this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 11:00: ministers say the government won't be seeking a judicial review of a ruling to release the serial sex offenderjohn worboys. scientists say they're a step closer to one of the biggest goals in medicine — a single blood test for all types of cancer. on the eve of his first year in office, president trump hold talks with democrats in a bid to avert a us government shutdown. and newsnight as the fourth rape trial collapses in four weeks, we will ask the director of public prosecutions if there is something wrong with the way the department prosecute sex crimes. good evening and welcome to bbc news. there will no government challenge

to the decision to release the serial sex attackerjohn worboys. the former black cab driver was jailed in 2009 for attacking 12 women, but he is suspected of assaulting many more. thejustice secretary david gauke admitted he shares the concerns of worboys‘ victims, but that it would not be appropriate to seekjudicial review of the parole board's ruling to free him. two of his victims are mounting their own challenge to try to keep worboys behind bars. our home affairs correspondent june kelly has more. he is one of the country's most notorious serial sex offenders. in his black cab, john worboys cruised for victims, not fares. he was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting 12 women. one of them, he raped. but it's feared he may have attacked more than 100 in total. at the top of government, as elsewhere, there was astonishment at the decision to release him after less than a decade in prison. the week began with thejustice

secretary looking to challenge the decision in the courts. but today, he announced that after taking legal advice, he wouldn't be going down that route. he tried to offer reassurance to worboys‘ 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 robust licensing conditions would be put in place to manage his risk. but as one politician withdraws from the court arena, another, sadiq khan, the labor mayor of london, says he's now investigating whether can bring a legal challenge. —— says he's now investigating whether he can bring a legal challenge. worboys is currently being held at wakefield prison in west yorkshire. lawyers for some of his victims are questioning why he's being freed from what is a top securityjail. and in a letter to the parole board

outlining why they plan to mount a legal challenge, they say: "what is of particular significance is the degree of planning over many years that went into his offending. that is difficult behaviour to change". we presently don't know the reasons why he's been granted release. but we do know 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 that the parole board, only the previous year, refused to move him to an open prison because they considered he was still a risk. what has changed over that time? prosecutors have been under pressure to explain why worboys didn't face more charges at his trial. tonight, the head of the crown prosecution service was pressed on whether he could face fresh charges. we have certainly said we will review any cases the police may want to refer to us and indeed, we are talking to the police about if there is any action that

can be taken or giving them advice if they're asking for it. the conditionsjohn worboys will have to abide by when he's released are still being finalised. his victims are set to formally launch their legal challenge, which is being crowdfunded, next week. and while that's going on, the black cab rapist, as he's known, will stay behind bars. scientists say they have taken a step towards one of the biggest goals in medicine — a single blood test for all types of cancer. a team in america has trialled a method that detects eight common forms of the disease without the need for invasive biopsies or operations. their vision is an annual test designed to catch cancer early and save lives. here's our medical correspondent fergus walsh. it is ten years since ali was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. it is rare for anyone with the disease to survive that long. there is no screening programme, so tumours are usually found too late.

a blood test would make a big difference. if we are able to get more people diagnosed sooner, like me, then it's going to make me feel a lot happier. there are only 1% of us who are surviving, like me, to ten years, and it's a bit of a lonely place. there aren't many of us around. and i'd really like pancreatic cancer to become more of a chronic disease rather than such an acute, deadly disease as it is now. scientists atjohns hopkins university in baltimore have made significant progress towards a blood test for cancer. the team examined blood samples from around 1,000 cancer patients. they had one of eight different common cancers — lung, liver, pancreas, colon, oesophagus, breast, stomach or ovary. now, cancer cells shed bits of dna, which circulate in the blood, so the test looked for 16 gene mutations and eight

protein bio markers. overall, the blood test found 70% of the cancers, but that success rate fell to just 40% with small, early stage cancers, and this is when you'd want tumours detected, when there is the best chance of a cure through surgery. so a reliable blood test for cancer is some way off. but the francis crick institute in london, which is pioneecing i'm almost certain that, in the next five to ten years, we will see tests like this becoming much more routine in clinical practice to help us diagnose tumours earlier and help us increase the cure rates for patients suffering from cancers. the american cancer blood test costs around £350 per patient and each positive result would need further investigation, so the burden on the nhs would need to be weighed against the benefits of early treatment and lives saved.

fergus walsh, bbc news. last—ditch efforts are being made in the us senate to prevent a shutdown of the government. it comes as president trump prepares to mark one year in power. with republicans and democrats bitterly divided over immigration, what's called the ‘budget bill‘ is unlikely to pass. if there's no agreement by the midnight deadline, many government services will grind to a halt. president trump has said there has been some progress to avoid shutdown and has called for a funding extension, that is in the last 0ur north american editor jon sopel reports. so help me god. congratulations, mr president. a year ago today, donald trump stood on the steps of the capitol, promising to make america great again, promising to drain the swamp, promising to fix the nation's broken politics. this american carnage stops right here and stops right now. one year on, the government stands being paralysed by the prospect

of a shutdown that nobody wants, with democrats and republicans fighting bitterly over a funding deal for federal institutions. and at times like this, washington goes into its favourite pursuit — the blame game. at the white house this morning, the president's budget director was taking aim at the democrats. the president is actively working right now to try to prevent a shutdown. i will contend to you that it's dramatically different to what president 0bama was doing in 2013, so there is no way you can lay this at the feet of the president of the united states. he is actively working to working to try to get a deal. and on twitter, so too was the president. but in the senate, the democrat leadership is blaming the white house.

i hope the president willjoin us. if he will, we can solve this problem. if he stands on the sidelines, we cannot. although a glimmer of hope came with news that the democrat leader in the senate, chuck schumer, had been to the white house to see donald trump. we discussed all of the major outstanding issues. we made some progress but we still have a good number of disagreements. the discussions will continue. all chant: this is what america looks like! at the core of this is a row over what should happen to the children of illegal immigrants who came into the country with their parents, the so—called dreamers — a deal that allowed them to come out of the shadows and work legally expires in march. last week, the president chaired a round table immigration discussion with democrats and republicans, and he was in conciliatory mood. when this group comes back, hopefully with an agreement, this group and others, from the senate, from the house, comes back with an agreement, i'm signing it. i mean, i will be signing it.

democrats left believing a deal had been agreed that would allow the dreamers to stay, but the president changed his mind. and that means the us government stands on the brink of a shutdown for the first time since 2013. it will lead to the closure of federal offices and services, and hundreds of thousands of staff being laid off, until such times as a funding deal for the government can be agreed. the clock is ticking, with no sign of an imminent breakthrough. the only practical question should be who would be affected by a government shutdown and how long might it last? but in washington, it's all about who wins or loses, democrats or republicans. a political game is being played out. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. earlier this evening, our washington correspondent gary 0' donoghue spoke to republican senator mike rounds. he asked the senator if he thought that a shutdown was inevitable.

i really don't think so. i think cooler heads will prevail. unthinkable a list get an extension to several days, if not several weeks. during that time period we can move forward, hopefully to get past the short—term continuing resolution and to enable this tool which allows us to actually extend and expand coverage is that we need, the dollars that we need for defence vetting as well as a number of critical and what they call the non—defence discretionary side as well. but it will need democratic votes tonight? most certainly, it will require a consensus agreement between republicans and democrats. but he wants to have shut down here. i know the result of tough talk but the reality is we would much prefer to find a reasonable little point that everyone can save some face on but at the same time get both of time to actually come to a good agreement, long—term on the funding. don't like continuing resolutions. would like to get to and on and is built to get to the end of the year,

perhaps the end of next fiscal year. meanwhile, president trump and theresa may will have a bilateral meeting in switzerland next week. both leaders will be attending the world economic forum in davos. last week, mr trump announced that he would not be coming to the uk next month to open the new american embassy in south london. a couple accused of imprisoning, abusing and torturing their 13 children at their home in california have appeared in court. david and louise turpin were arrested on sunday after one of their children escaped and raised the alarm. police say the children were fed very little, allowed to showerjust once a year, and chained for weeks or months at a time. the couple deny the charges against them. james cook reports from california. devon turpin, appearing in court to be denied the train his own children with the children catalogue of cruelty —— david turpin. clive lewis also pleaded not guilty to

inflicting physical pain and mental suffering. it is also alleged that one of the couples daughters were sexually abused by the father. prosecutors say the siblings endure the abuse for years as their parents plumbed the depths of human depravity. one of the children, at age 12, is the weight of an average seven—year—old. several of the victims have cognitive impairment and neuropathy which is nerve damage asa and neuropathy which is nerve damage as a result of this extreme and prolonged physical abuse. the children were supposedly schooled here in their home by the district attorney says they lacked basic knowledge, some did not even know what a police officer was. they were reportedly allowed to shower just once a year and were beaten, chained up, and tormented. they would buy food, including pies, apple pies, pumpkin pies, leave it on the counter, let the children look at it but not eat the food. about the only thing the children were allowed to do in their rooms while chained up

was to write in journals. now have recovered those journals, hundreds of them, and we are combing through them for evidence. the 17-year-old who raised the alarm after climbing out of the home through a window had been plotting the escape to two yea rs. been plotting the escape to two years. one of her sisters make it out with her but turned back out of fear. this case has sent waves of revulsion across the united states and beyond. the authorities say the siblings are doing well but some of them at least have almost certainly suffered irreparable physical and mental damage. the parents are due in court again next month. if convicted, they face life in prison. now it's time for newsnight with mark urban. is there something wrong with the way we prosecute rape? for the fourth time in four weeks the case against a man accused of the crime has collapsed. i asked the director of public prosecutions what's going on. some information came to us very late in the day,

as in onlyjust before we made the decision to stop the case. what should have happened is that all should have happened much earlier. and for that i can only apologise. 12 months on — president trump's administration is just hours away from a government shutdown tonight. but how should we assess his year in the white house? we'll ask our panel to show us their score cards. and — as borisjohnson announces his latest transport vision, a humble bridge over the english channel, we despatched steve smith to discover how his previous brainwaves have gone down. ok, so what are we doing? select a bicycle. now what? 0k, good, that was easy. lucky londoners have had or almost had a boris bike, boris bridge, boris island, the boris bus.