test that could affect thousands of cancer patients. it would mean no more debilitating chemotherapy to check if surgery has removed a tumour. to just tojust suddenly you to just suddenly you aren't going to nod it is amazing. trials of the test are now under way across the uk. also this lunchtime... two men have been shot dead in cambridgeshire, in what police say were targeted attacks. three people have been arrested. fears the government won't meet carbon reduction commitments, made in the run up to the un climate conference, in glasgow. prosecutors are to decide whether the shooting death of chis kaba by a met police officer, was unlawful. and, honouring a 100—year—old war veteran helping children to read. he's now received, a british empire medal. and coming up on the bbc news channel... arsenal's women are into the last

four of the champions league for the first time in a decade. chelsea find out tonight if they'lljoin them. good afternoon. there's news today of a potentially life changing blood test that could affect thousands of cancer patients. the simple procedure detects if bowel cancer surgery has been successful in removing tumours, saving patients from having to undergo chemotherapy. a uk wide trial of the test is now under way, led by the royal marsden hospital in london, following promising results in australia. our medical editor, fergus walsh, has our top story. the c word is a big word to live with. it's a year since ben cooke was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

i haven't taken a single day off work, which has been incredible. after successful surgery, patients like ben are usually offered intravenous chemotherapy to mop up any cancer cells that might be remaining. but a new type of blood test shows he was cancer free. right, what shall we do? a big, enormous, chelsea blow—dry? so ben, who runs this hair salon in chelsea, was spared the toxic side effects, which can include nerve damage to the hands and feet. work for me is my therapy as such, i love going to work, i love myjob, i'm very lucky to do what i do. and if i'd have had the intravenous, i'd feel like i wouldn't have been able to carry on, but the fact that i didn't have any tingling or anything in my hands has just been an absolute blessing. ben has regular checkups at the royal marsden, which is leading a trial of the blood test across dozens of hospitals.

your cancer was diagnosed in the caecum, in the right colon. the results could transform the way thousands of bowel cancer patients are treated in the uk every year. i hope through this trial that we generate the evidence to show that this technology, liquid biopsies, could be used to spare patients with stage three bowel cancer unnecessary chemotherapy after the bowel cancer surgery, they don't need it. a deep breath in, sharp scratch. so how can a blood test tell if a patient like ben is free of cancer? it looks for tiny fragments of tumour dna circulating in the bloodstream. if there is none present, there is a low risk the cancer will return. these blood tests, or liquid biopsies, are part of a revolution in the diagnosis and monitoring of cancer. they are being trialled in the uk across lung, breast as well as bowel cancer and can detect minute fragments

of tumour dna months, even years, before it would show up on a scan. after she had bowel cancer surgery, artist suzanne winter was also spared chemotherapy as a result of the blood test. i just feel incredibly lucky, i know how toxic it is, i know that i would feel terrible and also your whole everything is you are getting ready for it, you are psyching yourself up for it. so to suddenly hear that you are not going to need it is just unbelievable. chemotherapy still has a vital role in treating cancer, but if blood test trials are successful, it will mean a brighter future for thousands of patients every year. as well as saving the nhs money.

that is the big question. brighter future for patients, saving the nhs money, how significant is this potential trial? the money, how significant is this potential trial?— money, how significant is this otential trial? ., ,., ., potential trial? the word potential, we have got — potential trial? the word potential, we have got to _ potential trial? the word potential, we have got to still _ potential trial? the word potential, we have got to still use. _ potential trial? the word potential, we have got to still use. doctors i we have got to still use. doctors say we need this study, its going to take three years to show proof positive you can actually withdraw a treatment that is known, keen of pat —— chemotherapy, known to extend the survival of patients following bowel cancer surgery but comes with often debilitating symptoms. all the signs look good, study by the university of melbourne last year found it nearly halved the number of patients requiring intravenous chemotherapy following bowel cancer surgery. that would translate in the uk to many, many thousands of patients each year. in breast cancer, another study in greece earlier this year found that it could detect on the flip side, are remnants of cancer

which occurred four years before they'd show up on a scan. so it has really big implications.— really big implications. fergus walsh, a medical— really big implications. fergus walsh, a medical editor. - there are fears the government won't meet its carbon reduction targets, part of commitments made in the run up to the un climate conference in glasgow, two years ago. it comes as the government unveils details of its climate strategy, showing how the uk will meet its goal of reducing greenhouse emissions to net zero by 2050. the strategy suggests the government will only "make progress towards" the targets it promised. here's our climate editor, justin rowlatt. the secretary of state for energy security and zero was channelling his inner churchill when he announced his new plan. today with president putin _ announced his new plan. today with president putin weaponising - announced his new plan. today with president putin weaponising energy| president putin weaponising energy across europe, our energy security has become critical. the across europe, our energy security has become critical.— across europe, our energy security has become critical. the plan gives more detail— has become critical. the plan gives more detail on _ has become critical. the plan gives more detail on how _ has become critical. the plan gives more detail on how the _ has become critical. the plan gives| more detail on how the government will cut emissions after it lost a

legal challenge by activists last summer. it was grant shapps who decided to locate it to a world war ii bunker and rebrand decided to locate it to a world war ii bunkerand rebrand it decided to locate it to a world war ii bunker and rebrand it as a battle for the country's energy security. i think it is the flip side of the same coin, so as you get to more renewables, including nuclear, you do decarbonise the whole energy economy. it is two parts to the same thing. economy. it is two parts to the same thin. , ., , , thing. the problem is, the new re ort thing. the problem is, the new report does _ thing. the problem is, the new report does not _ thing. the problem is, the new report does not make - thing. the problem is, the new report does not make clear- thing. the problem is, the new- report does not make clear whether the uk or meet the targets for carbon reductions it set itself before the global climate meeting in glasgow back in 2020. they don't say they are going to meet the targets they are going to meet the targets they set out with great fanfare at cop 26. they set out with great fanfare at c0- 26. , they set out with great fanfare at c0 - 26. , , they set out with great fanfare at co 26. y , ., they set out with great fanfare at c026. , , ., ., cop 26. they said they were going to cut their cop 26. they said they were going to out their uk — cop 26. they said they were going to cut their uk emissions _ cop 26. they said they were going to cut their uk emissions by _ cop 26. they said they were going to cut their uk emissions by 6896 - cop 26. they said they were going to cut their uk emissions by 6896 by - cut their uk emissions by 68% by 2030, compared to 1990. other document can say is they will make some progress towards it. the government — some progress towards it. the government told _ some progress towards it. the government told the bbc that it

fully expects to meet the commitments it made to the un to cut carbon. so what is in this new report? the focus will be boosting renewable energy, mostly offshore wind and solar power. but they will also be more of this, nuclear power. grant shapps says he wants a quarter of britain plus hacker electricity to come from atomic energy in future. there will also be an effort to boost hydrogen production and technologies to capture and permanently store carbon dioxide emissions on the ground. there will be some new money for electric vehicle chargers and to boost the heat pump industry in the uk and the government says it will expand the effort to insulate draughty homes. the green party claimed today they were very few new policies in the document. were very few new policies in the document-— were very few new policies in the document. , ., document. the greenest thing about this document _ document. the greenest thing about this document is _ document. the greenest thing about this document is the _ document. the greenest thing about this document is the fact _ document. the greenest thing about this document is the fact it - document. the greenest thing about this document is the fact it is - document. the greenest thing about this document is the fact it is full - this document is the fact it is full of recycled ideas, from literally years ago. this is a document that completely fails to rise to the

challenge of this moment. grant sha -s challenge of this moment. grant shapps claims — challenge of this moment. grant shapps claims his _ challenge of this moment. grant shapps claims his new— challenge of this moment. grant shapps claims his new plan - challenge of this moment. grant shapps claims his new plan will. shapps claims his new plan will drive down emissions, as well as cutting electricity prices and ensuring the uk is not dependent on autocrats like president putin for its energy. but don't hold your breath, he admits it will take a while before the new measures lower bills. justin rowlatt, news, uxbridge. two men have been shot dead in two villages in cambridgeshire, in what police say were targeted attacks. three people have been arrested on suspicion of murder. 0ur reporter, louisa pilbeam, has the very latest. it was here in this small cambridgeshire village that gunshots were reported last night and when police arrived they found a 32—year—old man dead inside one of the houses. just over half an hour later more reports of gunshots in nearby sutton, where police found a 57—year—old man also died from gunshot wounds. i heard sort of two loud bangs, i thought it was actually car doors right outside my house.

and went outside and there was nobody there, which i thought was strange. quite worrying because obviously we never have anything happen down here, so it's quite a shock that something would happen in such a small place. this is a quiet close where many families live. i've seen people taking their children to school today and heading off to work, but last night a frightening scene unfolded here and police told people to stay inside as a police helicopter circled overhead. a 27—year—old man and a 33—year—old woman were arrested in cambridge and a 66—year—old man arrested in the worcester area. both deaths are being treated as murder and police say they are linked. police also say the attacks are believed to be targeted and there is no wider risk to the general public. a heavy police presence has been at the scene all day as those who live here try to comprehend what happened. louisa pilbeam, bbc news.

the commons standards committee says the mp margaret ferrier should be suspended for 30 days, for breaking covid laws. ms ferrier admitted putting people at risk after speaking in a debate at westminster then travelling by train while infected with the coronavirus in september 2020. 0ur chief political correspondent, nick eardley, is at westminster. she has already received a community service order because of this and now the commons could have a say? you will remember there were strict covid policies in place and margaret ferrier broke them. she took a positive test in glasgow and travelled to parliament anyway. rather than self isolating, she travelled back to glasgow. at the time, she lost the snp wit. she has

been sitting as an independent sense and pleaded guilty in a scottish court, which led to the community service you were talking about. but now she faces the real prospect of losing her seat. this committee has said she should be suspended for 30 days and if mps back that, she can appeal, but if mps back that in the wider commons chamber it will trigger a process that if 10% of the electorate in her constituency sign a petition, there will be a by—election. that by—election would be an important one, rutherglen and hamilton west is a target seat for the labour party. the snp will be keen to hang onto it. it could be an early test of the new snp leader, hamza yusuf. early test of the new snp leader, hamza yusuf-_ hamza yusuf. nick eardley at westminster, _ hamza yusuf. nick eardley at westminster, thank - hamza yusuf. nick eardley at westminster, thank you. - a rise in the state pension age to 68 will not be

brought forward yet, the government's announced today. the work and pensions secretary mel stride told mps in the commons that now is not the time to make the change. a decision is now expected in 2026, after the next general election. the police watchdog has passed a file of evidence to prosecutors to decide whether a metropolitan police officer should be charged over the fatal shooting of a black man last september in south london. chris kaba, who was 2a, died from a single gunshot wound and he was unarmed. greg mackenzie has more details. father to be, chris kaba, was shot dead by a metropolitan police officer. through the windscreen of a car in streatham hill in south london last september. ihe car in streatham hill in south london last september. he was unarmed- _ london last september. he was unarmed. they're _ london last september. he was unarmed. they're not _ london last september. he was unarmed. they're not going - london last september. he was unarmed. they're not going to l london last september. he was - unarmed. they're not going to leave until we getjustice. ih unarmed. they're not going to leave until we getjustice.— until we get 'ustice. in the weeks that until we getjustice. in the weeks that followed _ until we getjustice. in the weeks that followed his _ until we getjustice. in the weeks that followed his family - until we getjustice. in the weeks i that followed his family campaigned tirelessly. the officer who fired the fatal shot was suspended and the police watchdog launched a homicide

investigation. today the independent 0ffice investigation. today the independent office for police conduct has referred its investigation to the crown prosecution service. during the investigation _ crown prosecution service. during the investigation at _ crown prosecution service. during the investigation at the _ crown prosecution service. during the investigation at the officer - crown prosecution service. during| the investigation at the officer was advised they were under criminal investigation for murder and following the conclusion of our investigation, we have referred a file of evidence to the crown prosecution service to determine whether to charge the officer. ih prosecution service to determine whether to charge the officer. in a statement. _ whether to charge the officer. in a statement, the _ whether to charge the officer. in a statement, the metropolitan police said a referral doesn't indicate that charges will necessarily follow. they added, we continue to fully support the a0 pc investigation. the officer involved remain suspended from duty. the family have told the bbc they welcome today's decision saying six months on from their son's death, they are now one step closer to receiving justice. greg mckenzie, bbc news. pope francis is to remain in hospital for the next few days after being diagnosed

with a respiratory infection. his illness has raised questions about whether he'll take part in upcoming easter services, starting this weekend on palm sunday. let's go live now to our europe correspondent, nick beake, who's outside the hospital in rome, where the pope is being treated. what is the latest? we have had some positive news from the hospital via the vatican in the past hour or so. they say the pope rested well over night and was able to have breakfast and read the newspapers. he then went to a private chapel they have got here where he received communion and he was able to pray. this is the sort of music millions of catholics across the world were hoping for, among them the us presidentjoe biden, he said the pope was in his thoughts and prayers. the pope is 86 years old and does have mobility problems. we see that when he uses a wheelchair and he winces when he is moving around. he has had a busy 2023 so far. he led the funeral

service of his predecessor benedict in january. then service of his predecessor benedict injanuary. then he went to africa on a chip and yesterday he was carrying out duties in rome itself. the big question now, the extent to which this will affect his commitment during the easter period, such a busy time for him, beginning on sunday with palm sunday. surely thatis on sunday with palm sunday. surely that is something he wants to be involved in during holy week and easter itself. we haven't an indication yet whether that will be possible, but the noises from this hospital are positive.— hospital are positive. nick, thank ou. our top story this lunchtime. uk trials are under way of a potentially life—changing blood test that could affect thousands of cancer patients. coming up... it isa it is a great error... king charles becomes the first british monarch

to address the german parliament. coming up on the bbc news channel... three—time olympic champion adam peaty withdraws from next month's british swimming championship citing mental health reasons, but still plans on competing at the next olympic games in paris. the easter holidays are almost here, and you might remember last year was a bit of a disaster for travellers at airports. a combination of staff shortages and increased passenger numbers led to lengthy queues and delays. airports and airlines say they do now have enough staff in place, but strike action could mean there's still some disruption. 0ur transport correspondent katy austin has more from manchester airport. remember this? last spring covid travel rules had been lifted, holiday—makers were ready, lots of the travel industry or not. will this year be any better? getting passengers away on their flight without a hitch is a complex process that requires several different businesses

to work together and have all the right staffing in place. providing workers at security is the airport's myjob. is the airport'sjob. manchester airport didn't have enough last easter, leading to queues. it couldn't reverse pandemicjob cuts quickly enough. in april of this year i have enough security officers for the busiest day in august. the boss here is now confident. this year our passengers can expect a great experience at manchester airport. i can absolutely reassure passengers they won't see the queues that they saw in the summer of '22. last year, a shortage of ground handlers was another major issue. 0ut here on the airfield you can see some of the teams helping to get the plane ready and loading the baggage. many airlines contract out the services to companies like swissport. it has brought in 1,500 extra workers, increasing wages and changing rotas to attract people. there is an absolute war for labour. of course there was covid and the second point is of course brexit.

the labour pool in the uk and has to come largely from the uk itself. they are not the only company which started hiring early. we actually started recruiting at the end ofjuly and we would not normally start recruiting untiljanuary, something like that, so we wanted to get ahead of the game. while the industry insists it now has the right people in the right places, that doesn't mean a guarantee of no disruption at all. for example at the moment in france there are strikes relating to the national pension reforms which are impacting ourflights because when they close an airport with wildcat strikes and so on, you are going to see disruption. but the vast majority of flights, even during a disruptive period, will run. other airlines have cancelled flights because of strike action in europe, including british airways, which also axed around 300 flights in advance because of a ten day strike by some security staff at heathrow airport from tomorrow. but the industry and passengers hope they have left last year plasma

they have left last year's level of turbulence behind. katie austin, bbc news. king charles has addressed the german federal parliament, the bundestag, on the second day of his first overseas trip as monarch. he spoke, often in german, about the scourge of war returning to europe, with the invasion of ukraine. translation: the unprovoked invasion of ukraine has inflicted the most unimaginable suffering on so many innocent people. countless lives have been destroyed. freedom and human dignity have been trampled in the most brutal way. nick witchell is in berlin. next, he is speaking in german, it always goes down well when you speak to

hosts in their language. but pretty political referring specifically to russia and ukraine.— political referring specifically to russia and ukraine. certainly in arts. russia and ukraine. certainly in parts- he _ russia and ukraine. certainly in parts- he spoke _ russia and ukraine. certainly in parts. he spoke for _ russia and ukraine. certainly in parts. he spoke for very - russia and ukraine. certainly in parts. he spoke for very nearly| russia and ukraine. certainly in i parts. he spoke for very nearly 24 parts. he spoke for very nearly 2a minutes and most of it was in german, as you have heard. the bundestag chamber was absolutely packed and he got a very warm reception. there were serious points about the reconciliation between germany and the united kingdom since the second world war, a process which he said had been terribly important to his late mother. you recall her state visit in 1965 which re—established relations between the two countries. and then to ukraine, as we have heard, talking about the scourge of war returning to europe. we need to remember this was a speech drafted by the british government, but as you say the language at times from the king was certainly robust, talking about the unprovoked invasion, the unimaginable suffering in ukraine. he praised germany for the military

support which it is giving to ukraine. you recall that britain and germany are the two european countries which are giving the most support. he went from hero to a ukrainian refugee centre. but back in the speech there were also lighter moments and jokes in german. he said we are two countries who can laugh at and with each other. a successful speech, well received. nick witchell live in berlin. labour says it would freeze council tax this year if it was in government, as the party launched its local elections campaign. council tax for millions of households in england will rise on 1st april, with many councils due to raise rates by 5%. labour leader sir keir starmer said freezing the current rate could be paid for with funds from an increased windfall tax on energy firms. labour would freeze council tax next year, using that windfall tax that hasn't been collected. yes, you heard it right. not a penny more on your council tax. than the bill

you paid last year. and that is a tax cut for the 99% of working people. news research seen by bbc newsnight suggests premier league football clubs may have avoided paying £470 million in tax since 2015. the findings from a group of independent tax experts suggests agents are often paid to represent both players and clubs in negotiations, including transfers, and the practice reduces the amount of tax paid on agents' fees. ben chu has more details. is something rotten in the state of football when it comes to tax on agents' fees? research seen by bbc newsnight suggests premier league clubs might have avoided hundreds of millions of pounds of tax that ought to be paid when players are signed or move clubs. it hinges on something called 'dual representation' in football transfers.

this is where the agent is getting paid by both the player, who they represent, and also by the club who is buying the player. when a football player pays their agent's fee out of their own pocket, that transaction attracts income tax, national insurance and vat. but if half of that agent's fee is paid directly by the club, that half of the fee attracts none of these taxes. so we've been able to use fa published data and some conservative statistical assumptions to estimate that over three years, 250 million quid was not paid in tax that should have been paid. and over seven years, a70 million — so that's almost half a billion quid — failed to be paid. it's estimated that of the £81 million that wasn't paid by the league because of dual representation agent fees in 2021, manchester city accounted for 10.9 million. this was followed by manchester united with ten million and liverpool with 8.1 million. newsnight understands hmrc

is investigating the use of dual representation by top clubs, but they haven't told us which clubs. and the public accounts committee, which scrutinises hmrc on behalf of parliament and all of us, they want answers and action too. given the information that you and i have seen, i can't see why hmrc isn't clamping down pretty quickly right now. the key thing is we've got our beady eye on both how hmrc are dealing with this, but also this big tax avoidance issue. all premier league clubs declined to comment, but the association of football agents insisted that most are genuinely providing services to clubs too and so dual representation schemes are tax compliant. a top sports barrister agrees. well, in most cases, and certainly nearly all the cases i see, there are genuine services provided for clubs that clubs really value. the question in each case is, are those services provided and does then the transaction

reflect that reality? and i genuinely believe in most cases it does. hmrc said... "dual representation cannot be assumed to be a tax avoidance scheme — its use can be tax compliant. however, we carefully scrutinise arrangements between clubs and employees". the key questions which need to be answered — is the beautiful game really paying its fair share of tax? and are the tax authorities on the ball? that report there by newsnight�*s ben chu. there are very few of his generation left. peter davies is not only a veteran of world war ii, he's also 100 years old, with his public service continuing well into old age. his volunteer work at a local primary school beagn after the death of his wife, and now he's been awarded a british empire medal. graham satchel has that story. shall i do your tie up now, dad? yeah, just make sure you don't strangle me.

it's a big day for peter davies. he's about to receive the british empire medal for services to education. what do you know, it still fits. this is something which really is beyond belief. to think that the king has decided i'm worthy, even. there are people out there who are far more worthy than me, but it really is... well, it's once—in—a—lifetime, isn't it? — come on, you have to walk a bit quicker than that. peter is 100 years old. he's a world war ii veteran, former raf pilot. for the last six years he's been volunteering at his local school, helping children to read. the fact it's being done in school pleases me no end. the school is the centre of my world these days. applause.

the ceremony is led by the lord lieutenant of cheshire, lady redmond. congratulations. you are absolutely fantastic. thank you, ma'am. so pleased to have met you. if i make a mistake, you get a point. when you read that one, if you make a mistake, i get a point. right, off you go. and the rules can help us in lots of ways... i peter comes to school twice a week. over the years he's helped hundreds and hundreds of children with their reading. he definitely helped me, he was really enthusiastic. even if you got it wrong he would be really proud of you no matter what. . he isjust amazing for the school. and he's done so much for everybody. peter started volunteering after his wife gina died. they'd been married for 72 years. life became pointless in some ways. i was lost, i suppose.

what would gina have made of today, do you think? oh, i think gina would be over the moon, she would be so pleased for me, you know, but it would have been quite something. it's fantastic, it really is. peter has always said he gets more out of volunteering than the children do, that it saved him after his wife died, that the honour is more for them than for him. i'm just grateful for what i've got, but the kids are the icing on the cake. the children don't realise the effect they have on me. it's a great honour, it really is and, you know, it's been a super day, it really has. peter's medal will now take pride of place next to his wife, gina. graham satchell, bbc news. nice one, peter. this is a time of