It's been a year since Nicola Benyahia received the news about her son's death. Rasheed, a 19-year-old engineering apprentice from Birmingham, had left Britain and travelled to Syria to join the self-styled Islamic State group - a journey from which he never returned. But what made him go, and how can other young Muslims be dissuaded from following him? "We call what happened to Rasheed radicalisation, but it is very similar to grooming," says Nicola. "His softer nature and that vulnerability was manipulated on the back of an idea: 'This is the caliphate and if you don't do this journey you are not a believer, not a good Muslim'." Now she is fighting back against the recruiters.

An extremist in the family

The lavish production of The Crown, Netflix's drama of the Queen's reign, perpetuates the myth that Princess Margaret was pressured into rejecting Group Captain Peter Townsend, the war hero who proposed to her in 1953. The programme shows Prime Minister Anthony Eden declaring the cabinet's opposition to the marriage and threatening the princess with exile for five years if she goes ahead. But documents available in the National Archives show that the reality was quite different, as former BBC royal correspondent Paul Reynolds explains.

Did the Queen stop Princess Margaret marrying Peter Townsend?

Stephen Port has been found guilty of murdering four young men and raping four others. After the first death, police arrested him and took his DNA. So how did he go on to kill three more men? "We had to badger [the police] and almost feed them ideas," says China Dunning, a friend of one of Port's victims. "I'd be like, 'have you looked [through] his laptop'... and they'd be like 'it's a really expensive procedure to do that'." Daniel De Simone investigates the disturbing case of the Barking serial killer.

The killer the police missed

Dementia is now the leading cause of death in England and Wales, according to recent reports. We are also told the proportion of people suffering from dementia is falling - so how can both statements be true? A better understanding of dementia, improved diagnosis and increased reporting of dementia on death certificates are all factors. "Whereas in the past there would have been a certain amount of stigma, or a reluctance to put dementia on death certificates, there is now an actual encouragement to put dementia on to death certificates as a contributing cause to death," says Prof Carol Brayne of the Cambridge Institute of Public Health.

Is dementia becoming more common or less?

Lady Brittan, widow of former Home Secretary Leon Brittan, went to visit her husband in hospital shortly before he died. "He said: 'I've just been rung by the police.' I said: 'What's it about?' He said: 'I'm not terribly sure, but I've just said to them, 'I'll ring my lawyers'.' So began an ordeal over a 47-year-old rape allegation. "When you're in the eye of a storm quite as turbulent as this storm, it's very hard to keep your poise - and your belief," says Lady Brittan. Months later, after Lord Brittan's death, the police said he would not have been prosecuted and apologised for their handling of the case. Will lessons be learned about the investigation of historical abuse allegations?

Lady Brittan: How police cast a dark shadow over Leon's final days

Impostors who wear military medals they have not earned could face jail if a bill before the UK parliament is passed. What drives these "Walter Mittys" to invent fake tales of heroism? The answers are almost as varied as the number of people committing these deceptions. For Alan McIlwraith, a Glasgow call-centre worker exposed as a fraud 10 years ago, "the lie had just gone too deep. It's like a weed that invades your life. Once it's taken root, there's nothing you can do about it".

The 'Walter Mittys': Why do some people pose as heroes?

Not forgetting...

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VIDEO: The therapy dogs that help stressed students

Kokoro - the cancer blog gripping Japan

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