenship because she has in theory the right to bangladeshi citizenship through her mother, but you can see that he hasn't been able

to maintain cross—party support. the labour party now have a clearly separate position on that. their position is that she should be brought back here, that her baby should be reunited with the family, and that she should face trial, and also now starting to be quite senior lawyers questioning the approach he is taking, questioning the advice he's been given, because they because they say they don't really get this idea that her theoretical right to bangladeshi citizenship means that she hasn't been rendered stateless. many senior human rights lawyers think she has been rendered stateless, which is not allowed under article 15 of the universal declaration of human rights, so he's going to get quite a serious court challenge and seniors lawyers —— senior lawyers predicting he might lose. daniel sandford, thank you. a bbc investigation has found that it's taking around six months for a tribunal to hear an appeal case for the disability benefit personal independence payments, with many claimants in england, scotland and wales losing out on hundreds of pounds every month. but when a decision is finally made, nearly three quarters

of claimants win their case. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan has the full story. we need to get these made up for mother's day. samjennings runs a pop—up florist in south london. multiple sclerosis limits her ability to work full—time. since my mobility has declined a bit, nicole helps me out as my arms and legs. balance problems including numerous falls led the ao—year—old to apply for personal independence payments in march 2017. the application included an assessment by a health care assistant, who concluded that sam had no mobility issues. despite the fact i had given evidence from multiple disciplines within my ms teams, so physiotherapist, occupational therapist, neurologist, all the different people involved in my treatment, somehow she was able to override that, despite not being an ms specialist. with little savings and her deteriorating health increasingly locking her indoors, last summer sam was forced to crowdfund to raise £3,000 to pay

for a mobility scooter. a few times when i've had the chair i have burst into happiness when i have done something and thought, my god, i haven't done this for ages. - w -- i've burst into tears of happiness. like going to aldi is not the most rock and roll thing to do, but when i went there just to buy apples and didn't have to spend £40 and wait three days, it was emotional. sam's fight continues. a tribunal will hear her case next month, almost two years after she first applied for pip. the department for work and pensions say only a small number of claimants pursue their cases to court, and they are working to improve the system. but this welfare adviser, who has won dozens of cases at tribunal, says problems with the initial health assessments are creating a backlog. the number of cases that are turned down, and people are lodging appeals, and the system just can't cope with the amount that are coming through, which is inevitably increasing the delays. this is what rejection by the dwp looks like.

no points on this form means no benefit. total, total lies. what she described there was not my daughter. sue campbell lost her daughter victoria lastjuly. the 33—year—old had agoraphobia and fibromyalgia, which left her body in constant pain. last march, she was assessed for pip and told she was not eligible. weeks later, she was admitted to hospital. it destroyed her, she gave up. she didn't fit into what you call normal society, but she was a human being. and she was my daughter. and she was my friend, and my world. the week after victoria died, a tribunal decided she was eligible for pip. sue has since successfully sued capita, who carried out the assessment on her daughter, for maladministration, effectively making inaccurate statements. she has been awarded £10,000.

i didn't do it for the money, i did it, i did it for them to try and admit they were wrong. to get some justice for my daughter. because she was ill, and she deserved the support to let her live? yes, i really do believe that if they haven't cut her pip off, my daughter would be still here. sue's memories of victoria are understandably clouded by what she considers to be an avoidable death. capita told us that procedural problems meant the court failed to consider their defence against the family's claim. michael buchanan, bbc news. a 16—year—old boy has been found guilty of the rape and murder of six—year—old alesha macphail, on the isle of bute lastjuly. he can't be identified because of his age, but the judge at the high court in glasgow said he'd committed "some of the most wicked and evil crimes" the court had ever heard. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports.

hey guys, it's alesha, today i'm going to show you... alesha macphail, a little girl who loved dancing and dreamed of being an internet star, but who was brutally murdered by a 16—year—old boy, who took her from her home while her family was sleeping. they sat through harrowing evidence about what had happened to the six—year—old. her mother, seen here, issued a statement through police. words cannot express just how devastated i am to have lost my beautiful happy smiling wee girl. i am glad that the boy who did this has finally been brought to justice. last summer, shortly after school ended, alesha travelled to the isle of bute. her parents had split up shortly after she was born. she was going there to spend part of the holidays with her father and grandparents. bute was described in court as a safe place. a place where many people would leave their doors unlocked. 0n the night alesha went missing, her grandmother had left the key in the door to their home. that would not be unusual, the court heard, in this

small island community. before going to bed, alesha's dad tucked her in, saying he'd see her the next morning. but that night, the teenager let himself into the family's flat. armed with a knife, he entered the little girl's room and carried her away. he raped and killed her. she suffered brutal and catastrophic injuries. throughout the trial, her 16—year—old murderers showed no remorse. he'd tried to blame someone else for his depraved acts. but cctv showed him leaving his house repeatedly and a knife from his kitchen was recovered on a beach. fibres from his clothing linked him to the crimes. he also sent a video of himself to friends with the message... in an earlier message, he claimed he might kill for the lifetime experience. and an internet search on his phone asked... his dna was found all over the little girl's body and clothing. 0n bute, people have been left

struggling to understand. we have a community where everybody knows each other. and we've borne it together, it's been in the air, people are supporting each other in all sorts of ways, just the simple human ways of being there for each other, but it's been a terrible trauma for everybody. alesha's family said she had been a beautiful, beautiful happy girl. her mother's wish for her daughter, to be remembered for who she was, not her tragic death. lorna gordon, bbc news. rescue workers have ended their search for victims of a devastating fire in the bangladeshi capital, dhaka. officials are trying to identify more than 78 people who are known to have died. the blaze began in a chemical store on the ground floor of a block of flats, spreading rapidly to neighbouring buildings. 0ur reporter akbar hossain has been at the scene. this building is four storeys and fire broke out first in the ground floor where there is a chemical warehouse, and then it quickly spread up

to the fourth floor. in the upstairs there are some family houses, where people used to live, and the fire quickly spread throughout three other buildings. when the fire broke out in this restaurant people were having dinner. at least seven dead bodies were recovered from this restaurant. two former government ministers are warning they'll quit the conservative party if the uk leaves the european union without a deal. yesterday, three tory backbenchers defected to the new independent group, joining eight mps who left labour earlier in the week. the independent group says it expects more defections in the coming days. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young reports. there's a new team at westminster, and speculation that some more signings could be on the way. brexit is part of the reason mps have broken away from their own side to join an independent group in parliament. 0ne former conservative cabinet minister said she couldn't stay

in her party if there's a no—deal brexit. we are becoming a single—issue party that's consumed by brexit. that's not a recipe for success. i think we need to wake up and smell the coffee now, because if we don't, then what we will be looking at is a postmortem on the conservative party. another colleague, also campaigning against brexit, has similar worries. i want to try to make my party act in the national interest. that's the thing on which i'm focused. if i were to get to a point where i felt my party was no longer doing that, then i would have to resign the whip. these three mps quit the tory party yesterday, accusing the prime minister of a dismal failure to stand up to eurosceptics. theresa may wrote to them today, rejecting their criticisms and insisting she led a modern, open—hearted party. we're in a very serious time, as we try to reach the end of getting the right outcome for the united kingdom on leaving the european union, so i hope we'll all be able

to support the prime minister and get the deal through next week. theresa may has another deadline looming. next week, some mps are going to try to seize control of the brexit process. they want to stop the uk leaving the eu without a deal. ministers have threatened to resign over the matter, so there's even more pressure on the government to bring back its deal to parliament as soon as possible. theresa may has been back in brussels this week, desperate to get changes to the withdrawal agreement that will satisfy mps back home. the labour leader has been making his case to eu negotiators too. the danger of a no—deal exit from the european union for britain is a very serious and very present one. we from the labour party have made it very clear that we do not countenance a no—deal exit, because of the danger tojobs. senior european figures share those concerns. my efforts are in reality in a way that the worst can be avoided, but i am not very optimistic when it comes to this issue.

in the coming days, theresa may is going to need the art of persuasion to convince the eu to budge... can the prime minister persuade you to stay? ..and her unhappy mps to stay. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. for the first time in the history of the catholic church, bishops from around the world are meeting at the vatican to confront the issue of the sexual abuse of children by clergy. pope francis convened the four—day summit, saying the world expects "concrete measures" to be taken to tackle the continuing scandal. 0ur religion editor, martin bashir, reports now from vatican city. a sombre rendition of morning prayer marked the opening of this gathering of bishops, where the agenda has not been set by scripture but by scandal. before any speeches, synod hall fell silent to acknowledge the suffering of those abused.

pope francis outlined the purpose of this summit. translation: we must listen to the shout of the little ones that demand justice. may the virgin mary illuminate us to try to heal the serious wounds of the scandal of paedophilia. all eyes are on the vatican, as pope francis seeks to develop protocols and practices that could be applied across continents, and in a church that numbers more than 1.2 billion. one survivor, who was abused by a priest in chile, says a papal summit won't change anything if bishops remain a law unto themselves in their own countries. the bishops are the ones that are messing this up for everybody, because they go to their dioceses, they go to their countries, and they tell a different story. they nod their heads in front of the pope and say, "yes, your holiness, we'll do this," but then they go back to their countries and they do quite the opposite, they keep covering up, they keep this culture

of abuse and cover—up, so it's really, frankly, terrible. back in the hall, those same bishops heard from senior clerics, confessing — sometimes tearfully — to the failings of the church. the wounds of the risen christ carry the memory of innocent suffering. but they also carry the memory of our weakness and sinfulness. after decades of scandal, cover—up and countless lives blighted by abusive priests, there is understandable scepticism surrounding the summit. but this is a defining moment for pope francis and the roman catholic church. six years since he was elected, and people are tired of waiting and are demanding that he act decisively to begin restoring

the moral authority of the church. martin bashir, bbc news, at the vatican. the venezuelan president, nicolas maduro, has announced he's closing his country's border with brazil to prevent the delivery of foreign aid. he's also considering shutting the border with colombia, where american humanitarian aid has been stockpiled. the opposition leader, juan guaido, the self—declared interim president, has pledged to bring the aid through on saturday. he says 300,000 venezuelans could die as the country struggles with lack of food and medicines and hyperinflation. our international correspondent orla guerin reports from the colombian border town of cucuta. a new arrival in a foreign land. alice hasjust given birth to herfirst child, carlos, born in exile in colombia, far from her family in venezuela. "it's possible that my son would not

have survived," she says, "there is nothing there." "the president is telling a big lie when he says there is no need for help." paediatrician albert cova shows me around the ward where he treats the sick who make it this far. for him, there is a deep personal anguish — he's venezuelan himself and has a question for president maduro. "what more does he want?" he asks. translation: he is useless and does not have power any more. we already achieved his aim, to destroy my country. arnaldo is five months old and fighting for every breath. he's malnourished and has pneumonia. his mother, claudia sandino, says she begged for medicines in venezuela but the only ones who get help

are those who support the government. there is aid available, donated by the united states and stockpiled here in the border town of cucuta. well, there is no doubt that venezuela desperately needs help and there are many in the country hoping against hope that the supplies will get through. but the humanitarian aid here is also a political weapon, and it's aimed directly at nicolas maduro and his government. if it be gets through, every box that crosses the border will be a victory for the opposition, and that's something president maduro is determined to avoid. he told us if the us really wants to help, it should remove economic sanctions and unfreeze venezuela's assets. translation: they should send a convoy with the dollars they have stolen from us. send a convoy with the gold. it's our money. with that, we could solve all our country's problems. the opposition say he's more worried about stopping them than solving venezuela's problems.

his troops have been targeting trucks heading for colombia and he's threatening to close the border altogether. battle lines being drawn over aid — and venezuela's future. orla guerin, bbc news, cucuta. here, there's been a boost for the chancellor, philip hammond, after the government recorded its biggest ever january budget surplus last month. £15 billion more was collected in tax than the government spent. our economics correspondent dharshini david has been looking through the numbers. the chancellor has all of us to thank for his unexpected large windfall. january is typically a lucrative month for the government because of the self—assessment deadline. but this time, it earned a massive £21 billion from corporation tax and income tax alone injanuary. thanks in part to higher wages and profits.

every year, the government spends hundreds of billions of pounds on public services and welfare. typically exceeding the amount of money it gets in, so across the year, it tends to run a shortfall, or a deficit, which it plugs by borrowing. and this is what's happened over the last two years. last year, the government managed to borrow less than expected. this year, it needs an even smaller amount. these higher tax receipts means the chancellor should easily meet his borrowing target of £25.5 billion. all of this is good news for the chancellor as we head towards the spring statement. he will be able to say the government is well—placed to ease austerity in the coming years. but don't expect big giveaways. the uncertainty surrounding brexit could injure activity and hurt tax receipts. he may need extra funds to bolster growth. so he's not quite ready to splash the cash yet. dharshini david, bbc news.

nigerians are due to go to the polls on saturday in nationwide elections, which were postponed at the very last minute six days ago. one of the key issues will be security, with nearly two million people displaced by violence in the northeast of the country. thousands have fled recent attacks by islamist extremist groups, including boko haram. our africa editor, fergal keane, reports now from maiduguri in northeast nigeria. the exhaustion of the new arrivals. they've just come — safe now, after the terror of being driven from their homes. but this camp, built for 8000 people, now has four times that number. hadisa ibrahim, mother of five. her husband is missing and may have fled to neighbouring chad. "we went through hardship beyond imagination," she says. this mother of six gave birth to twins during her escape. can you tell us what has happened to your family?

why are you here? translation: we ran from doro to escape boko haram. i spent two days in the bush, and while there i gave birth to twins. i had no clothes to cover the children or to cover myself. person after person has come up to us to complain that they don't have the basic necessities of life in this camp. tens of millions have been spent prosecuting this war, and still people are being driven from their homes, being terrorised. a new camp with proper facilities is being built to ease the overcrowding. it's situated on a half—built, abandoned stadium, itself a symbol of the waste that's characterised the rule of nigeria's political elites. this election season has brought fresh pressures for the idps, as boko haram and the local wing of islamic state have stepped up attacks. these were mourners at a funeral ten kilometres maiduguri.

the dead, 1a people, were gathering wood when they were attacked. "it's a lack of basic human needs it's a lack of basic human needs that's sent us out of our community. he had to go and hustle for us to eat, and despite the hustling, he didn't stop his education. he would work hard for us and also go to school before this really sad incident. the government says the war is being won, but the killers were still able to ambush the state governor's convoy last week, and in maiduguri itself i met the survivor of a recent bomb and gun attack on a mosque. he points to the hole from the bullet that killed his neighbour. translation: that is the surprising thing that leaves us wondering how they got here. did they come from the town or the bush? that's what we are wondering. wherever they came from, they didn't attack there — they chose to attack us, here.

but despite recent violence, we have been told displaced people have been moved on dangerous roads to vote in their home areas. these men, now backin their home areas. these men, now back in the capital, told us they'd been taken 140 kilometres to their home town, a place already overcrowded with the displaced. the road between here and there, is it a dangerous road ? road between here and there, is it a dangerous road? are there boko haram on that road? but the ruling party and main opposition say it was safe and people were moved back to their home area because it was simply to organise and monitor vote there. logistically similar perhaps, but at a risk to already traumatised people. whoever wins this election,

there is little expectation it will change these lives. fergal keane, bbc news, maiduguri. three british clubs have been in action in football's europa league tonight. chelsea showed some improvement after recent poor performances with a 3—0 win over malmo of sweden. olivier giroud opened the scoring in the second half. arsenal had trailed 1—0 after their first leg against bate borisov of belarus. but they're now in the last 16 of the competition with a 3—0 win at the emirates. but it was a disappointing night for celtic, who failed to overturn a two—goal lead held by valencia from their first leg. tonight they lost 1—0, going out 3—0 on aggregate. peter tork, a member of the ‘60s teen band the monkees, has died. he was 77. # cheer up, sleepyjean # oh, what can it mean # to a daydream believer

he played keyboards and the bass in the group, which achieved global fame, with hits i'm a believer and daydream believer. he was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. now, should this be an olympic sport — breakdancing? the international olympic committee is to consider including it at the paris 2024 games, with the organisers saying breakdancing would make the olympics "more urban" and "more artistic". our correspondent ashley john—baptiste has been finding out why a 1980s dance craze is still all the rage. b—boys and b—girls, breakdancing and going head—to—head in a dance—off. it's this music video from run dmc‘s hit single, it's like that, which pushed breakdancing, also known as breaking, into the mainstream.

originating in the bronx, new york in the 1970s, it's one of the oldest styles of hip—hop dance. but it's still making waves. big respect for each of them. breaking was introduced in last year's youth olympic games in buenos aires. seeing competitors take part in head—to—head battles. a russian breaker known as bumblebee when the first gold medal for the boys. whilst a japanese won the girls‘ title. breaking has received a growing interest among young people across the globe in recent years. but what do breakers make of the news that it could now become an olympic sport? editor! locksmith! b—girl, if you're a hip—hop head or breaker or b—girl, do you know what i mean?