today at 5pm, ministers say they won't challenge the decision to release serial sex offender john worboys from prison. worboys was jailed nine years ago for a series of attacks on women in london. the government says it was advised against a judicial review. we have an independent pa role boa rd system. powers are in the hands of the parole board and there are very limited circumstances, it would appear, in which that can be overturned. some victims are pursuing their own judicial review. i'll be speaking to their lawyer. the other main stories on bbc news at 5pm: the celine dookhran murder trial hears from a friend of the victim who was attacked as well but managed to escape. a breakthrough in the early detection of cancer? us scientists develop a blood test that identifies eight common forms of the disease. no plans for a boris bridge across the channel, even though the foreign secretary put the idea

to the french president. it's not the full report but it's over 4,000 pages of it. and intrigue in washington in steven spielberg's new political drama the post. mark kermode is here to review that, and the rest of this week's top releases, in the film review. it's 5pm. our main story: thejustice secretary has said the government won't be seeking a judicial review of a decision to release the serial sex offenderjohn worboys. david gauke told mps that, after taking legal advice, he's concluded it would not be appropriate to challenge the ruling. the parole board said its panel was confident correct procedures

were followed in the case of the former black cab driver. worboys was jailed indefinitely in 2009, with a minimum term of eight years, after being convicted of offences against 12 women. our home affairs correspondent june kelly reports. he is one of the country's most notorious serial sex offenders. john worboys‘ crimes caused revulsion. in his black cab he cruised for victims, not fares. he was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting 12 women, one of whom he raped, but it is feared he may have attacked more than 100 in total. the decision to release him provoked astonishment, including at the top of government. in an extraordinary intervention, the justice secretary said he was looking to challenge the decision in the courts. this morning, he announced that after taking legal advice he will not be, but offered this reassurance to warboys‘ victims. let me be absolutely clear,

worboys will not be released until their representations have been properly considered and his licence conditions are in place. indeed, last week i asked for assurances that the views of victims were being taken into account and that obust licensing conditions would be put in place to manage his risk. worboys is currently being held at wakefield prison in west yorkshire. a lawyer for some of his victims is questioning why he is being freed from what is a top securityjail, and the victims intend to press ahead with their legal challenge, to try to keep him behind bars. we presently don't know the reasons why he has been granted release, but what we do know is the nature and scope and extent of his offending, we know that up until very recently he was denying responsibility for the offence — he may still be. we know the parole board only the previous year refused to move him to open prison because they considered he was still a risk.

what has changed over that time? john worboys‘ victims have spoken of how they fear for their safety when he is freed, and have called for him to be banned from the whole of the greater london area. his licence conditions are still being finalised, but while the victims‘ legal challenge is going on, the black cab rapist, as he is known, will remain in prison. a little later, i'll be talking to a lawyer representing some ofjohn worboys‘s victims. that's coming up later. a court has heard how an obsessed builder was inspired by an infamous acid bath killer before he kidnapped, raped and attacked two women, and then put the body of one of them in a freezer. mujahid arshid denies the rape and murder of his 20—year—old niece, celine dookran, as well as the rape and attempted murder of a second woman who can't be named. 0ur correspondentjon donnison

is outside the old bailey. it's a very distressing case. explain more about what the jury has been hearing. this morning, the prosecution went into some detail about mr arshid's alleged internet search history in the weeks leading up search history in the weeks leading up to the alleged attack. they say he searched acid bath murderer, referring to a notorious serial killer, who i think was convicted in the 1940s, and who used acid to dispose of bodies. earlier, the prosecution suggested this was a method mr arshid might have looked into using. he also apparently searched, how to cut up a human body, which ring a human carcass, and what is the best way to dispose

ofa human and what is the best way to dispose of a human body. —— butchering a human carcass. this afternoon, we heard the first evidence from the young woman who survived this alleged attack. she was giving evidence in the form of a video that was presented to the jury. this was of the initial police interview she gave just a few days after the alleged attack, and she was still in hospital, so thejury alleged attack, and she was still in hospital, so the jury saw her heavily bandaged on her wrists and neck, and she described how she was abducted by mr arshid along with celine, they were taken to a property in kingston, south—west london, they were both raped, they had their throats slit, celine died, and then this young woman described how she tried to persuade mr arshid that they might have some sort of romantic future together. according to the prosecution, he had become sexually obsessed with both woman. she thought she was going to die

when she was having her throat slit, but she managed to persuade him to let them leave, and then she was able to alert family and police. mr arshid denies all of the charges. the witness who gave evidence today we expect to be cross examined early next week. john donnison, following that case at the old bailey. some of the other stories making bbc news at 5pm: a teenager has pleaded not guilty to trying to kill passengers on a london underground train with a home—made bomb. 30 people were injured at parsons green tube station after a device partially exploded last september. ahmed hassan, who's 18 and from sunbury in surrey, appeared at the old bailey via a video—link. he was remanded in custody until next month. an inquest into the death of the cranberries' singer, dolores 0'riordan, has been adjourned while the coroner waits for test results. the irish musician died suddenly in london on monday at the age of 46. a woman who backed out of a suicide pact, leaving a man to die alone, has been sentenced to four

years injail. 44—year—old natasha gordon was convicted in december of encouraging 31—year—old matthew birkinshaw to take his own life. the postman from the west midlands was found dead in his car in rutland in 2015. ajudge has ordered the crown prosecution service to disclose the reasons why it dropped a rape charge against a student from oxford university, more than two years after he was arrested. 0liver mears, who's i9, was cleared just days before his trial was due to begin. danny shaw is at guildford crown court. people might remember this case. explain what has been happening. this case involved 0liver mears, who was 17 when he was arrested injuly 2015 on suspicion of rape. it took almost two years for police to

com plete almost two years for police to complete the investigation and for charges to be brought. that was last june. it has taken another seven months for the cps to reverse its decision and to declare that there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction, and today at guildford crown court 0liver mears was formally declared not guilty by the judge. thejudge was pretty formally declared not guilty by the judge. the judge was pretty cross, formally declared not guilty by the judge. thejudge was pretty cross, i think, that this case had taken so long to get to this position. he said there had been unnecessary delays, and he's ordered the cps to provide a full explanation within 28 days. beyond that, does this have wider implications? at the time, people might remember there was a lot of comment about cases, people who had been arrested and left waiting a very, very long time, with obviously an uncertain future, before decisions like this are reached at in fact, this was i think the fourth rape prosecution to be halted at the 11th hour in the last

four weeks, and it raises concerns about the prosecution, and also about the prosecution, and also about the prosecution, and also about the police investigation, and in this case surrey police have issued a statement admitting that they made mistakes in its initial enquiry. said, we accept there were flaws in the initial investigation. it wasn't expedient and the investigation didn't examine the victim's digital media during the initial stages or follow what we would consider a reasonable line of enquiry. so mistakes by police, crown prosecution service still make a decision to charge, and it's still seven months later decided to reverse that decision, so they're still also questions for the cps in this case, as there are in the other cases we have covered in the last month. thank you, danny shaw. scientists say they've moved a step closer to developing a universal blood test for cancer. researchers in america tested a new method on 1,000 patients to see whether it could detect eight types of the disease. the cancerseek test, as it's known, had a success rate of 70% and the team say the goal now is to develop an annual test for everyone, designed

to catch cancer early and save lives. 0ur health correspondent, james gallagher, reports. more than 1a million people find out they have cancer each year worldwide. the sooner they're diagnosed, the more likely they are to survive. the test, called cancerseek, is a new approach that looks for mutated dna and proteins that tumours release into the bloodstream. it was tested on eight common types of cancer, including ovarian, pancreatic and lung. in the study, on more than 1,000 patients known to have cancer, the test correctly diagnosed seven in 10 patients. the researchers say more work is needed and are starting trials to see if the test can find cancers in seemingly healthy people. they say such tests could have an enormous impact on cancer mortality. experts in the uk said the approach had massive potential. this research is really interesting because it suggests that in the

future something as simple as a blood test could be used to help doctors diagnose cancer at an earlier stage alongside traditional diagnostic tests, and that's really important because the earlier a cancer is diagnosed, the more likely treatment is to be successful so we could potentially help to save more lives. but some experts say it is still early days. this study has been conducted in patients who have already been diagnosed with cancer, so what we need in the next very large studies is to know, can they diagnose people with cancer who are asymptomatic, who are well, who we otherwise would not be able to pick up? and if the blood tests can do that, that is when i think we can be really excited about it. cancerseek is now being trialled in healthy people with no signs of cancer. that will really test its

effectiveness. experts said it has potential and testing for more mutated dna and proteins would allow for a greater range of cancers to be detected. this is bbc news at 5. let's go back to the top story, the news from the government that it will not be seeking a judicial review of the parole board decision regarding john worboys. you will remember he is the man who was jailed very nearly ten years ago for attacks on 12 women across the capital. some of his victims have said, asa capital. some of his victims have said, as a result of‘s ruling, they themselves will want to carry out their own judicial review will stop let's talk to kim harrison, who joins me. she is an abuse lawyer at slate and gordon, a firm which has represented a number ofjohn worboys‘s victims. in terms of the

announcement today, have you spoken to some of your clients? can you give us a sense of what their response is? overall, their response is one of disappointment. 0bviously, when the announcement was made last weekend, that the secretary of state was looking into whether or not a judicial review was possible, for the first time in a long time, many of my clients and many of worboys‘s victims felt their concerns were genuinely being listened to, genuine concerns about his release. but we have to move forward and we don't wa nt to have to move forward and we don't want to stop with this appointment, and that is why i am here to talk about the two brave women who are crowdfunding to launch their own judicial review bid. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, has indicated he may well look atjudicial london, sadiq khan, has indicated he may well look at judicial review proceedings as well. in practical terms, and obviously if a certain legal procedure that we perhaps

wouldn't want to get bogged down in, but practically, what can they do, and also how quickly can they do it? we are talking about somebody who potentially could be released from prison relatively soon. what's your understanding? that is my understanding? that is my understanding as well. i don't know exactly when the release date is planned, although i know it is imminent. i know that the centre for women's justice imminent. i know that the centre for women'sjustice and imminent. i know that the centre for women's justice and the lawyer for the two women launching a judicial review, or hoping to do so, have written a letter before action to the parole board, where they have outlined their concerns, they have outlined their concerns, they have outlined their concerns, they have outlined their basis for the judicial review, which is based on two main premises, firstly that the pa role two main premises, firstly that the parole board two main premises, firstly that the pa role boa rd rules two main premises, firstly that the parole board rules themselves, which don't allow for reasons to be given as to why somebody is being released, they are of themselves not correct and lawful and should be changed. secondly, that the decision to release john changed. secondly, that the decision to releasejohn worboys is irrational. it's not a decision that a rational parole board could have

come to. they are the grounds for thejudicial review come to. they are the grounds for the judicial review that the women are seeking to launch through the centre for women's justice and through their crowdfunding. on the second point, you will know the pa role second point, you will know the parole board has said it is confident that correct procedures we re confident that correct procedures were followed in this decision. the reasoning isn't an absolute need —— isn't allowed to be made public, but it says it is confident that decisions were made appropriately, that there were experts on this panel. are your clients are saying they just cannot panel. are your clients are saying theyjust cannot have confidence in this system? i think everybody is surprised by the decision. we don't know the reasons for the decision, but people are surprised, our clients are and actually quite frightened about the prospect of john worboys being released. what we do know is that, when we were pursuing civil claims against him in 2013, in which we were successful, he was denying guilt, even in respect of cases for which he had

been convicted. in 2015, the appealed his sentence and was protesting his innocence. in 2016, he asked to be moved to an open prison in an open prison, which was refused. so what has changed so drastically that he is now considered safe to be released? a lot of legal commentators, notjust lawyers acting for victims, said it isa lawyers acting for victims, said it is a surprising decision by the pa role is a surprising decision by the parole board. we urgently want the high court to look at the decision and the reasons behind it. also, in terms of the crown prosecution service, there are 93 women whose cases were never brought to trial because the cps didn't bring those cases forward. they assured many of those women at the time that their cases didn't need to be brought forward because john cases didn't need to be brought forward becausejohn worboys would be locked up for a very long time. and so we also call urgently upon the cps to reopen those cases and look at them again and see if any of them can be brought forward for prosecution. thank you very much,

kim harrison. i imagine we will be talking about this again. that is kim harrison, and abuse lawyer. this is bbc news at 5. the headlines: thejustice secretary has said the government won't be seeking a judicial review of a decision to release the serial sex offenderjohn worboys. the celine dookhran murder trial hears from a friend of the victim who was attacked as well but managed to escape. american researchers say they've taken a step towards a universal blood test for cancer. in sport england's cricketers just need one more win to wrap up the one day series against australia. they lead the best of five series 2—0 after a comfortable victory, winning by four wickets in brisbane and reaching the target of 271 with five overs to spare. british number two tennis player kyle edmund is through to the last 16 of the australian

0pen, winning his third—round match in five sets against niclas fasth kelly. after over two years away from the ring, tyson fury is close toa from the ring, tyson fury is close to a return. he has had his boxing licence reinstated pending a medical. more sport for you just after half past. in the us, president trump has cancelled his weekend trip to his florida retreat as his republican party battles in the senate to try to stop a government shutdown. democrats are threatening to block funding for federal agencies, in a row about allowing hundreds of thousands of migrants — the so—called dreamers — to stay in the us. in the last hour, republican officials at the white house said that the president had been trying to persuade democratic senators to vote with their party. the president

is actively working to try and prevent a shutdown. that is dramatically different to what president 0bama was doing in 2015. i was there and i will tell you it is my belief that president 0bama wa nted my belief that president 0bama wanted a shutdown in 2013 gazebo... let's talk about today, the president actively worked all day yesterday to try and get a bill through the house and he continues conversations today, so there is no way you can lay this at the feet of the president. he is actively working to try and get a deal. let's find out more from gary 0'donoghue. is that experts suggested, we have been here before, not dissimilar circumstances. how do you read this at the moment? i think it is looking increasingly likely that the federal government will shut down at midnight local time, later on today. what that will mean is that hundreds

of thousands of federal employees will be furloughed, in other words, they will not be allowed to go to work. it means that things like some national parks might remain open, for example, but the rubbish and the trash might not be collected. a lot of government offices will not be open at the beginning of next week if the shutdown is continuing into next week. of course, we've got a weekend coming up. in due course, if it continues, it means federal employees will not be paid. they will be at home, not getting paid at all. there will be emergency services, are exempted from this. the military still go to work, although eventually they might not get paid either. so it's pretty serious, and you have seen already now, i think, a sense on the pill that a shutdown is coming, because the blame game is in full swing. —— a sense on the hill. who do you

blame? which party gets blamed by the voting public for bringing this about? it's almost hard for us to imagine the impact here, because we don't really have anything that's been so widespread. it's quite extraordinary and so, if it goes ahead, who will the public blame? can they do anything about it? well, thatis can they do anything about it? well, that is a slight unknowable, and it's something where people are calculating an holing all the time, and there is the question of how that blame lasts. bear in mind that the republicans were widely blamed for the shutdown in 2013, which lasted 16 days, remember. widely blamed for that. in the mid—term elections in 2014 they gave the democrats a good hiding. there is a shorter timescale between this potential shutdown and the midterms later this year, but whether or not that will be a factor is up for

debate. i think the problem at the moment is that this will be the first shutdown, really, in modern times where one party has been in control of both chambers of congress and the same time and the white house. that makes it, i think, much more politically likely that the public will see this is the fault of the republicans, because they will think, look, you are in charge of everything, why can't you get it done? the reality is that funding bills like this have to go through the senate, they have to get 60 votes in the senate. the republicans had a majority but only 51—49, so they need democrats to vote for it in get the money through. quite extraordinary, and a long day for you. thank you, gary 0'donoghue, following that in washington, dc. this weekend marks one year since donald trump took the office of us president. he vowed to change the face of politics stateside, with his campaign slogan "make america great again". 12 months on, how supportive are americans of their leader? laura trevelyan has been

to pennsylvania to meet trump voters, and those less convinced. the mon valley in western pennsylvania is the birthplace of us steel. this factory was once owned by the 19th—century magnate andrew carnegie. in its heyday it employed thousands. donald trump tapped into the sense of industrial decline, winning by promising to "put america first". 0ver lunch, i asked trump voters for their verdict on year one. it seems like he cares about the working class, he cares about the people who are trying to make a living and have big businesses and things like that, small businesses, he cares about that kind of stuff. some of the stuff he does i agree with, like the tax cuts, looking after working class people, but i'm not a big fan of all the rants on social media. i think they can do away with all that. how are you feeling with that vote?

a little disappointed. juan lacey, a small—business owner in the mon valley, hoped mr trump would run government like a ceo, so does this former 0bama voter regret switching to trump? when i went into the voting booth and i pulled the lever i was satisfied. i'm having buyer's remorse. why? because it's not consistent. john fetterman is a democrat in trump country. you get out into some of these areas that no one's visited, no one's taken the time to care, left it really open and ripe for someone to step in like a donald trump and say, hey, i'm the guy that can fix this. the populist mayor of braddock, with a tattoo of the town's zip code, counsels his party to understand trump's appeal. it's got to be more than trump is awful, vote for us, and it has to come back to like ernest, progressive, populist message. in his inaugural address a year ago, donald trump promised people

in towns like braddock that he'd give them back their jobs and their dreams. there's an early electoral test here in pennsylvania of whether the voters feel he's delivering. there's a special election in the state in what should be a safe republican seat, but the president is taking no chances. a real friend and a spectacular man, rick saccone. that's the candidate here. mr trump doesn't want to lose this election and he was in the mon valley thursday with this message. very simply your pay cheques will be much bigger, because under our tax cuts you will be keeping more of your hard earned money. the question is whether mr trump can get the credit here for an improving economy, or if the heat generated by his tweets and feuds is distracting even his own voters. that was laura trevelyan. let's go

to the white house, because the president is due there very soon. there is the vice president. let's hear a bit of mike pence. more than 240 yea rs hear a bit of mike pence. more than 240 years ago, our founders wrote words that have echoed through the ages. they declared these truths to be self—evident, that we are, each of us, endowed by our creator, with certain inalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 45 years ago, the supreme court of the united states turned its back on the inalienable right to life but, in that moment, our movement began. a movement that continues to win hearts and minds, a movement defined by generosity, compassion and love, and a movement that, one year ago

tomorrow, inaugurated the most pro—life president in american history, president donald trump. from preventing taxpayer dollars from funding abortion overseas to empowering states to respect life in title ten, nominating judges who will uphold our god—given enshrined in the constitution of the united states, this president has been a tireless defence of life and conscience in america, and today, president trump will do even more to defend the most vulnerable in our society. my friends, life is winning in america, because love saves lives. and know as you march to saves lives that your activism and your prayers and persistence are saving lives, and this pro—life generation should never doubt that

we are with you. this president stands with you. and he who said, before i form you in the womb, i knew you, he is with you as well. and i believe with all my heart, with your continued dedication and compassion, with pro—life majorities in the congress, with president donald trump in this white house and with god's help, we will restore the sanctity of life to the sinner of american law. —— to be centre of american law. —— to be centre of american law. —— to be centre of american law. and so, with a grateful heart, on this 45th annual march for life, it is now my high honour and distinct religion to introduce to you the 45th president of the united states, president donald trump. applause

thank you very much, that's so nice. sit, please. we have tens of thousands of people watching us right down the road, tens of thousands, so i congratulate you. and at least we picked a beautiful day, you can't get a more beautiful day. i want to thank our vice president mike pence for that wonderful introduction. i also want to thank u and karen for being true champions for life. thank you, and thank karen. today i'm honoured and really proud to be the first president to stand with you here at the white house to address the 45th march for life. that's very, very

special. (a, "7