this is bbc news, the headlines: the family of a us student who died after he was jailed in north korea have criticised president trump, for praising kim jong—un. otto warmbier‘s you're watching bbc news. parents said no excuse can change that kim and his evil i'm reged ahmad. regime killed their son. our top stories: their comments came after mr trump heaped compliments on the north korean leader. the family of a us student who died after he was jailed in north korea criticise president trump for praising kim jong—un. canada clears the way for the us to start extradition proceedings against huawei's chief financial officer. canada has cleared the way beijing is furious. for the us to start extradition celebrations as the indian pilot proceedings against huawei's chief financial officer, prompting an angry captured by pakistan is released. response from beijing. but will his safe return meng wanzhou was detained bring both countries back in vancouver last year from the brink of war? at washington's request. she firmly denies allegations of bank fraud and helping her company break us sanctions. clashes in algeria as tens of thousands protest against the president's decision pakistan has freed an indian to run for a fifth term. fighter pilot captured after his jet was shot down in the disputed region of kashmir. wing commander abhinandan varthaman and nasa's groundbreaking mars was handed over at a border mission gets underway as insight probes the inner secrets crossing in punjab. of the red planet.

president trump has rejected claims that he failed to hold north korea's leader kim jong—un to account for the death of an american student. otto warmbier was sentenced in 2016 by a north korean court to 15 years hard labour, after being accused of stealing a poster. he was in a coma when he was released 17 months later, and died soon after returning to the united states. his family rebuked president trump for praising kim jong—un and accepting his claim that he did not know about otto warmbier‘s mistreatment and failing health. let's get the latest from washington

and our correspondent, chris buckler. how bad does this look for donald trump? yeah, i don't think it is something which she is particularly pleased about. —— he is. i think he has been stung by this criticism, frankly, from the family. this is a family he invited along to the state of the union address last year in washington, a family he says he knows extremely well, but they said they felt they had to speak up. after the summit was over, not during it, but after the summit, to say that they felt not only had donald trump got things wrong, but some of his comments were frankly hurtful. they said, "kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son, so. " this is what donald trump actually said at the time, because he has been accused of being misinterpreted. he said he, referring to mr kim, tells me he didn't know about it and i will take him at his word. there are even some

members of his own republican party who are comfortable with that statement, because they believe —— uncomfortable with that statement, because they believe that otto warmbier, he went into this prison camp to do 15 years of hard labour, was somebody who was in good health when he was arrested. when he was released and returned to america he had suffered many unexplained injuries, including brain damage, and he died just days later. while mrtrump has in and he died just days later. while mr trump has in the past been a supporter of the family, it is very clear that the family are not just upset but they feel these words have only aggravated the situation, which is extremely delicate. donald trump has defended himself, in a way, and he is saying that he still blames north korea for what happened to otto warmbier. is that backtracking, almost? i think it is a really interesting tweaks to look out, because actually, what he says in that post on twitter, is that of

course i hold north korea responsible. he doesn't mention kim jong—un. and i suspect that is not going to satisfy the family and it will certainly leave some republicans and undoubtedly many democrats feeling that the president has not gone for enough. —— far. it is clear president trump wants to defend his relationship with kim jong—un. even though this was an u nsuccessful jong—un. even though this was an unsuccessful summit, he continues to believe that there is potentially a deal to be done between america and north korea. what worries some within his own party, what worries even some of his own very vocal supporters, is that he continues to praise kim jong—un. if you supporters, is that he continues to praise kimjong—un. if you take supporters, is that he continues to praise kim jong—un. if you take a look at what he said about him, he said he is somebody he believes is very smart and a real leader. now, given the north korean regime, those are given the north korean regime, those a re pretty given the north korean regime, those are pretty strong words, and it of course follows him defending vladimir putin over suggestions that russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, and also

defending saudi arabia after the death of jamal khashoggi. defending saudi arabia after the death ofjamal khashoggi. it defending saudi arabia after the death of jamal khashoggi. it leaves donald trump again in a position where he is having to defend comments about a leader who has been responsible for overseeing a country that has been accused of very serious crimes. chris buckler in washington, thank you very much for that. let's get some of the day's other news. the united states has cancelled the visas of 49 venezuelan officials who helped close the country's borders last saturday to block the delivery of foreign aid. the us state department said they were responsible for undermining venezuela's democracy. the sanctions will also apply to their family members. president trump says he's asked china to remove all tariffs on us agricultural products immediately, adding that trade discussions with beijing were progressing well. mr trump delayed plans to impose new tariffs on chinese goods on the first of march because of progress towards an agreement with china. ajudge in brazil has agreed to release from prison the former president, luis inacio lula da

silva, to attend the funeral of his 7—year—old grandson. the boy died of meningitis and will be buried in sao paulo on saturday. lula will leave prison for the first time since he was sentenced for corruption in april. the canadian government has confirmed it will allow a us extradition case to proceed against the chief financial officer of the chinese technology giant huawei. meng wanzhou was detained in canada last year at washington's request. she's accused of bank fraud to help her company break us sanctions against iran. she has denied the allegations. our north america technology correspondent, dave lee, outlined how the extradition process will move forward. the next step will be a hearing on wednesday, that will be a chance for the dates to be set for the extradition proceedings to begin in full. we are expecting meng wanzhou to appear at that hearing in vancouver on wednesday morning, although it could be a brief appearance, just to hear

when the full proceedings will get under way. after that point, that could take several months, and what happens in that period is that a judge in canada will determine whether what meng wanzhou is alleged to have done would also be illegal in canada — and if that is the case, if the judge deems that to be the case, then she will most likely be extradited to face trial in the united states. now, where that becomes slightly more complicated is that the main defence of meng wanzhou at this point is that her defence team feels the charges would not be illegal in canada, because they relate to us—imposed sanctions on iran. but that will be the next stage, and if, after that initial proceeding is finished, there could be several appeals, so in reality, meng wanzhou could be fighting the extradition for potentially several years. but of course, with every day that this saga goes on, it is becoming more and more

politically explosive. when you speak to while away or other representatives from china they say that this case and number of other cases are all about the us trying to stifle free mac's progress in the global technology industry. —— speakto in the global technology industry. —— speak to huawei or other representatives. huawei are considered to be on the cutting edge of new technologies adopted now, most notably 5g, the next generation of mobile communications. huawei feels this is about the us tried to stop them from being as successful as they could be, because there is potential for huawei, the leading technology company in china, to perhaps be bigger than apple if its ambitions are realised. pakistan has released the indian fighter pilot captured two days ago, after his jet was shot down over the disputed region of kashmir. the two nuclear powers have both claimed sovereignty over the area for 70 years, with tensions rising in recent days,

after a0 indian soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing. the pilot was handed over in darkness, at a border crossing in the north indian state of punjab, from where rajini vaidyanathan reports. this was the moment india had been waiting for. as tensions have escalated with its nuclear neighbour, the fate of this pilot has taken centre stage. captured days ago by pakistan, today he was freed. wing commander abhinandan varthaman was flanked by a government official and members of the military at the border crossing with india. his release was expected in the early afternoon. after many hours of delays, the gates finally opened. the pilot who had fought for his country for 16 years was back on home soil. outside, the crowds erupted as the news came through. translation: pakistan has released our countryman. we are very proud and very happy.

millions across india has been following wing commander va rthaman‘s story ever since his capture on wednesday. pakistan says it shot his jet down after he violated the country's airspace. india says it was retaliating after pakistani warplanes entered its territory. shortly before he was handed over to india this video was broadcast on pakistani television. it is unclear whether wing commander va rthaman was asked to speak under duress. many indians say it is nothing more than political propaganda. this all comes, of course, after weeks of escalating tension between the two nuclear neighbours.

the events here will have dampened down some of those tensions, but it doesn't take away from some of the underlying issues between two nations. for decades, the two countries have clashed over the disputed area of kashmir. both lay claim to it, but both only control parts of it. two weeks ago, a suicide attack in india—administered kashmir claimed the lives of a0 indian soldiers. a militant group based in pakistan claimed responsibility. india accuses pakistan of harbouring terror groups, and at a rally ahead of upcoming elections, indian prime minister narendra modi said it would return the damage done by terrorists. today pakistan's foreign minister told the bbc any further escalation would be "suicidal." i want de—escalation, i want defusion. i feel tensions are too high, tempers have been brought up. tonight, celebrations continued after the return of a man being hailed a hero. the events of today might have brought india and pakistan back from the brink of war, but peace here remains fragile. a little later in the programme we'll hearfrom hafsa kanjwal, an assistant professor

in south asian history. the algerian authorities say more than 50 police officers have been injured in the biggest anti—government protests in the country in nearly a decade. more than a hundred thousand people took to the streets of the main cities, in largely peaceful demonstrations calling on their ailing president, not to run for a fifth term in office. they came together to call for change. on the streets of algiers, a sea of people demanding the president withdraw to make way for a new leader. anti—government protests area new leader. anti—government protests are a rather side in the country. this is thought to be the largest in nearly a decade. and while it was largely peaceful, at one point of violent clashes broke out with riot

police, leaving dozens injured. the u nrest police, leaving dozens injured. the unrest began more than two weeks ago, when this man, presidents abdelaziz bouteflika, announced he was seeking a fifth term in the country's april elections. the ailing leader, who turns 82 on saturday, has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke six yea rs public since suffering a stroke six years ago, and is currently undergoing medical checks in switzerland. critics say his ill—health means he is incapable of fulfilling his duties as president. ifi fulfilling his duties as president. if i had no hope that it would change i wouldn't be here. i'm not only demonstrating against the fifth mandate. we want the whole system to change. it has been more than 20 years, and still he wants to stay? no, it is enough. it is time for change. the people have woken up, we are not illiterate. protests were also held in the cities of the run and constantine. —— ouran.

organisers say the numbers have grown from last week, when demonstrations began. despite the u nrest demonstrations began. despite the unrest president's campaign director says he will meet the sunday deadline to formally submit his candidacy. those on the streets, meanwhile, are hopeful their actions will help shift the balance of power in their country. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, bbc viewers have their say on brexit, with the deadline to leave the eu now less than a month away. first, the plates slid gently off the restaurant tables. then suddenly, the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards, and it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched onto her side. the hydrogen bomb. on a remote pacific atoll, the americans had successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima.

i had heard the news earlier, and so my heart went bang and bang. the constitutional rights of these marchers are their rights as citizens of the united states, and they should be protected even in the right to test them out, so that they don't get their heads broken and are sent to hospital. this religious controversy, i know you don't want to say too much about it, but does it worry you it's going to boil up when you get to the states? well, it worries me, yeah. i hope everything will be all right in the end, as they say. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the family of a us student who died after he was jailed in north korea have criticised president trump for praising kim jong—un. pakistan has freed an indian fighter pilot captured on wednesday, when his jet was shot down in the disputed region of kashmir.

wing commander abhinandan vardaman was handed over at a border crossing in punjab. let's get more on that story now. the situation in kashmir. hafsa kanjwal is an assistant professor in south asian history at lafayette college. she joins me now from maplewood in newjersey. thank you so much for your time. first war, you from indian administered kashmir, can you tell us administered kashmir, can you tell us what life has been like in that region over the last few days as this issue has gone on around them, essentially? -- of all. yeah, people are living in a lot of fear and tension. they do not know what is going to happen next. every day, they get news of things happening. of course, people were worried about a war between india and pakistan but

they also worry about the violence that could happen, so for example, there is a lot of local oppression, pro— freedom activist had been arrested, there is a bandh today on arrested, there is a bandh today on a really important social and religious organisation in the region, which runs a number of schools and orphanages. it seems that every day india is sort of trying new things to scare people and continue to have them live in fear. —— to. and continue to have them live in fear. -- to. it sounds like there has been an uptick in the indian authorities's actions in kashmir, why might that be at this time? —— ban. i think that india started the aggression with pakistan, pakistan responded quite heavily and prime minister imran khan returned the pilots, india is now looking to save face and they have a national election coming as well, and

narendra modi has been unpopular in increasingly becoming unpopular because of a number of economic and political blunders that they have made and it seems that they are using the aftermath of this to bring more support for the upcoming elections. the fighter pilot has been handed back and many international commentators have said that that might possibly be a turning point between relations between india and pakistan when it comes to kashmir. what is the view inside kashmir on that? do they feel like perhaps things might start to change? i do not think that is the perspective at all, i think it is important to understand that even though there might not be major tensions between india and pakistan, those may have deescalate it for the time being, there is the status quo of war in kashmir, it is a war against the people of kashmir, who had been living under any military occupation for the past a0 years, so

people are talking in both india and pakistan about saying no to war, the war is going to continue and intensified. —— descalated. so until the root cause of the issue, the kashmir conflict between these two countries, is resolved, there is going to be no peace for the region. just briefly, you mentioned root causes, i'm sure there are many but what do you think is the next step, what do you think is the next step, what i think has to happen to try and resolve this very old conflict? yes, i think it is very important that the indian government except the opera that prime minister imran khan had to have talks and they come to the table. the kashmir issue is not india's internal matter, it is an international dispute that goes back 70 years and has been a major source of tension and conflict between the two countries, as i think that the two countries need to get to the table again, start

dialogues and continue negotiations. this conflict between india and pakistan, all of these attacks, the terrorist attacks, all of these a result of the root issue. for there to be peace and stability in the region, the conflict needs to be addressed. 0k, thank you so much for your time. officials in georgia have told the bbc they're examining a formal request from the uk to extradite jack shepherd. he's the british man who went on the run there after being convicted of manslaughter. he was sentenced to six years for killing charlotte brown in a speedboat crash

on the river thames. our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg has been given exclusive access to the prison in the capital, tbilisi, where he's being held. on the edge of tblisi, this is penitentiary number eight, a high—securityjail with around 3,000 prisoners. and one of them is british — jack shepherd. after months on the run, the convicted killer is behind bars in georgia, pending extradition proceedings. we're the first foreign tv crew to be allowed inside this jail. what we're not allowed is any contact with shepherd. and this is jack shepherd's prison cell — room 101. he shares it with two other inmates. shepherd sleeps on this bed here. the prison authorities tell me that, for security reasons, shepherd is under 2a—hour surveillance. jack shepherd surrendered to georgian police after ten months in hiding. he'd fled britain to escape his trial for manslaughter. in his absence, he was sentenced to six years in prison for the death

of charlotte brown. she'd been on a date with shepherd when his speedboat crashed on the river thames. today, georgian prosecutors confirmed to me they've now received the official request from britain for shepherd to be sent home. so how confident are you that jack shepherd will be extradited? i'm very confident that mr shepherd will be extradited to the united kingdom. to this end, we will do everything. we will take every measure to convince the georgian judge that this person deserves to be extradited to the united kingdom. the authorities say that jack shepherd could be gone from here within a month. but until extradition is approved, this is where jack shepherd will remain — on remand in penitentiary number eight, under lock and key, in a georgian jail. steve rosenberg, bbc news, tbilisi. scientists have begun the first ever exploration below

the surface of mars. nasa landed a robotic probe called insight on the red planet late last year, and after several months of checks and preparations today, they began the research in earnest. our science editor david shukman reports. it's a mission to mars like no other, a fiery descent last november, that unfolded exactly as planned in this nasa animation. it is a hazardous journey that others have made before, but this time, the spacecraft touching down on the surface has a uniquejob. so, for mission control, getting there was a huge relief. touchdown confirmed. applause amid all the celebrations, they've been checking that everything's working, so the science can begin. nasa is not the only team exploring mars. others are busy there, as well.

amazingly, there are six spacecraft in orbit around the red planet, taking pictures and gathering data, three from america, two from europe, and one from india. but only nasa has successfully got robotic missions down onto the ground itself, and the latest to touch down is very different from the ones that have gone before. called insight, here it is, it's getting its power from solar panels, like the others, but it has a completely new type of mission. not investigating the surface of mars, but what's inside it instead, and it's doing it with some very clever instruments. a sensor placed on the ground is detecting seismic activity, tremors from volcanoes, for example, to build up a picture of the internal structure of the planet. and a special type of drill has another role — to burrow underground, the deepest ever attempted on another world, five metres down, to measure the heat flowing up from the interior. it's all part of trying to understand what has happened

to mars, how it formed at the same time as earth, but then ended up so very different. one of the key instruments, a seismometer, was designed and built in britain, at imperial college london and oxford university. a highly sensitive device that can pick up the slightest tremor, to help create a snapshot of the interior of mars. every time an earthquake goes off on earth, it's like a flashlight illuminating the interior of the earth. and you can use the same — imagine the same thing on mars. every time there's a — if there's a big enough mars—quake, ?we can see it ringing around the planet, that would be very exciting, because it can give us that quick flash of what the planet looks like. this is what the wind really sounds like on mars, the first time anyone's heard it, picked up by the spacecraft soon after it landed. the hope now is that with all the instruments ready, there'll be a lot more discoveries to follow. david shukman, bbc news. of course, more on that story and

all the others on our website. you can also reach me on twitter. i'm @regedahmadbbc. see you soon. hello. the record warmth of the past week has gone, but it still won't be cold for the time of year this weekend, but it will be wet at times and it will be very windy at times too, even stormy in places. one area of low pressure passes close by on saturday. another rapidly deepening area of low pressure will come in on sunday, so spells of wind and rain. but it's this second system on sunday, named by the met office as storm freya to raise awareness of potential impacts, that's going to pack the biggest punch, if you like, and we'll get to that in a moment. saturday starts perhaps a a little damp still across eastern parts of the uk, with overnight rain clearing away.

plenty of mist and fog, beyond a patch to the north—west initially. and then many of us will brighten up for a time. but remember that first area of low pressure. here comes the rain from it quite quickly into northern ireland, then western scotland and parts of wales, and all of that will push further east as we go through the evening. so if you're not wet by day, you will eventually see some rain out of it. now, the winds start to strengthen too. these are average speeds. gusts will be stronger. for northern ireland into western and northern scotland, could see some gusts in excess of 50 mph here. still double figures across much of the uk. now, going into saturday night, it's the western isles that could well see some gusts up to around 70 mph, plenty of heavy showers rattling through north—west scotland, snow through the higher hills, maybe some rumbles of thunder. whilst many other places will turn drier, the rain never really clears from southernmost counties of england. and this is as storm freya comes in on sunday, initially with some wet weather pushing northwards, though there's some uncertainty about how far north that will get. now, how much of northern ireland and scotland will see the rain

from this — may not be too much rain in northern scotland, there'll be a few showers around, but all the while the winds are going to be strengthening as well. that's the second part of storm freya, first the rain, then the wind, as the deepening area of low pressure takes a track right across the uk, with the strongest winds on the southern flank. and that brings them really across parts of england and wales, where the met office has this yellow warning area. so it will be turning windier, particularly towards the end of sunday into sunday night. initially around some irish sea coasts, the coast of south—west england, 60—70 mph gusts, maybe up to 80 in a few spots, and elsewhere through that warning zone, some gusts of 50—60 mph as storm freya moves east. but there's still some uncertainty about the detail here, so still keep watching if you've got plans on sunday. all starts to push away on monday, just to a few showers and lighter winds.