Transcripts For BBCNEWS Afternoon Live 20180119

False imprisonment. Scientists in america say theyre a step closer to one of the holy grails of medicine a universal blood test for cancer. The new zealand Prime Minister says shes not the first woman to multi task after announcing that she is pregnant. Coming up on afternoon live all the sport. England on top down under. 7 certainly yes, kyle edmund is into the last 16. There has been another win for englands cricketers. Thank you olly. Sarah has the weather, how is it looking . We have web triweather at the moment. Things will turn milder through the weekend, but an amber warning out for the met office for disruptive weather in scotland in particular, i will have all the details throughout the afternoon. Also coming up a bridge too far for borisjohnson perhaps number ten knocks down the foreign secretarys idea for a fixed link between the uk and france. Intry w et er at the moment. Things will turn milder through the weekend, but an amber warning out for the met office for disruptive weather in scotland in particular, i will have all the details throughout the afternoon. This is afternoon live. The justice secretary says the government will not seek a judicial review over a decision to release the serial sex offenderjohn worboys. David gauke told mps that after taking legal advice, hes 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 in 2009, after being convicted of offences against 12 women. He is one of the countrys most notorious serial sex offenders. John worboyss crimes caused revulsion, he cruised for victims not fares in his cab, he was convicted of drugs and sexually assaulting 12 women, one he raped. But it is feared he may have attacked more than 100 in total. The decision to release him provoked at on theish, including at the top of government. In an extraordinary very intends intervention the justice extraordinary very intends intervention thejustice secretary said he was looking to challenge the decision, this morning he said after taking legal advice he wont be. But he offered this reassurance to worboyss victims. Let me be absolutely clear, worboys will not be released until representations have properly been considered and his license conditions are in place, find last week, i asked for assurances that the views of victims we re 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. Worboyss is currently being held at wakefield prison in west yorkshire. A lawyer for wakefield prison in west yorkshire. A lawyerfor some of wakefield prison in west yorkshire. A lawyer for some of his victims is questioning whether he is being freed from what is a top security jail. And the victims intend to press ahead with their legal challenge, to try to keep him behind bars. We presently dont know the reasons 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 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 open prison, because they considered he was still a risk, what has changed over that time . John worboyss victims have spoken of how they fear for their safety when he is freed and called for him to be banned from the whole of the Greater London area. His license conditions are still being finalised. But while the victims legal challenge is going on, the black cabaret pistorius as he is known will remain in prison. Let us discuss this with bob neil. He is at our westminster studio. What do you make of thejustice secretarys decision on this . What do you make of thejustice secretarys decision on this7m what do you make of thejustice secretarys decision on this . It is very clear, i was in the commons for his statement, it is very clear he has looked at this extremely carefully a nd has looked at this extremely carefully and scrupulously. He is clear he has taken the advice of specialist leading counsel, in the field, and i accept and respect the decision he has come to. Was that inevitable7 he did raise the possibility of it the other day, which made a lot of big newspaper headlines, now he has had to say he is not going to go forjudicial review7 is not going to go forjudicial review . I think because of the public concern, which is perfectly understandable given the nature of the offences he was convicted of. It is perfectly reasonable for him to look at the possibility, i think people might have criticised him if he hadnt done that. He was cautious and said he was minded to do that but wanted to get full legal advice, han but wanted to get full legal advice, h an experienced lawyer himself, so he has applied his own mind too, i think although it is a a disappointing outcome, he has handled what is a legal question very carefully. I think it is equally important we do have to have the really rigid safeguards on terms of release to protect his victims so they have a proper say and we have a wide ranging review, into the way the parole system operates. He said he is not going to seekjudicial review but sadiq khan the mayor of london says he is. I am not sure what legal nexus the mayor of london has in the matter, that is a test he will have to overcome, the test for judicial review is a very high legal one, it has to be irrational in the sense not just one, it has to be irrational in the sense notjust that one, it has to be irrational in the sense not just that you one, it has to be irrational in the sense notjust that you or i might not have come to that decision but not have come to that decision but no parole board properly applying their mind to the material in front of them could have done, if there is a flaw in the process, any flaws in the procedures adopted have to be of a kind that would have made a material difference to the outcome. So it is a high test. I wouldnt make assumptions about what the mayor does. The victims are in a different position, the impact varies and each case ofjudicial review has to be considered on its own merit, obviously entitled to ta ke own merit, obviously entitled to take their own legal advice, and i am sure they will. Two of the victims are seeking judicial review, are the questions at the end of all of this more also really about the fa ct of this more also really about the fact that the parole board cannot explain why and how it reached its on a on a controversial like , like i think like is i think with j; urgent i; urgentlg to n m the so the parole is their it was decisions is if of ~~ , decisions is if of the ~~ , that he 3 have answers by anj ti it 7 n w if w t 7 the wlj ti ti t n t tt t t t the chairman of wlj ti tt, t t t t t t t t the chairman of the wlj ti tt, t tt tt t t tt t t 71ij has indicated t t tt t tt tt t wlj ti tt, t tt tt t t tt t t 71ng has indicated 1 would tt t board himself has indicated he would; welcome the opportunity for the board to be explain its decision, andi board to be explain its decision, and i think that would be fair to the victims of any offender but to give the public more reassurance too. The public are looking for reassurance, we gather it is likely he will be released in the next few day, certainly the next few weeks and there are questions about the conditions of how he is released, the terms and conditions of his release, because he is going to go straight from a prison to the community at large, he is not going to an open prison of any kind, which is quite often the case in these sort of cases. It is perfectly right that very careful consideration is given indeed to the terms and conditions of his release, i am sure that will be done, and again that was raised by a number of colleagues in the commons and david gauke made that clear that he recognises that too, the parole board are coming to give evidence to thejustice select committee in a couple of weeks time, you will forgive me if i dont give details because i dont want to prejudice the questions we will be asking them in specifics about that. You are right to raise, i think we are all right to raise that issue, there have to be vince gent conditions but i dont want to go into details until we have had a chance to talk to the parole board directly. Thank you very much for being with us. A couple accused of imprisoning and torturing their 13 children have appeared in court in california. David and Louise Turpin were arrested last weekend, after one of their daughters escaped from the family home and called the police. The siblings, aged between two and 29, are said to be severely malnourished. The turpins appeared in court hours after prosecutors detailed the allegations against them, charges they deny. Our north america correspondent james cook reports from california. And sexually abusing one of his young daughters. His wife, louise, also pleaded not guilty. The couple are accused of imprisoning, tormenting, and beating their ten daughters and three sons. Prosecutors say the siblings endured 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, as a result of this extreme and prolonged physical abuse. The children were supposedly schooled here in their home, but the District Attorney said they lacked basic knowledge some did not even know what a Police Officer was. They were reportedly allowed to showerjust 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, or chained up, was to write in journals. We now have recovered thosejournals, 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 for two years. One of her sisters made 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. James cook, bbc news, riverside in california. This weekend marks one year since donald trump took over the office of us president. He vowed to change the face of politics stateside, with his Campaign Slogan promising to make America Great again. Well President Trumps boisterous style and frenetic twitter feed have certainly kept him in the limelight but how has he performed on some of his key election pledges tax cuts, the Controversial Border wall with mexico, and repealing and replacing obamacare his predecessors health care plan. Christian fraser takes a look now at President Trumps first year in office. Be asking them in specifics about that. You are right to raise, i think we are all right to raise that issue, there have to be stringent conditions but i dont want to go into details until we have had a chance to talk to the parole board directly. Thank you very much for being with us. 12 months in the white house, his first year as a politician. So what does the report card of the 45th president look like . Let us remind ourself what candidate trump promised. The mantra was of course make America Great again, and here is how he proposed to do it. Isis will be gone if i am elected president. Obamacare has to be replaced. I am going to build a wall and mexico is going to pay for it, right7 complete shut down of muslims entering the United States. Ourjobs are being stolen like candy from a baby. Not going to happen any more phobes. Well, let us start with the economy, because there is a curious disconnect here, the president has record low Approval Ratings but the stock market is hitting record highs. The dowjones smashed through the 26,000 mark for the first time ever. Economy says it is mr trump who should take the credit. He has cut taxes but will the boom on the markets eventually translate into wage growth7 on trade, there is more to do. The first thing he did in office was to withdraw from the Trans Pacific partnership. Office was to withdraw from the tra ns pacific partnership. The office was to withdraw from the Trans Pacific partnership. The nafta negotiation is ongoing, trumps warning to canada and mexico is he wa nts warning to canada and mexico is he wants better terms or he will pull out. He is serious. What about representative peeling and replacing obamacare7 that turned into a congressional nightmare, the tax reform that was passed, that does chip away at one of the affordable ca re chip away at one of the Affordable Care acts foundation, but the president s comments that the job was done, well, that is fake news, it isnt. Where the president will think he scores highly is on foreign policy. Having vowed to destroy isis, the caliphate is on the run in syria and iraq, despite the often alarming public feud with the rocket man, kimjong un north and south korea are at least talking, for which the president has claimed the credit. What about the wall . Perhaps the Campaign Promise that resonated most with the base. Now the president is demanding congressional funding as pa rt demanding congressional funding as part of Immigration Reform and there is still plenty of resistance, we can say with some certainty, that mexico isnt going to pay for it. At least not directly. The promised ban on muslim, that turned into a travel ban on those country that were predominantly muslim. The legal challenge to that is ongoing. The courts, much like the media, have incurred the president s wrath. What is for certain is that the president through this year has persisted with the mandate on which he was elected but Approval Ratings are low, he has lost special election in virginia and alabama and perhaps the ultimate test of his presidency will come later this year. With the midterms. With the midterms. Dr russell foster, lecturer in european and International Studies at Kings College in london is here. Thank you for being with us. One year on how do you assess the Trump White House and President Trump st presidency in at the time of the Election Campaign in late 2016 we we re Election Campaign in late 2016 we were aware the promises he was making were going to be difficult to implement. He was elected of putting america first, making America Great again, focussing on things likejob, infrastructure generation, repealing health care, so issues that were focussed on the american people, not on foreign policy, what we have seen in the years since he was elected is that basically all of the promises he made barring tax cuts, in late 2016 for domestic policies he hasnt been able to push forward, either because they were inconceivable like building the border wall or he has been blocked in congress. What we have instead seen is a sud shift towards pawn policy, he was elected on being a domestic policy president , he promised to reduce americas global commitment round the world. We have seen a focus on the world. We have seen a focus on the korean peninsula, a focus on the middle east, especially aftermath of isis and with the issues surrounding the embassy in jerusalem, isis and with the issues surrounding the embassy injerusalem, what he promised to do he hasnt done and what he said he wouldnt do he has. On, taxes his supporters would say he has cut them. He said we were showing him in a report earlier on saying telling voters your pay cheques will be bigger because of my tax cut, you can keeping more of your hard earned money, on of the of that he would say the economy is buoyant. You have a stock market boom at the moment. This is true. He has only been for one year and no us president can affect the global economy, let alone the American Economy, let alone the American Economy within one year, so a lot of the economic booms that we are seeing are cones dental. This these area seeing are cones dental. This these are a result of a general economic recovery in the aftermath of the credit crunch and so as much as he can take credit for these in the eyes of his supporters it is morph a coincidence, he has been able to push through some reform, he has lowered unemployment. Pushed through his tax cuts but so much of his economic progress is due changes that were already in place before he was elected. It is interesting, we have heard a lot of people saying they like some of the things has done but they are fed up with his twitterfeed every day and some of the things, the rants i think as one voter called it. They dont kind of like that sort of activity, from a us president. A lot of people will say this is not statesman like, however, we have to remember that trump was elected on the basis of a deep seated anger in american society, an anger towards the establishment, stay toe quo and a sense that america was becoming a second rate power in the world. As enough as people will criticise trump based on his somewhat erratic and unpresident ial like behaviour, his Approval Ratings are still higher than we would expect for a president like this. He was elected on the basis of emotion and anger, his rants against random people feed into that sense of american outrage. And you wouldnt rule out him winning a second term. One thing we have seen is the only person who can defeat a populist is a populist, u nless defeat a populist is a populist, unless the democrats can put forward someone who is able to appeal to disillusioned peeps of the midwest, it is likely, well perhaps not likely, it is too early to say it is possible we could see a second trump term. Very good to talk to you. You are are watching afternoon live the headlines. The government announces it will not challenge the controversial decision to release the serial sex offenderjohn worboyses from prison. Lawyers say they will pursue a judicial review. The parents accused of holding their 13 children captive in california plead not guilty to torture, abuse and false imprisonment. Scientists in america say they are a step closer to one of the holy grails of medicine, a universal blood test for cancer. In sport englands cricketers have gone 2 0 up against australia in the one day series, they reached 271 with fia overs to spare. The british number two kyle edmund is through to the last 16 at the Australian Open. He won his third round match in five sets. And after overtwo years away from the ring tyson fury is close to a return, he has had his boxing license reinstated pending a medical. I will have a full update in the next 15 minutes. Surrey police have accepted there we re Surrey Police have accepted there were flaws in their initial investigation into a rape charge against a student from Oxford University. Oliver mears was cleared just days before his trial was due to start. Danny shaw is at Guildford Crown court for us. Tell us more about what has happened there in court. This is the fourth time in four weeks that a rape prosecution has collapsed at the last minute, because key evidence has emerged which has undermined the prosecutions case, this particular case concerned oliver mere, a 19 year old student at Oxford University studying chemistry. He has been investigate bed i police for two and a half year, he has been on police bailfor much of for two and a half year, he has been on police bail for much of that time. He was charged with an offence of rape and indecent assault injune last year, the trial was due start on monday, but today, the prosecution decided to offer no evidence against mr mere, he was formally cleared by the judge, who wa nted formally cleared by the judge, who wanted to know why it has taken the prosecution so long to get to this point. He said the delays had been unnecessary, and had left mr mears and the alleged victim with this case hanging over their heads for too long, the prosecution explained that material had come about quite late on, there had been a diary, digital evidence had been looked at by the police, and also, there had been material of a sensitive nature relating to the alleged victim. Today, in the past few minutes in fa ct. Today, in the past few minutes in fact. We have had a statement from Surrey Police, acknowledging their m ista kes Surrey Police, acknowledging their mistakes in this investigation, it said in the initial stages of the inquiry, it wasnt conducted in an expendient manner, it wasnt quick enough, they did not, the, in the investigators did not examine Digital Media in the International Stages and did not follow what they considered to be a reasonable line of inquiry, that is quite an acknowledge it from the police about their failings, acknowledge it from the police about theirfailings, the acknowledge it from the police about their failings, the crown prosecution service, well they have been asked to give a response as to why they have been delays, within 28 days, thejudge will why they have been delays, within 28 days, the judge will decide whether further action should be taken. Thank you very much indeed. Scientists say theyve moved a step closer to developing a universal blood test for cancer. Researchers in america tested a new method on a thousand patients to see if it could detect eight types of the disease. The cancer seek test as its known had a success rate of 70 and the team say their goal is to now develop an annual test for everyone designed to catch cancer early and save lives. Our Health Correspondent James Gallagher reports. More than 1a Million People find out they have cancer each year worldwide. The sooner theyre 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 ten 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 thats 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 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. Experts said it has potential and testing for more mutated dna and proteins would allow for a greater range of cancers to be detected. Joining me is dr mangesh thorat, a cancer surgeon who specialises in Cancer Research at Queen Mary University of london. About theirfailings, about their failings, the crown prosecution service, well they have been asked to give a response as to why they have been delays, within 28 days, thejudge will why they have been delays, within 28 days, the judge will decide whether further action should be taken. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you for being with us. Thank you for inviting me. How much of a breakthrough do you think it is, or should we be careful . It is very exciting but it is too early to call it as exciting but it is too early to call itasa exciting but it is too early to call it as a breakthrough, there are several promising feature of this new study, first it is a noninvasive test, secondly it uses a technology thatis test, secondly it uses a technology that is becoming more promising in several aspects of cancer, thirdly it focuses on eight different cancers, for five of these we dont have an effective screening tool. Lastly it does have a quite good level of specificity. If it were to become a legitimate detective tool the false positive is not going to be high. There are certain caveats there which we need to consider, and thatis there which we need to consider, and that is where i would like to urge caution. What are the caveats, are wore worried about the size of the test sa m ple wore worried about the size of the test sample for example, about 1,000 patients, 1005 patients trialled, is that too small . Yes as a first step it is an appropriate size, but this is where we, the design is a case controlled design, that is where we need to evaluate this in a much larger sample which is more representative of general population, and from your report it seems that that work is already under way, so that is one aspect that needs to be thoroughly covered and we need toe see whether the test maintains its specificity down the line. The second important aspect which is a limitation is the stage one cancers, the sensitivity of the test was only about a0 , which means it missed 60 of stage one cancers. The idea is that it is an Early Warning system on cancer. Exactly. So you are missing 60 of stage one cancers where you want to diagnose them. That sensitivity will have to be improved over a period of time. Although 40 some would say that isnt a bad. That is where it is exciting. Ok, so. For eight cancer, five of those we dont have anything yet. It is picking up a0 , so that is quite good. That is good. The key thing is here Early Detection, this is what would be revolutionary, that doctors would know early on if a patient does have cancer. Yes, there is another small caveat there, which we havent experienced in this field of screening where we have always been site specific. So if a test is positive and we dont find a cancer, we know how to investigate that particular organ, and this being generic if nature is going to throw up generic if nature is going to throw up new challenges as to how do we deal with a positive test when we dont find a specific cancer site. That will be one of the new ethical challenges it will pose, and there will be certain diagnostic challenges going with it as well. Overall the data are exciting, and the studies, further studies i hope prove, validate the findings of this early study. We will have to wait and see. Thank you for giving us your expert analysis. A teenager has pleaded not guilty to trying to kill passengers in a bomb attack on the london underground, he denied attempted murder and causing an explosion at Parsons Green tube station in west london last september. 30 passengers were taken to hospital. The trial has been set for the 5th march. The british author peter mayle has died at the age of 78678 he suffered a short illness. The book published in 1989 told the story of his first year as an expat in 1989 told the story of his first yearas an expat in in 1989 told the story of his first year as an expat in a village in the south of france. France. It sold six million copies round the world. In 2002 the french government awarded him a knight of the legion of honour for his contributions to culture. We will check out the latest weather prospects with sarah. And how is it is things will be turning mild, but for the here and now, we have wintry weather, this is coming from scotland, showing the extent of the snow. Blue skies, some sunshine, but there is an amber warning, especially for this zone in the south west of scotland where we could have another 10 15 centimetres of snow. How much every had so far . Several days worth across the north west of scotland, western scotland, Northern Ireland. If we look at the depths, this is how it is looking at the moment. If we get onto the forecast, things are gradually turning mild, but for the rest of today we have further snow showers in the hills of scotland, Northern Ireland and north west england, but towards the south and east, much drier with glorious wintry sunshine. Around the country, snow showers in the western scotla nd country, snow showers in the western scotland and Northern Ireland, we could have 10 15 centimetres across the south west of scotland. Be prepared for disruption. South and east, plenty of sunshine, like spring in terms of the temperatures, but feeling fine in the sunshine. The weather is a bit wintry in the highest ground in wales, but into the evening and overnight, the wintry showers in the north move away. And then the next batch of rain moves from the south west, and as it reaches the colder it could be turning wintry. Some snow possibly for the hills of wales, the Brecon Beacons, the chilterns and the cotswolds. So it will stay grey and quite chilly and a bit gloomy in the south, but further north, much better day. We lose all the wintry showers, a return to sunshine in the north, but saturday night will be very cold, widespread ice. Some mist and freezing fog patches and later into the early hours of sunday the rain works its way in and that is bumping into very cold air. During sunday, the weather front works in from the atlantic meeting the cold airand we did from the atlantic meeting the cold air and we did have more disruptive snowfall in some places in the course of sunday. More snow to come for parts of the midlands and Northern England, towards Central Scotland, and it looks like it will turn back to rain because mild air is moving in with the arrival of that rain and snow but it will stay cold through sunday. If you have travel plans through the day on sunday, be prepared for heavy rain, but also the risk of snow and ice especially across parts of scotland, Northern England, which might well cause disruption to your travel plans on sunday. This is bbc news our latest headlines. The government announces it will not challenge the controversial decision to release serial sex offender john worboys from prison but lawyers for two of the victims say they will pursue a judicial review. The parents accused of holding their 13 children captive in california plead not guilty to torture, abuse and false imprisonment. Scientists in the us develop a blood test that screens for common forms of cancer. A study of patients correctly diagnosed seven in ten cases. Experts here say the research is enormously exciting but more work is needed. Sport now on afternoon live. With olly foster, and theres been lots of positive cricket and tennis news coming out of australia. Strange to be waking up to the news from australia, but there was good news in brisbane with the cricket, but we will start with the Australian Open tennis. The first tennis grand slam of the year kyle edmund winning in five sets against nikoloz basilashvilli. The italian Andreas Seppi next. A big issue in melbourne over the last couple of days is the temperature, over a0 degrees. Theres an extreme heat policy in place, they can suspend play, but they didnt and that upset a few players who said it was dangerous. Edmund spent three and a half hours on court in the heat of the day. It isa it is a tough one, professional sport, it is meant to hurt and not be easy, that is the point of it, but i guess. Yeah, i mean if people become ill it might be a concern but as far as im aware everyone is just getting through. It is supposedly getting cooler in melbourne. Some of the top seeds have also made their way into the last 16, rafael nadal, grigor dimitrov, marin cilic, Caroline Wozniacki and elina svitolina. And now the cricket . 4 0l defeat in the ashes test series, but they have gone 2 0 up in their one day series against australia. They won by four wickets in brisbane chasing down their target of 271 with five overs to spare. Adam wild reports. After a troubled winter for english cricket, suddenly the scene seems a little more serene. Even when faced with batting like this from australias aaron finch, englands one day side refused to panic. Finch made 100 again, but when he fell, australia stumbled, england taking advantage. Chris woakes, like his side, calm and creative. Another chris woakes another chris woa kes run another chris woakes run out and the innings was over. 270 never looked like it would be enough. Still, england would have to find a new hero. Roy made history in the first match of the series. Here, he lasted just four balls. There were plenty waiting behind him in the queue. First, bairstow and then alex hales. Both passing 50. Even the clatter of wickets did little to break their stride. Chris woakes bringing up the winning runs. England full of confidence, and with good reason. With less than two weeks of the transfer window to go, the big deal which is expected to go through arsenals Alexis Sanchez to manchester united, with Henrik Mkhitaryan moving the other way. Today, united Managerjose Mourinho had this update of sorts. Nothing new. Ithink nothing new. I think clearly Everybody Knows that we are there. Especially when the arsenal manager speaks so clearly like he did, there is no point in trying to hide or to deny, but not done, not done at all. Brazil legend pele is in hospital after collapsing with symptoms of severe exhaustion. Hes 77, and was due to travel to london this weekend for a dinner to be held in his honour by the football writers association. Pele is the only player to win three world cups. Hes suffered from kidney and prostate problems in recent years. Tyson fury is a step closer to returning to the ring. Last month, the former world heavyweight champion accepted a backdated two year suspension after testing positive for a banned steroid. He hasnt fought since taking the world title from Vladimir Klitschko in 2015. His license was suspended in 2016 over a range of issues. He admitted to using cocaine to help with his depression. But after an interview with the british boxing board of control this morning, he has been reinstated subject to medical clearance. That is all the sport for now. Studio thanks for joining that is all the sport for now. Studio thanks forjoining us. An obsessed builder was inspired by an infamous acid bath killer before he kidnapped, raped and attacked two women before putting the body of one of them in a freezer a court has heard. Mujahid arshid denies the rape and murder of his 20 year old niece Celine Dookhran as well as the rape and attempted murder of a second woman who cant be named. Our correspondentjon donnison is outside the old bailey. The prosecution were laying out the funny deal the prosecution were laying out the final details of the case, they we re the final details of the case, they were looking at the internet Search History of mujahid arshid and they said in the weeks leading up to the attack he did searches on how to cut other human body, butchering a human carcass and what is the best way to dispose of human body. He also did a search on acid bath murderer, bringing upa search on acid bath murderer, bringing up a conviction for someone from someone yea rs bringing up a conviction for someone from someone years ago bringing up a conviction for someone from someone years ago from some yea rs from someone years ago from some years ago when someone tried to dispose of bodies in a acid bath. The person involved in one of the alleged attacks, she could be named for legal reasons, and this evidence came in the initial Police Interview she gave in the days after the alleged attack. This was shown by video to thejury alleged attack. This was shown by video to the jury and use all the young woman in a hospital bed, with bandages on her arms and you saw. She described how her self and Celine Dookhran, who died, they were abducted and taken to a property in kingston and she describes how they we re kingston and she describes how they were both great and had their throats slit. Salim died. This woman describes how she managed to talk mujahid arshid round celine died. The prosecutions allegation is that he was sexually obsessed with both women, but she was able to alert family and police. Theres another man who is alleged to have taken pa rt man who is alleged to have taken part in the initial kidnapping. Both men deny all the charges. Thanks for joining us. This weekend marks one year since donald trump took over the office of us president. He vowed to change the face of politics stateside, with his Campaign Slogan promising to make America Great again. So 12 months on, how supportive are americans of their leader . Laura trevelyan has been to pennslyvania to meet trump voters, and those less convinced by the president shes in pittsburgh for us this afternoon. It has been quite a year, there arent many days when donald trump doesnt dominate the news cycle. Usually starting with his thoughts on twitter early in the morning. That is right, and today is no exception, you has been tweeting about the looming Government Shutdown in washington, saying there isa shutdown in washington, saying there is a showdown looming. He has been tweeting. He has said every single day should feature something to do with him, so people are interested in what hes doing. In pennsylvania they certainly are, this is a state that propelled him to victory, he unexpectedly won by lesson 1 , less than 1 , but given that Hillary Clinton were supposed to romp home here, it was a stunning victory. The victory was forged in the western heartlands, industrial heartlands, of western pennsylvania, where democratic voters switched over to donald trump, they were attracted by his message. I have been to the Industrial Areas to speak to voters and to find out if they feel donald trump has delivered. 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. Over 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 im 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 obama voter regret switching to trump7 when i went into the voting booth and i pulled the lever i was satisfied. Im having buyers remorse. Why7 because its not consistent. John fetterman is a democrat in trump country. You get out into some of these areas that no ones visited, no ones taken the time to care, left it really open and ripe for someone to step in like a donald trump and say, hey, im the guy that can fix this. The populist mayor of braddock, with a tattoo of the towns zip code, counsels his party to understand trumps appeal. Its got to be more than trump is awful, vote for us, and it has to come back to like earnest, progressive, populist message. In his inaugural address a year ago, donald trump promised people in towns like braddock that hed give them back their jobs and their dreams. Theres an early electoral test here in pennsylvania of whether the voters feel hes delivering. Theres 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. Thats the candidate here. Mr trump doesnt 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. In his address a year ago, donald trump promised the forgotten people of america as he called them, that they would be forgotten no more, he said the american carnage as he described it, the shuttered factories and communities devastated by the Opioid Epidemic, that carnage would stop right here right now, thatis would stop right here right now, that is a message which resonated here in those declining Industrial Areas where people felt forgotten. Thejury is areas where people felt forgotten. The jury is out on whether donald trump can deliver but right now he has the issue of a looming Government Shutdown. He was going to fly to his winter estate, but he is holding a big fundraiser celebrating his first year in office, but as of now he is not going until there is a deal to keep the government open. More drama, more chaos. Thanks for joining us. In a moment the business news. First a look at the headlines on afternoon live. The government announces it will not challenge the controversial decision to release serial sex offender john worboys from prison but lawyers for two of the victims say they will pursue a judicial review. The parents accused of holding their 13 children captive in california plead not guilty to torture, abuse and false imprisonment. Scientists in america say theyre a step closer to one of the holy grails of medicine a universal blood test for cancer. Heres your business headlines on afternoon live. It turns out that december was a pretty disappointing month for the retailers. We spent less and bought fewer items through the month compared with november these are official government figures and the office of National Statistics which collects them says its because christmas shoppers are buying a lot of stuff earlier, often on the infamous black friday. Carpetright shares have plunged 45 after warnings that full year profits will be much lower than expected. Its down to what it calls a sharp deterioration in uk trade, especially in the key period just around christmas. In the 11 weeks to 13 january, sales in shops open more than a year fell 3. 6 . Profits now wont be £14 million for this year, it says more like between £2 6 million. There could be mass closures of cash machines if a shake up of the network goes ahead as planned. This is according to the Consumer Group which. We will have more on that in a second. Lets talk about carillion, softbank has become the biggest shareholder lets talk about uber. Has become the biggest shareholder lets talk about uber. By our Japanese Company they are a Japanese Company they are a Japanese Company they are a Japanese Company and they have bought for his companies, they bought for his companies, they bought boston dynamics. They make robots. If you look at them on youtube you will see amazing pictures, very strange looking robots, but as for the fact on uber, they are the biggest shareholder, softbank, and we can go to our correspondent in the United States. What difference will it be having uber in charge, but softbank as the biggest shareholder7 uber in charge, but softbank as the biggest shareholder . The incoming board member from softbank has made it clear in terms of what he would like to see change at uber and he wants them to go back to its core areas of business, he would like to see them concentrate on north america, europe and latin america, and many of the expansions in places like india and china have not gone very well, and in those places we saw that uber had to sell its companies to local ride hailing apps and they believe it would be better off to concentrate on those core markets. What about in terms of governance7 uber has had a chequered history. I think that is part of the reason why you are hearing softbank wanting them to concentrate on these co re wanting them to concentrate on these core markets because there is so much government, governments are trying to push back on these ride hailing apps in terms of safety and workers rights. If they are better able to concentrate on those markets, they might be better able to withstand that kind of governance that you are seeing. Even today, on the local news in new york city, they are reporting on plans that they are reporting on plans that they want to curb some of the manhattan traffic. One of the ways they have suggested is to apply attacks on to all cars that are riding in manhattan apply a tax. That will have a big effect on uber. Thanks forjoining us. What is happening with atms7 cash machines as they are known. Interesting story. Link is the company which ru ns story. Link is the company which runs the freaky use once but they are paid by the card issuers the free to use once. As they try to renegotiate the fees which they pay, they are thinking of reorganising they are thinking of reorganising the way the race macro are distributed. Atms are distributed. Atms are distributed. There are 123 postcodes which dont have any atms at all. Another one, 116 postcodes havejust one and 37 of them charge a fee. We spoke to someone from the Retail Banking academy about this. She bit replenished with cash period at keep it be punished with cash period ugly which might go wrong. Keep it replenished with cash periodically which might go wrong. We have been Closing Bank Branches and the atms were the much vaunted alternative and if they start offering a charge for the use of the atms, we have a double whammy that we dont want. I will be back in one hour with more. We will see you then. New zealands Prime Ministerjacinda ardern has announced that she is pregnant. She and her partner, Clarke Gayford, are expecting their first child injune, after which she plans to take a six week break. Ms ardern will be the second elected world leader to give birth while in office, and the first to do so in nearly 30 years. Im not the first woman to multitask. Woman to work and have a baby. I know these are special circumstances, but there will be many women who will have done this well before i have. Im about to sympathise with those women are not as i sympathise with all women who have suffered morning sickness. But im excited and we are excited, and we are going to make this work and new zealand is going to help us raise our first child. The Prime Minister of new zealand, jacinda ardern. We can talk to a labourmp jacinda ardern. We can talk to a labour mp who has campaigned to modernise parliament. Clearly this is pretty rare for a Prime Minister to give birth while in office. People are struggling to find a comparison for a Prime Minister who has been pregnant while they have beenin has been pregnant while they have been in office. I congratulate her on the landmark achievement. It is fantastic news and around the world people will see it is possible for women irresponsiblejobs, people will see it is possible for women irresponsible jobs, taking people will see it is possible for women irresponsiblejobs, taking on huge levels of responsibility but still being a good parent as well for women in responsiblejobs. Still being a good parent as well for women in responsible jobs. Very important7 for women in responsible jobs. Very important . Yes, new zealand is leading the way, breaking down barriers, maybe she did not intend to break them down, but the fact it is happening will be a signal across the world to say it should never be a barrier and it should never be a concern or a consideration for any employer and any business and any organisation not to have a woman in senior roles. You have been campaigning for the modernisation of parliament here, what specifically would you like to see done to modernise the house of commons in a particular for women modernise the house of commons in a particularfor women and modernise the house of commons in a particular for women and mps7 modernise the house of commons in a particular for women and mps . We have seen huge changes and credit has got to be given to the current Speakerjohn Bercow who has gone against the grain of a very traditional establishment and encouraged people to bring their children into work and has opened up the palace of westminster and made it more Family Friendly but there is a lot more to do. I know there have been colleagues to bring their new babies into parliament, maybe to participate in debates, even if their children are still breast feeding, for example, and that has not been possible. It has not been seen as an exceptional situation, but i feel strongly that if women who are councillors are able to breast feed in council chamber, is it so distracting and so significant in the house of commons chamber, that it will draw all of democracy to a standstill will stop no, it wont. What it would do is normal lives a situation and make it very clear that this is a very normal human situation. We should not have anything which bars women from participating at the highest levels of our dumb proceed and anything of our democracy and anything of our democracy and anything we can do to advance that isa anything we can do to advance that is a positive. Thanks forjoining us. Time for a look at the weather. Heres Sarah Keith Lucas. Around the country, snow showers in the western scotland and Northern Ireland, we could have 10 15 centimetres across the south west of scotland. South and east, plenty of sunshine, like spring in terms of the temperatures, but feeling fine in the sunshine. The weather is a bit wintry in the highest ground in wales, but into the evening and overnight, the wintry showers in the north move away. And then the next batch of rain moves from the south west, and as it reaches the colder it could be turning wintry. Some snow possibly for the hills of wales, the Brecon Beacons, the chilterns and the cotswolds. Mostly dry and bright on saturday, the second half of the weekend turning increasingly wet and windy with further snow for Northern England and scotland. You are watching afternoon live. The government announces it will not challenge the controversial decision to release serial sex offender john worboys from prison but lawyers for two of the victims say they will pursue a judicial review. Having taken considered and expert legal advice, i have decided that it would not be appropriate for me as secretary of state to proceed with such a case. Honourable members will appreciate i cannot go further and go into detail. I know this will disappoint the victims in this case and members of this house. Everything about worboys conduct and his denial of the offence, and the recent decision not to move him to open conditions suggests that the decision is irrational, and therefore we seek a challenge to that decision on that basis. A court hears from a friend of the murdered Celine Dookhran, who says the alleged killer spent weeks planning to kidnap, rape, and murder them. The parents accused of holding their 13 children captive in california plead not guilty to torture, abuse and false imprisonment. Scientists in america say theyre a step closer to one of the holy grails of medicine a universal blood test for cancer. Coming up on afternoon live all the sport ollie foster. And england on top down under . They are in the tennis we will get to that later, but the cricketers are now officially on a winning streak. They have gone 2 0 up in the one day series. Hard to believe hard to believe thanks ollie, and well bejoining you for a full update just after half past. Sarah has all the weather. We have more wintry weather on the cards through the rest of today and overnight, too. Things will turn milder through the course of the weekend. I will bring you all the details in about half an hour. Sarah, thank you. Also coming up. A bridge too far for Boris Johnson perhaps number ten knocks down the foreign secretarys idea for a fixed link between the uk and france. Hello everyone this is afternoon live. Im ben brown. The justice secretary says the government will not seek a judicial review over a decision to release the serial sex offenderjohn worboys. David gauke told mps that after taking legal advice, hes concluded it would not be appropriate to challenge the ruling. Worboys was jailed in 2009, after being convicted of offences against 12 women. Our Home Affairs Correspondent june kelly reports. He is one of the countrys most notorious serial sex offenders. John worboyss crimes caused revulsion, he cruised for victims not fares in his cab, he was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting 12 women, one 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, this morning he said after taking legal advice he wont be. But he offered this reassurance to worboyss victims. Let me be absolutely clear, worboys will not be released until representations have properly been considered and 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. Worboyss 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 dont know the reasons 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 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 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 called for him to be banned from the whole of the Greater London area. His license 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. I have been talking to bob neil and he gave me his thoughts. |j i have been talking to bob neil and he gave me his thoughts. I was in the commons for his statement, very clear he has look at this very carefully a nd clear he has look at this very carefully and scrupulously, he is clear he has taken the advice of specialist leading counsel, in the field, and i accept and respect the decision he has come to. Was that inevitable7 he did raise the possibility of it the other day, which made a lot of big newspaper headlines, now he has had to say that he is not going to go for judicial review . Because of the public concern, which is perfectly understandable, given the nature of the offences that worboys was convicted of, it is reasonable of him to look into the possibility. People would have criticised him if he hadnt. He said he was minded to do that but wanted to get full legal advice. David gauke is an experienced lawyer himself, so he has applied his own mind too. So i think although its a disappointing outcome, i understand that, he has handle what is a legal question not a political one very carefully. What is equally important is that we do have to have those really rigid safeguards on any terms of release to protect his victim, so they have a proper say, and that we have this much more wide ranging review, into the way the parole system operates. He said he is not going to seek judicial review but sadiq khan the mayor of london says he is. Judicial review but sadiq khan the mayor of london says he islj judicial review but sadiq khan the mayor of london says he is. I am not sure what legal nexus the mayor of london has in the matter, that is a test he will have to overcome. The test he will have to overcome. The test forjudicial review test he will have to overcome. The test for judicial review is test he will have to overcome. The test forjudicial review is a very high legal one. It has to be irrational in the sense notjust that you or i might not have come to that you or i might not have come to that decision but no that no parole board properly 57 applying their mind could have done, and if there isa mind could have done, and if there is a flaw in the process it has to be ofa is a flaw in the process it has to be of a kind that would have made a material difference to the outcome, so it is a high test. I wouldnt make assumptions about what the mayor does, the victims, who are in a different position, because the impact on each individual varies, and each case ofjudicial review has to be considered on its own merits, obviously entitled to take their own legal advice and i am sure they will. Two of the victim respects seeking judicial review, are the questions at the end of this more also really about the fact that the pa role also really about the fact that the parole board cannot explain why and how it reached its decision on such a controversial matter like this7|j a controversial matter like this . think that is absolutely right. That isa think that is absolutely right. That is a question which i have raised twice in the commons with the justice secretary now, i think that we should be moving urgently to change the rules, so that the parole board is allowed to give their decisions and it was very clear from david gaukes response that is one of the things that he wants urgently to look at and have some answers we hope by easter. Interestingly, Nick Hardwick the chairman of the parole board has indicated he would welcome the opportunity for the board to be able to explain itself decisions, andi able to explain itself decisions, and i think that would be fair both to the victims of any offender but to the victims of any offender but to give the public more reassurance. They are looking for reassurance, we gather it is likely he will be released in the next few day, certainly the next few weeks and there are questions about the conditions of how he is released. The terms and conditions of his release, he will go straight from a prison to the community at large, he is not going to an open prison which is not going to an open prison which is often the case. It is perfectly right very careful consideration is given indeed to the terms and conditions of his release, i am sure that will be done, and again, that was raised by a number of colleagues and david gauke made that clear, that he recognises that too. The pa role that he recognises that too. The parole board are coming to give evidence to the justice stitty in a couple of weeks time, forgive me if i dont go into details because i dont want to prejudice the questions we will be asking them about that. You are right to raise that issue, that there have to be stringent conditions but i dont wa nt to stringent conditions but i dont want to go to details as to what they might be until which with have had a chance to talk to them directly. That was bob neil. An obsessed builder was inspired by an infamous acid bath killer before he kidnapped, raped and attacked two women before putting the body of one of them in a freezer a court has heard. Mujahid arshid denies the rape and murder of his 20 year old niece Celine Dookhran as well as the rape and attempted murder of a second woman who cant be named. Our correspondent has been reporting for us from the old bailedly. The prosecution laying out the final details of their case, they did go into the internet Search History of the defendant. They say in the weeks leading up to it he did searches on how to cut up a human body, butchering a human carcass, and what is the best way to dispose of a human body. He also did an internet search on acid bath murderer, bringing up information on someone convicted a number of years ago for several murders where they tried to dispose of the bodies in an acid bath. Also today, we heard testimony, the first testimony from the woman who survived this alleged attack, she cant be named for legal reason, this evidence came in the form of the initial Police Interview she gave in the days after the alleged attack, this was shown by video to thejury, alleged attack, this was shown by video to the jury, you saw the young woman in in hospital, in bed, bandages on her arms and neck, she described how herself and celine doohkran who died were abducted, together, they were taken to this property in kingston sand she describes how they were both raped and had their throats slit. Sell line died. This woman describes how she managed to talk the defendant round and persuade him they might have some sort of future together. The prosecution allegation is he was sexually obsessed with both women, and it was then that she was eventually able to alert farm and police. Both men i should say, there is another man alleged to have taken pa rt is another man alleged to have taken part in this initial kidnapping, both men deny all the charges. A couple accused of imprisoning and torturing their 13 children have appeared in court in california. David and Louise Turpin were arrested last weekend, after one of their daughters escaped from the family home and called the police. The siblings, aged between two and 29, are said to be severely malnourished. The turpins appeared in court hours after prosecutors detailed the allegations against them, charges they deny. Our north america correspondent james cook reports from california. Give up that right. David turpin appearing in court to deny torturing his own children and sexually abusing one of his young daughters. His wife, louise, also pleaded not guilty. The couple are accused of imprisoning, tormenting, and beating their ten daughters and three sons. Prosecutors say the siblings endured 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, as a result of this extreme and prolonged physical abuse. The children were supposedly schooled here in their home, but the District Attorney said they lacked basic knowledge some did not even know what a Police Officer was. They were reportedly allowed to showerjust 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, or chained up, was to write in journals. We now have recovered thosejournals, 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 for two years. One of her sisters made 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. James cook, bbc news, riverside in california. A teenager has pleaded not guilty to try trying to kill passengers in a bomb attack on the london underground. Ahmed hassan whos 18 denied attempted murder, and causing an explosion at Parsons Green tube station in west london last september. 30 passengers were taken to hospital. Surrey police have accepted there were flaws in its initial investigation into a rape charge against a student from Oxford University. Oliver mears, whos 19, was cleared just days before his trial was due to start. Our Home Affairs Correspondent, danny shaw, has been following the case, at Guildford Crown court, and explained more about what happened in court. This the fourth time in four weeks that a rape prosecution has collapsed at the last minute, because key evidence has emerged which has undermined the prosecutions case, this particular case concerned o very mears, a oliver mears, a 19 year old student studying chemistry at Oxford University, he has been investigated by police for two and a half year, he has been on police bailfor much of that time. He was charged with an offence of rape and indecent assault injune offence of rape and indecent assault in june last year offence of rape and indecent assault injune last year and the trial was due to start here on monday. But today, the prosecution decided to offer no evidence against mr mears, he was formally cleared by the judge, who wanted to know why it has taken the prosecution so long to get to this point. He said the delays had been unnecessary, and had left mrmears and the had been unnecessary, and had left mr mears and the alleged victim with this case hanging over them for too long. The prosecution explained that material had come about quite late on, there had been a diary, digital evidence had been looked at by the police, and also, there had been material of a sensitive nature. We have had a statement from Surrey Police acknowledging their mistakes in this investigation, it said that in the initial stages of the inquiry, it wasnt conducted in an ex beddient man e not quick enough, they did not, the, in the investigators did not examine Digital Media in the initial stages, and they also did not follow what they considered to be a reasonable line of inquiry, that is quite an acknowledgement from the police, the crown prosecution service, they have been asked to give a response as the to why they have been delayed within 28 days, thejudge to why they have been delayed within 28 days, the judge will decide whether further action should be taken. The government announces it will not challenge the controversial decision to release serial sex offenderjohn worboys from prison but lawyers say they will pursue a judicial review. Celine doohkran murder trial hears from a victim who says the alleged killer spent weeks planning kidnap rape and murder. The parents accused of holing their 13 children captive in california plead not guilty to torture, abuse and false imprisonment. Ina imprisonment. In a moment, this weekend marks the one Year Anniversary of Donald Trumps presidency, protests are expected in new york later on. In sport englands cricketers have taken a 2 0 lead in the one day series against australia. They won by four wickets in brisbane, to reach their target of 271 with five overs to spare. The british number two kind edmund is through to the last 16 of the Australian Open. He won his third round match in five sets. And actual two years away from the ring, former world heavyweight champion tyson fury is close to a return. He has had his license returned pending a medical. Scientists say theyve moved a step closer to developing a universal blood test for cancer. Researchers in america tested a new method on a thousand patients to see if it could detect eight types of the disease. The cancer seek test as its known had a success rate of 70 and the team say their goal is to now develop an annual test for everyone designed to catch cancer early and save lives. Our Health Correspondent James Gallagher reports. More than 1a Million People find out they have cancer each year worldwide. The sooner theyre 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 ten 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 thats 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 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. Experts said it has potential and testing for more mutated dna and proteins would allow for a greater range of cancers to be detected. From boris bikes to boris buses and now the possibility of a boris bridge. The foreign secretary has apparently floated the idea of building a 22 mile bridge across the english channel, linking the uk and france by road. Tweeting that the channel tunnel could be just a first step, borisjohnson reportedly raised the idea of a new link between the two countries during a summit with the french president. Joining me is professor wanda lewis, expert in Structural Engineering at the university of warwick. Spare. The british number two kyle edmund is through to the last 16 of the Australian Open. He won his third round match in five sets. And actual two years away from the ring, former world heavyweight champion tyson fury is close to a return. He has had his license returned pending a medical. Somebody who is well qualified to tell us whether a boris bridge is technically possible, what would you say7 technically possible, what would you say . Well, i think it is a very futuristic project, there have been bridges built, mostly in china, but they are hybrid bridge, a mixture of conventional and cable bridge, the longest cable bridge is about four kilometres, 80 kilometres in length. Here we are talking about 38 kilometre, 22 miles, so, this would require probably a cable construction, mull span cable construction, mull span cable construction and quite, quite tall pylons, because you have got 40 60 metre depth to the bottom of the sea, you need to allow for the height of the ships, and head room, so, plus the height above the deck, so, plus the height above the deck, so we are talking about the column height of above 500 metres and anything that has been built to date is 300 metre, there are a number of construction challenges, the high columns would require wind and vibration analysis to check for safety, the cost of it, it would be high, of course. How much would it cost, any idea . It is bound to runin cost, any idea . It is bound to run in to billion, bound to run in to billions. Would you like to see it built, you have made it sound like it would be incredibly difficult and a real challenge, but would it will be a great feat7m could be used as a research challenge, it would require much stronger and lighter cable, everyone stronger and lighter cable, everyone stronger than carbon fibre which is very expensive. It could be a good project to stimulate research, the cost remains an issue here. Because you need to also check the ground condition, which would not be very easy, and the constructability of the whole thing. One criticism that has been raised what would happen to shipping. It would disrupt the shipping. It would disrupt the shipping lanes in the channel. You could space the pylon, one to two or possibly three kilometres apart, so that wouldnt be a problem, obviously, if the columns were spaced every few metre, then that is not feasible. I think a kilometre or two, clear space might be sufficient, i dont know, i dont know the shipping regulation, do you think we need one, we have the channel, do you think we need a bridge7 channel, do you think we need a bridge . Im not sure, obviously, borisjohnson must have had a reason for suggesting this, and what is needed is a cost benefit analysis. But as a structural challenge it is a good idea. Of course he suggested a bridge in london, didnt he, a garden bridge that never actually happened. He seems keen on the idea of bridges. Yes, again the cost benefit analysis led to the failure of the project. Because obviously there are other pressing issues that need to be addressed, Economic Issues in the country. Do you think it will happen one day, might there one day be a bridge across the channel . Possibly, yes, we should never say never, i think. That is a good molt toe. Motto. Thank you for your analysis. Police in scotland have advised people to return home early in areas affected by an upgraded weather warning over snow and ice. This was the scene on the m90. The worst of the weather is set to hit from about three this afternoon. An amber warning is in place. Much of scotland is covered in snow. Motorists have been warned of significant delays. And well have more on the poor weather and that warning, with our colleagues from bbc reporting scotland at 4. 30 on news nationwide. Let us get more on the weather including that snow. Sarah had the detailed forecast. Good afternoon. There is some wintry sunshine to be enjoyed out there, but for some of us heavy snow showers to come. We have an amber warning issued by the met office in the south west of scotland, for significant snow and ice, do be prepared for some disruption across this region, in fa ct if disruption across this region, in fact if you have travel plans later on today, that heavy snow and ice could cause significant disruptions so keep tuned to local radio. Plenty of sleet and snow in the north west of sleet and snow in the north west of scotland, heavy snow over the hills, we could see five to ten centimetres. Northern ireland into north west england will continue to see that mix of rain at lower levels but sleet and snow showers over the hills. Anywhere to the east staying drier with sunshine as we head through the afternoon across east anglia and the south east. Some rain and sleety showers in parts of the south west, and for wales too, with snow showers to come over the highest ground. Into this evening and tonight we have a cold night with clear spellings, we will keep the risk of further snow showers but they ease away later in the night as this band of rain approaches from the south west. We could see a bit of snow on the leading edge of that, into the chilterns as well. The cotswolds could see snow during saturday morning. It should turn back to rain across the region of southern england and south wales so cold, grey and gloomy. Further north, a return to sunnier skies for Northern England Northern Ireland and fewer sleet and snow showers than we have seen over recent day, saturday night will be a particularly cold night, as the winds fall light, clear spells, freezing fog patches possible before the next band of rain and hill snow arrive from the west during sunday morning, as this rain bumps into that cold air we could see significant snow fall. It is a frontal system which is moving in from the atlantic, it will bring much miler air from the atlantic, it will bring much milerair in from the atlantic, it will bring much miler air in its wake but certainly for a time during sunday we could see the mix of heavy rain, quickly turning to snow in Northern England and scotland too, disruptive snow for a time. Heavy rain in Northern Ireland, southern england and south wales, lots going on, keep in touch with our latest warnings on the website. Goodbye. This is bbc news our latest headlines. The government announces it will not challenge the controversial decision to release serial sex offender john worboys from prison but lawyers for two of the victims say they will pursue a judicial review. Surrey police accepted there were flaws in its initial investigation into a rape charge against a student from Oxford University. Oliver mears, whos19, was cleared just days before his trial was due to start. The parents accused of holding their 13 children captive in california plead not guilty to torture, abuse and false imprisonment. Scientists in the us develop a blood test that screens for common forms of cancer. A study of patients correctly diagnosed seven in ten cases. Experts here say the research is enormously exciting but more work is needed. Sport now on afternoon live. With olly foster, and theres been lots of positive cricket and tennis news coming out of australia. Absolutely. We will start in melbourne. The first tennis grand slam of the year. Andy murray did not make it to the start line and Johanna Konta was knocked out a couple of days ago. But kyle edmund is into the fourth round in melbourne and he is the last british player in the mens and womens draw. He fought back from 21 womens draw. He fought back from 2 1 down, as well. Against nikoloz basilashvilli. He faces the italian Andreas Seppi next. A big issue in melbourne over the last couple of days is the temperature, over a0 degrees. Theres an extreme heat policy in place, they can suspend play, but they didnt and that upset a few players who said it was dangerous. Edmund spent three and a half hours on court in the heat of the day. It is a tough one. Professional sport, its meant to hurt and not be easy, thats the point of it, but i guess. Yeah, i mean, if people become ill it might be a concern but as far as im aware everyone is just getting through. The heatwave is apparently over in melbourne. Some of the top seeds have also made their way into the last 16, rafael nadal, grigor dimitrov, marin cilic, Caroline Wozniacki and elina svitolina. And now the cricket . Disastrous ashes but now the cricketers have gone from zero to hero. Yes, the pressure is off, give them the white ball and they are letting rip. 4 0 defeat in the ashes test series, but they have gone 2 0 up in their one day series against australia. They only need one more victory from the remaining three matches. Another impressive victory. They won by four wickets in brisbane chasing down their target of 271 with five overs to spare. Joe root getting a couple of wickets for england. With less than two weeks of the transfer window to go, the big deal which is expected to go through arsenals Alexis Sanchez to manchester united, with Henrik Mkhitaryan moving the other way. Today, united Managerjose Mourinho had this update of sorts. Nothing new. Ithink, clearly, Everybody Knows that we are there. Especially when the arsenal manager speaks so clearly like he did, there is no point in trying to hide or to deny. But not done not done at all. Brazil legend pele is in hospital after collapsing with symptoms of severe exhaustion. Hes 77, and was due to travel to london this weekend for a dinner to be held in his honour by the football writers association. Pele is the only player to win three world cups. Hes suffered from kidney and prostate problems in recent years. Reese priestland is going to miss most of the six nations, he has withdrawn from the wales squad after carrying a hamstring injury for a few weeks. He will continue his rehab with his club. Plenty of options for Warren Gatland at number ten including dan biggar, of course. They start their six nations at home to scotland two weeks tomorrow. Rory mcilroy is enjoying his return to competitive golf, picking up six shots in the abu dhabi championship thanks to four birdies and a great eagle on the last. He is now nine under par, three behind the leader, thomas pieters, the belgian. Happy birthday tommy fleetwood, a very slow start but he is back in contention with a round of 68, on ten under par. Tyson fury is a step closer to returning to the ring. Last month, the former world heavyweight champion accepted a backdated two year suspension after testing positive for a banned steroid. He hasnt fought since taking the world title from Vladimir Klitschko in 2015. His license was suspended in 2016 over a range of issues. He admitted to using cocaine to help with his depression. But after an interview with the british boxing board of control this morning, he has been reinstated subject to medical clearance. The masters snooker continues. Shaun murphy is up against the former world number one judd trump murphy is up against the former world number onejudd trump and murphy has had a lot more than just his opponent to worry about. Here he is preparing to play a shot. Oh there is a wasp. Probably the fastest hes ever moved around the table. Judd trump was enjoying it. He is leading 3 1. We have some news just in, there were two wasps and one of them is no more and is a p pa re ntly one of them is no more and is apparently under the table but the other one has escaped. That is all the sport for now. Studio thanks forjoining us. We wa nt we want further updates on those wasps. Laughter this weekend marks one year since donald trump took over the office of us president. He vowed to change the face of politics stateside, with his Campaign Slogan promising to make America Great again. So 12 months on, how supportive are americans of their leader . Laura trevelyan has been to pennslyvania to meet trump voters, and shes in pittsburgh for us this afternoon. It has flown by, never a dull moment. Never a dull moment and right now donald trump is trying to avert a Government Shutdown in washington, a lot of drama and tails, unconventional behaviour, but thatis tails, unconventional behaviour, but that is what people in the state of pennsylvania liked about donald trump, that he was promising Something Different especially in the industrial heartland where jobs have disappeared and where the Opioid Epidemic is rife and where family breakdown is happening. People like the message from donald trump of making America Great again, the forgotten people will be forgotten them all, so ive been asking people how they feel their vote for donald trump has worked out. 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. Over 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 im 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 obama voter regret switching to trump7 when i went into the voting booth and i pulled the lever i was satisfied. Im having buyers remorse. Why7 because its not consistent. John fetterman is a democrat in trump country. You get out into some of these areas that no ones visited, no ones taken the time to care, left it really open and ripe for someone to step in like a donald trump and say, hey, im the guy that can fix this. The populist mayor of braddock, with a tattoo of the towns zip code, counsels his party to understand trumps appeal. Its got to be more than trump is awful, vote for us, and it has to come back to like earnest, progressive, populist message. In his inaugural address a year ago, donald trump promised people in towns like braddock that hed give them back their jobs and their dreams. Theres an early electoral test here in pennsylvania of whether the voters feel hes delivering. Theres 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. Thats the candidate here. Mr trump doesnt 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. Donald trump won here by less than 1 , a very narrow margin, so he cant afford to haemorrhage any support. If even a few people are having doubts about him at this stage, that is not good, but those tax cuts as the president said, people will feel the effect of those in their pay cheques the next time they get paid. This is something that could potentially transform his fortunes. Meanwhile theres the Government Shutdown blooming and donald trump is on twitter saying that it donald trump is on twitter saying thatitis donald trump is on twitter saying that it is all the fault of the democrats looming. He will not be going to florida to my two celebrities first year in office on toa celebrities first year in office on to a deal is signed to keep the government opened to florida tonight to celebrate his first year in office. Laura, thanks forjoining us. Prison inspectors have delivered a scathing report on liverpooljail, saying Living Conditions there are the worst they have ever seen. They found damp and dirty cells with rats and cockroach infestations as well as a backlog of around 2000 maintenance tasks. Heres our correspondent adina campbell. Liverpool prison has faced a long Running Series of problems but todays report by her majestys inspectorate of prisons underlines a catalogue of squalid Living Conditions. Including broken windows, an infestation of cockroaches and blocked toilets. It also found two thirds of inmates had easy access to drugs, often smuggled by the growing use of drones, with more than one seized every week. And violence had also increased, more than a third of prisoners said they felt unsafe at the time of the inspection. What you are witnessing there is a prime example of the lack of investment at liverpool prison over the years, and that is down to government cutting budget and cutting the staffing levels. Now, it is due to, also, an amount of repairs that were outstanding at the time of that inspection. Over 2000 outstanding repairs, simple repairs that are not getting done. The head of the prison and Probation Service has admitted there were failings in the jails but says immediate action is being taken by appointing a new governor, including improvements to cleanliness. Todays report had also pointed to concerns over health care, something the bbc revealed last month, with worries about suicide rates, staff shortages, and access to specialist treatments. Lancashire care Nhs Foundation trust says it has made improvements over the last two years, despite challenging conditions. All too often what we are finding in prisons is that there are unacceptable levels of violence, that self harm is high, that there are self inflicted deaths on a totally tragic and astounding level. The reasons for this are many and varied but what it does need, in our view, the inspectorate, is close and serious attention to getting the basics in, to keep people safe. Liverpool isnt the only prison with problems. Yesterday the government was ordered to make immediate improvements to nottingham jail over safety concerns. Another example of how the crisis in some of englands prisons is continuing. In a moment the business news. First a look at the headlines on afternoon live. The government announces it will not challenge the controversial decision to release serial sex offender john worboys from prison but lawyers for two of the victims say they will pursue a judicial review. The Celine Dookhran murder trial hears from a friend of the victim who says the alleged killer spent weeks planning kidnap, rape and murder. The parents accused of holding their 13 children captive in california plead not guilty to torture, abuse and false imprisonment. Heres your business headlines on afternoon live. It turns out that december was a pretty disappointing month for the retailers. We spent less and bought fewer items through the month compared with november these are official government figures and the office of National Statistics which collects them says its because christmas shoppers are buying a lot of stuff earlier, often on the infamous black friday. Carpetright shares have plunged 45 after warnings that full year profits will be much lower than expected. Its down to what it calls a sharp deterioration in uk trade, especially in the key period just around christmas. In the 11 weeks to 13 january, sales in shops open more than a year fell 3. 6 . Profits now wont be £14 million for this year, it says more like between £2 6 million. There could be a mass closures of cash machines if a shake up of the network goes ahead as planned. This is according to the Consumer Group which. You mentioned problems for carpetright. Yes, a marked deterioration in trade, although they are not doing too badly in europe. Wages are not increasing at the same time as inflation. The other thing to notice about it, very often Companies Like carpetright are indicators of what is going on in the Housing Market which is an indicator of what is going on in the general economy and we should get these with a certain amount of caution. We spoke to a Research Director at global data and asked them what this indicated. A real pull back them what this indicated. A real pull back in big ticket spending and we would expect that there will be other furniture players who will have some worrying data coming out in the new year. It seems to indicate a slowdown in december that has indicate a slowdown in december that ha s followe d indicate a slowdown in december that has followed through into early january for carpetright and it is bad news, because with housing transactions flat at the Economic Outlook looking quite poor it is difficult to see how retailers like carpetright are going to improve in the short term. That was Patrick Obrian from global data. Flexible working, not what it is crackdown to be7 cracked out to be . Working, not what it is crackdown to be . Cracked out to be . It turns out it doesnt work as well as you would expect, theres a charity called working families which has done research into this, and one of the figures are they looked at people who work 25 hours a week, things likejobs shares, people who work 25 hours a week, things like jobs shares, and people who work 25 hours a week, things likejobs shares, and a third of them said they work extra hours a nyway to of them said they work extra hours anyway to make up the work they felt ought to be done and a third of them said they worked enough hours to qualify for working full time so they were working half the pay for doing a full timejob. Sarahjackson, chief executive of working families the charity which commissioned the report. We can talk to her. Why do you think it just doesnt work . We can talk to her. Why do you think itjust doesnt work . That we can talk to her. Why do you think it just doesnt work . That Flexible Working doesnt work . Flexible working doesnt work . Flexible working doesnt work . Flexible working does work for the majority of people who are doing it, it is still the best way for them to get the control they need over their family life and working life but what the report shows very clearly, that Flexible Working in itself is not enough and we need to think about workloads and work design, because in many people Flexible Working simply becomes the ability to manage a huge workload at a time and place of their own choosing but not to scale the work back. Lets talk about work design, what do you mean by that . Instead of lazy thinking that everyjob is a monday friday, 9 5 commitment, and then you throw in as much stuff as the manager wants, we have to think about what this role really needs to do, what are the outputs and how long will they take and where can it be done from, notjust about long will they take and where can it be done from, not just about the skills you need, is about shape of the week. You are talking about things which cant be corrected by government and legislation, it has to be corrected by culture and an attitude. Fundamentally it is down to attitude and culture and what the parents say very clearly is that when we asked them why are you putting these extra hours in, the answer is workload but also what the manager expects and what they have to do to get ahead, they have got to be seen to be there. We are looking for courageous leaders to think afresh about what work should look like and understanding that long hours does not necessarily translate into productivity and to Pay Attention to the parents in this survey because this is not a working mothers survey. This is about young men and young women who are both expected to be able to play an active part at home and we have found an equal number of men and women who are choosing career compromise in order to get the life they want at home, so we have a generation of young men who are putting their foot on the brakes and are saying to their employer they dont want that promotion. There will be pushed up from the grassroots as well as from visionary leaders who know what has to be done differently. I was going to say, is there a gender issue here, that women are the ones who are bearing the brunt . Women have done historically, but what we are seeing now, men and women together, this is a Younger Generation of parents and there is not much of a difference between what men and women want, thatis between what men and women want, that is the wake up call for business, you think of the young men as being solid committed guys, with as being solid committed guys, with a child, but actually they are disaffected and they want Something Different and they are not going to necessarily follow the conventional career path you would expect. Sarah jackson, thanks for joining career path you would expect. Sarah jackson, thanks forjoining us. Jamie, what about the markets . Reasonably healthy. The ftse100, up a quarter. What we were saying about, carpetright, buti a quarter. What we were saying about, carpetright, but i doing well in europe, and that is reflected in the General Health of the european comic they are doing well in europe, and that is reflected in the General Health of the european economy. Thanks forjoining us. New zealands Prime Ministerjacinda ardern has announced that she is pregnant. She and her partner, Clarke Gayford, are expecting their first child injune, after which she plans to take a six week break. Ms ardern will be the second elected world leader to give birth while in office, and the first to do so in nearly 30 years. Phil mercer reports. New zealands youngest Prime Minister since 1856 is about to face a fresh challenge. Jacinda ardern and her partner Clarke Gayford are expecting their first child in june, after which she plans to take a six week break. Lets do this. She found out about her pregnancy in october, six days before she became Prime Minister. I had to announce eventually. Theres only so long you can say you were eating too many christmas pies. I was showing from about 12 weeks so yeah, eventually we had to say and this felt as good a time as any. Ms ardern, whos 37, says she plans to be pm and a mum, and is confident she can juggle the role of motherhood with a high profile dayjob. Im not the first woman to multitask. Woman to work and have a baby. I know these are special circumstances, but there will be many women who will have done this well before i have. On her first day as Opposition Leader last year, ms ardern was controversially asked by a tv talk show host whether she had to decide between having a career and becoming a parent. News that shes pregnant is rare for international leaders. When Benazir Bhutto gave birth to a daughter in 1990 while serving as pakistans Prime Minister, it was reported to be a first for an elected world leader. Phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. Joining me now from westminster is the labour mp Rosie Duffield who is part of parliaments womens equalities Sub Committee and campaigns to make it easier for women to juggle politics with motherhood. The Prime Minister new zealand is doing thejuggling act. She the Prime Minister new zealand is doing the juggling act. She says shes not the first woman to multitask but she is a rarity in terms of being a Prime Minister who will have a baby while as Prime Minister. Absolutely. We think it has been quite funny the amount of fuss that has been made over this story, she happens to be be Prime Minister of new zealand and also pregnant, so it is not really something that should be a massive deal in 2018. But isnt it symbolic that you can have a very powerful job and also be a mother at the same time7 isnt that in some ways important symbolically7 time7 isnt that in some ways important symbolically . time7 isnt that in some ways important symbolically . I suppose so, yes, if we are discussing it from how things have changed, absolutely, and there have been lots of pregnant mps, Harriet Harman who is pushing through new reforms was pregnant when she was elected. Is pushing through new reforms was pregnant when she was electedm terms of reform, what would you like to see changing in terms of the uk and parliament specifically where you work in terms of making it easierforfemale mps you work in terms of making it easier for female mps who are mothers of Young Children forest babies7 or babies. Mothers of Young Children forest babies . Or babies. Ive been talking to mps who have been around for a while, talking about how hard it is to breast feed here, so things have moved on, we now have a creche but it is still difficult. We had a session which made it difficult for childcare and a few people were bringing their time childcare and a few people were bringing theirtime in childcare and a few people were bringing their time in children tiny children with them, including a seven week old baby, and so were looking at things like proxy voting for women, that might be a possibility in the new reforms and maybe we can modernise the Voting System and not due out in the crowded lobby for ages to go through and say your name not q. Crowded lobby for ages to go through and say your name not 0. Maybe we could have something secure like an app. Theres a long way to go in terms of british politics7 app. Theres a long way to go in terms of british politics . Yes, definitely, but this is a great change and we can see how they do it in new zealand and maybe we can copy them. Thanks forjoining us. Time for a look at the weather. Heres Sarah Keith Lucas. There is some wintry sunshine to be enjoyed out there but some still have heavy snow showers to come, and we have an amber warning issued by the met office across the south west of scotla nd the met office across the south west of scotland for significant snow and ice and be prepared for disruption across this region. If you have travel plans laid today, heavy snow and ice could cause disruption, so keep choose to local radio for up to date information. Plenty of snow showers in the north west of scotla nd snow showers in the north west of scotland and heavy snow over the hills, we could have 5 10 centimetres of fresh snow falling. Northern ireland into North Western england, it will continue to see the mixture of rain at lower levels and sleet and snow showers over the hills. The east of the pennines will stay a bit drier with sunshine as we had through the afternoon will stop rain and sleet showers across parts of the south west of england and for wales, as well, snow showers over the highest ground. Tonight we have a cold night ahead, with clear spells, the risk of further snow showers for a time in north west england, but they will move away in the night as the band of rain approaches from the south west. We might have a bit of snow on the leading edge of the Brecon Beacons, for instance, the cotswolds also might have snow on saturday morning, but it should turn back to rain across this region of southern england and south wales, so cold and grey and gloomy but further north a return to sunny skies, Northern England, scotland and Northern Ireland, and certainly fewer sleet and snow showers. Saturday night will be especially cold, clear spells, freezing fog patches possible, before the next band of rain and hill snow arrives from the west in the early hours of sunday morning. As the rain moves into the cold air we could see significance they fall and it is a system which is moving in from the atlantic and it will be bringing much milder air in its wake but for a time on sunday we could see the mixture of heavy rain quickly turning to snow across parts of Northern England and scotland, disruptive snow possible for a scotland, disruptive snow possible fora time, scotland, disruptive snow possible for a time, heavy rain across Northern Ireland and southern england and south wales, so plenty going on. Keep in touch on the website. Hello, youre watching afternoon live im ben brown. Today at 4. The government announces it will not challenge the controversial decision to release serial sex offender john worboys from prison but lawyers for two of the victims say they will pursue a judicial review. Having taken considered and expert legal advice, i have decided that it would not be appropriate for me as secretary of state to proceed with such a case. Honourable members will appreciate i cannot go further and expose details of the legal advice i have been given. I know this will disappoint the victims in this case, and members of this house. Everything about worboys conduct and his denial of the offence, and the recent decision not to move him to open conditions suggests that the decision is irrational, and therefore we seek a challenge to that decision on that basis. A court hears from a friend of the murdered Celine Dookhran, who says the alleged killer spent weeks planning to kidnap, rape, and murder them. The parents accused of holding their 13 children captive in california plead not guilty to torture, abuse and false imprisonment. Scientists in america say theyre a step closer to one of the holy grails of medicine a universal blood test for cancer. The new zealand Prime Minister says shes not the first woman to multi task after announcing that she is pregnant. Coming up on afternoon live all the sport with lizzy greenwood hughes. Englands cricketers doing well down under. Good news all round, kyle edmund reaches the third round of the Australian Open and englands cricketers are 2 0 up in the one day series. And Sarah Keith Lucas has all the weather. Things will turn milder but there is more snow for scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland. Things will turn milder, i will have more in halfan will turn milder, i will have more in half an hour. Thanks sarah. Also coming up. A bridge too far for Boris Johnson perhaps number ten knocks down the foreign secretarys idea for a fixed link between the uk and france. Hello everyone this is afternoon live. Im ben brown. The justice secretary says the government will not seek a judicial review over a decision to release the serial sex offenderjohn worboys. David gauke told mps that after taking legal advice, hes 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 in 2009, after being convicted of offences against 12 women. Our Home Affairs Correspondent june kelly reports. He is one of the countrys most notorious serial sex offenders. John warboys 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, warboys 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. Warboys 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 dont 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 warboys victims have spoken of how they fear but while the victims legal challenge is going on, the black cab rapist, as he is known, will remain in prison. A courts been hearing 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 cant be named. Our correspondentjon donnison is outside the old bailey. Bring us up to date. Bring us uptodate. Well, the prosecution began this morning by looking at mujahid arshid s internet history in the weeks running up to this alleged attack. Bzfls looked f f bgfls looked at f f 4 bgfls looked at 7 q 4 b he 55 looked at 7 q 4 b he had oked at 7 q 4 b he had been at 7 q 4 b he had been usin tithe 4 b he had been usin the ie completes he had been using they found he had done internet searches on acid bath murderer, which was a notorious serial killer, convicted i think in the 1940s, the prosecution has suggested that mujahid arshid might have looked at acid as a way of disposing of human body, he intid internet searches on how to cut up a human body, butchering a human carcass and what is the best way to dispose of a human body. This afternoon, we have heard the first testimony of the young woman who survived this alleged attack. She cant be named for legal reason, this evidence was presented in the form of a video shown to the jury, it was the initial Police Interview that she gave while she was still in hospital, several days after the attack injuly hospital, several days after the attack in july last year. So hospital, several days after the attack injuly last year. So we saw her heavily bandaged on her wrists and on her neck, theres she described about how her and sell line were abducted by mujahid arshid. They were bound, gagged, taken to this vacant property where he had been working at a builder allegedly in south west london, and there the two women according to her we re there the two women according to her were raped. They had their throat slit. Sell line died and this young woman was able to take mujahid arshid round and persuade him they had some sort of future, romantic future together. The prosecutions case is that mujahid arshid had become sexually obsessed with these two young women. It was when she was allowed to go she was able to alert family and subsequently the police. Mujahid arshid denies all the charges. Thank you very much. A couple accused of imprisoning and torturing their 13 children have appeared in court in california. David and Louise Turpin were arrested last weekend, after one of their daughters escaped from the family home and called the police. The siblings, aged between two and 29, are said to be severely malnourished. The turpins appeared in court hours after prosecutors detailed the allegations against them, charges they deny. Our north america correspondent james cook reports from california. Give up that right. David turpin appearing in court to deny torturing his own children and sexually abusing one of his young daughters. His wife, louise, also pleaded not guilty. The couple are accused of imprisoning, tormenting, and beating their ten daughters and three sons. Prosecutors say the siblings endured 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, as a result of this extreme and prolonged physical abuse. The children were supposedly schooled here in their home, but the District Attorney said they lacked basic knowledge some did not even know what a Police Officer was. They were reportedly allowed to showerjust 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, or chained up, was to write in journals. We now have recovered thosejournals, 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 for two years. One of her sisters made 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. James cook, bbc news, riverside in california. A teenager has pleaded not guilty to try trying to kill passengers in a bomb attack on the london underground. Ahmed hassan whos 18 denied attempted murder, and causing an explosion at Parsons Green tube station in west london last september. 30 passengers were taken to hospital. His trial has been set for the 5th of march. This weekend marks one year since donald trump took over the office of us president. He vowed to change the face of politics stateside, with his Campaign Slogan promising to make America Great again. So 12 months on, how supportive are americans of their leader . Laura trevelyan has been to pennslyvania to meet trump voters, and those less convinced by the president. Romantic future together. The prosecutions case is that mujahid arshid had become sexually obsessed with pennsylvania is the birthplace of us steel. This factory was owned by andrew caring give, in its heyday it employed thousands. Donald trump tapped into the sense of industrial decline, winning by promising to put america first. Over lunch i asked voters for their verdict on year one. Seems like he ca res verdict on year one. Seems like he cares about the working class, cares about the people who are trying to make a living, and have big businesses, Small Businesses, i think he cares about that stiff. Some of the stuff he agrees he does i agree with, like the tax cut, but, im nota i agree with, like the tax cut, but, im not a big fan of the rants on social media, i think they can do away with that. How are you filing about that vote . A little disappointed. This man hoped mr trump would run government like a ceo, so does this former obama voter regret voting to trump7 ceo, so does this former obama voter regret voting to trump . When i went into the voting booth and i pulled the lever i was satisfied. I am having buyerss remorse. Why . It is not consistent. John is a democrat. You get out into some areas where no one has visited, taken the time to care, no one has visited, taken the time to ca re, left no one has visited, taken the time to care, left it really open and right for someone to step in like a donald trump and say, im the guy that can fix this. The populist mayor of braddock with a tattoo of the towns zip code cant understand the towns zip code cant understand the appeal. It has to be more than trumps awful, vote for us, i think it has to come back to like earnest progressive populist message. And his address a year ago donald trump promised people in towns like braddock he would give them back theirjobs and braddock he would give them back their jobs and dreams, braddock he would give them back theirjobs and dreams, as an early electoral test here of whether the voters feel he is delivering, there isa voters feel he is delivering, there is a special election in the state, in what should be a safe republican seat, but the president s taking no chances. A real friend and spectacular man. That is the candidate here, mr trump doesnt wa nt to candidate here, mr trump doesnt want to lose this election, and he was in the 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 for an improving economy or if the heat generated by his tweets and feuds is distracting even his own voters. Ive been getting the thoughts of dr. Russell foster from the department of International Relations at Kings College london he told me we shouldnt given President Trump too much credit for the apparent buoyancy of the us economy. We have to remember that trump had only been present for one year and no al nusra president can significantly affect the global economy, let alone the American Economy, let alone the American Economy in one year, so a lot of the economic booms we are seeing are cones dental. These are a result of a general economic recovery in the aftermath of the cred it crunch and so as much as trump can take credit for these, it is morph a coincidence, he has been able to push through some reforms, he has pushed through his controversial tax cuts which he said he was going to do, but so much of his economic progress at the moment is due changes that were already in place before he was elected. It is interesting, we have heard a lot of people saying they quite like some of the things he has done but they are fed up of his kind of twitterfeed every day, and some of the things, the rants i think as one voter called it, they dont kind of like that sort of activity from a us president. A lot of people will say this is not statesman like, however, we have to remember that trump was elected on the basis of a very deep seated anger in american society. Anner to the establishment and a sense that america was somehow becoming a second rate power in the world. As enough as people will criticise trump based on his somewhat irerratic and unpresident ial behaviour his Approval Ratings are still higher than we would expect because he was elected on the basis of motion and angen elected on the basis of motion and anger, his rants against random people and topics feed into that sense of outrage. You wouldnt rule out him winning a second term . One thing we have seen is the only person who can defeat a populist is a populist. Unless the democrats can put forward someone who can appeal to people of the midwest, it is too early to say but it is possible we could see a second trump term. I want to take you to washington right now, there is a briefing there at the white house on the possibility of the Us Government shutting down. Congress are trying to pass a bill. I think this is the budget director discussing that possibility of a government shut down. Thank you for your time this morning. As mick said last night, the house passed a bipartisan bill of 230 vote, the president stands ready to sign that bill to keep the government functioning and afloat. It appears unfortunately that Senate Democrats are entrenched in forcing a shut down. I think there is a lot of hypocrisy in this town. I think there is some ironies to point out, as the director said, night, the house passed a bipartisan bill of 230 vote, the president stands ready to sign that bill to keep the government functioning and afloat. It appears unfortunately that Senate Democrats are entrenched in forcing a shut down. I think there is a lot of hypocrisy in this town. I think there is some ironies to point out, as the director said, nancy pelosi called them i call them legislative arsonists. In referring to those voting for a shut down at the time, commenting that they are there to burn down what we should be building up burn down what we should be building up in terms of education and scientific research. It was said at time it is like this, someone goes into your house, take yours wife and children hostage and says lets negotiate over the price of your house, that is the same tactic they are deploying last night i am sure many of you know i asked senator feinstein her position, she said if the government shuts down people will die. She said she hasnt decided how to vote yet. People are going to die, i dont know how im going to die, i dont know how im going to die, i dont know how im going to vote on this. Here we are, i think the reality is this is not about policy, it is about politics, we are not familiar with anything in this the democrats are opposing, in fa ct this the democrats are opposing, in fact they champion and support the chip programme, this will reauthorise it for six years i believe, new studies says there are nine million children Getting Health Insurance through that. We will jeopardise payment. Those who are trying protect our borders and our country, this is a serious issue, we are frustrated obviously because micksjob is to are frustrated obviously because micks job is to submit a budget to congress. Let us keep that in perspective. He does that in february. Congress has months to com plete february. Congress has months to complete appropriations process, the fiscal year ends on september 30th. We are in mid january. It is frustrating to all we are are in this position, what is unclear what are the democrats asking to get out ofa are the democrats asking to get out of a shut down, it seemed they are hell bent on that. We are anxious to make sure our troops continue to get paid. A couple of things on that, i think which know what the democrats are asking for, they want a deal on dock can, the president on the other hand, tweeted last year our country needs a a good shut down. Isnt he getting what he asked for and it was the president as i am sure you know, the president as i am sure you know, the last time we had a government shut down who said its the president s responsibility to leave. He needs to get the players in the room. He needs to lead. How is he going to lead on this. One the president was active yesterday in bringing together the house votes to get 230 vote, he was speaking to freedom caucasus member, that was where we had the best challenge yesterday and helped to get that accomplished. He is making continued calls this money. He will continue to do that, he is leading on this issue, i regarding daca, we feel that the administration is put forward plans on this, keep in mind that secretary kelly a year ago went to congress and said we need a solution on daca. We asked congress to fix it. We knew what was going to happen when several states sued the federal government. We gave them plenty of heads up on this, back in the fall we submitted priorities to congress in october. We refined those at their request to say this is too much. We negotiated against ourself for hem to say here are practical things to get to a deal on daca. We have put forward that plan. Righteous you saw a study that showed 2500 people on the terror watch list are trying to get in this country every year, that is ten a day. Seven a day, we think it is time to fix the immigration problems in our country, and we have put forward a proposal to do exactly that, we are continuing to have conversations, i think we had productive conversations yesterday with leader mccarthy, we are about to go back up the hill to continue those conversations i think they are making progress, what doesnt make senseis making progress, what doesnt make sense is to say we are going to shut down the government because you are making progress but i need something else. Studio so there we are, that is the latest from the white house there, you were listening to the legislative director there mark short and the budget director, discussing the possibility of a government shut down when the Us Government money runs out because of political squabbling on cab toll hill. Donald trump has been tweeting shut down coming question mark. A lot of brinkmanship going on to keep American Government Services Going after midnight, which is a year on from the start of the trump presidency. Scientists say theyve moved a step closer to developing a universal blood test for cancer. Researchers in america tested a new method on a thousand patients to see if it could detect eight types of the disease. The cancerseek test as its known had a success rate of 70 and the team say their goal is to now develop an annual test for everyone designed to catch cancer early and save lives. Our Health Correspondent James Gallagher reports. More than 14 Million People find out they have cancer each year worldwide. The sooner theyre 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 ten 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 thats 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 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. Experts said it has potential and testing for more mutated dna and proteins would allow for a greater range of cancers to be detected. James gallagher, bbc news. Downing street has said there are no specific plans for a bridge between the uk and france. Tweeting that the channel tunnel could be just a first step, borisjohnson reportedly raised the idea of a new 22 mile road link between the two countries during a summit with the french president. 22 miles might sound like an overly ambitious length for a road bridge, but there are already a number of bridges over water around the world which are even longer. This is the lake pontchartrain causeway near new orleans in the United States. Up until a few years ago, it was the longest over water road bridge in the world. Built in the 19505, its 24 miles long. That was pipped to the post in 2011 when thejiaozhou bay bridge in china was finished. Its 26 miles long and it took 10,000 people four years to complete. And, when finished, the hong kong macau bridge will become the longest in the world. Its going to be an astonishing 34 miles long, connecting hong kong closer to home, some have criticised boris plans Mark Hansford is the editor of the new Civil Engineer magazine. A boris brim across the channel, do you think it is going to happen . Why not . Absolutely. Hong kong have just about finished the bridge, it is almost identical in length. Busy shipping channel, high demand to get between the two place, was that british engineers who built that most of it design by british engineers so it proves it is possible to do. Possible but how difficult to stick a bridge over the channel7 difficult to stick a bridge over the channel . Clearly, as we know in this country, particularly building anything takes a long time, you have to get a lot of political alignment, look at high speed 22, we are still talking about that, clearly, it is going to take a while to get it off the ground if it ever does. What about technically. Technically it is not a problem, if there were political will for it that thing in hong kong is an engineering marvel, but it has been done, and we could do it here. What about demand though, we have the tunnel, is there enough demand to warrant such a massive, it would cost billions. Yes, the current channel tunnel is going to take. You could argue surely we should fill that up first, thatis surely we should fill that up first, that is what president macron said today. It sound like we dont need it. Anyone who qluess the channel tunnel will know it is notorious for long queues either side, so, clearly the way it is operated there are challenges, it is getting old, it is, it needs heavy maintenance every weekend. The rerailing is near full time so it is a stressed asset we could call it and maybe a bit of breathing space wouldnt be a bad thing. You cant drive through the channel tunnel as currently it works, that would be an interesting challenge. Is Boris Johnson likes his infrastructure idea, he suggested the boris Island Airport and the boris bridge there was going to be in london as well. Yes, boris is one for a big idea, the garden bridge idea, that got mired in political controversy. The estuary island, many engineers would say it remains the best strategic option, you can see the challenges heathrow are having to get their third runway off the drawing board. A lot people would say the estuary airport wasnt a bad idea. Maybe having boriss stamp on it wasnt that helpful. We will see. A boris bridge one day maybe. For the meantime, thank you for being with us. You can let us know what you think. Tweet us using the hashtag afternoon live. It will be interesting to hear what you have to say about that idea in particular, the idea of a bridge, whether you want to call it a boris bridge or not across the channel, do we need it . Would it be an impressive Infrastructure Project . It could certainly cost a bit now the weather with sarah. It will look milder eventually as we head through the weekend, but before we get there we still have some wintriness round, todays been a real mix. We have had scenes like this. There are beautiful blue skies. Also other parts of the country a different scene. Contrast that to how things are looking in Northern Ireland, a Winter Wonder land there. We have disruptive weather still. I will draw your attention to this zone. The met office have issued an amber warning. It is here we could see another round 10 15 centimetres of snow. That is falling on top of what is already lying out there. There has been loads. How much . It has been snowing for three days now. Acrosses parts of northern scotland, western scotland, Northern Ireland and north west england so some places we have well over a foot of snow. So these are the snow depths in centimetre, we have 37 there in high land scotland. Three in bingley west yorkshire, that is enough to cause some disruption too. As we head through the forecast, we still have wintry shower, this is 5. 00, so if you are heading out soon snow showers continue in western scotland, where we are likely to see 1015 scotland, where we are likely to see 10 15 centimetre by the end of today. Some clearer skies further south across england, just a chance of the odd rain shower here and across the south west of england and wales a we head through to the evening, we are looking at clear spells and rain showers. But all these snow showers we have seen in these snow showers we have seen in the north will tend to ease away later on tonight, as skies clear and temperatures drop rapidly. A cold night ahead. Could be icy conditions on the roads, particularly in the northern half by saturday morning. You will notice the wet weather rolling in from the south west. This isa rolling in from the south west. This is a front. It is going to be bringing some rain and a bit of hill snow but to the south it will be falling mostly as rain, easing later in the day. Under that cloud it will feel chilly towards the south, whereas further north a much improved day for scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England. We have lost the snow showers and return to sunshine through saturday. With the clear skies saturday night will be a cold night. It could be one of the coldest of the winter so far, then bumping into that cold air is this front moving in from the west. West. As it meets the cold air west. West. As it meets the cold air we could see a period of heavy know fall. So it is a warm front. It will introduce milder air. That mild air and the rain will bump into the cold airso you can and the rain will bump into the cold air so you can see the snow fall during the course of sunday. It is rain to the south and south west of that as temperatures creep up, still cold in the north east, and that snow and the ice risk too, could cause us a few problems during the course of sunday. If you have travel fla ns, course of sunday. If you have travel flans, do watch out for the potential for some heavy snow and ice too. So lots goings on in the weather. Keep up to date with your latest forecast and you can check our weather warnings on the website. This is bbc news our latest headlines. Victims of the serial sex offender, john worboys, say theyre disappointed the government has decided against a judicial review of the decision to release him. The former black cab driver was jailed in 2009 for assaults on 12 women, Police Believe he may have committed many more. A courts heard how a man 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 Dookhran, as well as the rape and attempted murder of a second woman. The parents accused of holding their 13 children captive in california plead not guilty to torture, abuse and false imprisonment. Scientists in the us develop a blood test that screens for common forms of cancer. A study of patients correctly diagnosed seven in ten cases. Experts here say the research is enormously exciting but more work is needed. Sport now on afternoon live. With lizzie, and theres been lots of positive cricket and tennis news coming out of australia. Yes, both down under, and in very hot conditions. To the Australian Open. The first tennis grand slam of the year. But kyle edmund is into the fourth round in melbourne and he is the last british player in the mens and womens draw. He fought back from 2 1 down, as well. Kyle edmund winning in five sets against nikoloz basilashvilli. He faces the italian Andreas Seppi next. A big issue in melbourne over the last couple of days is the temperature, over 40 degrees. Theres an extreme heat policy in place, they can suspend play, but they didnt and that upset a few players who said it was dangerous. Edmund spent three and a half hours on court in the heat of the day. It is a tough one. Professional sport, its meant to hurt and not be easy, thats the point of it, but i guess. Yeah, i mean, if people become ill it might be a concern but as far as im aware everyone is just getting through. It is supposedly getting cooler in melbourne. Some of the top seeds have also made their way into the last 16, rafael nadal, grigor dimitrov, marin cilic, Caroline Wozniacki and elina svitolina. Well done on pronouncing those names and now to the cricket. England are much better with the white ball7 england are much better with the white ball . So it seems. After the despair of the near whitewash in the ashes, england have breezed to a 2 0 lead in the one day series. They won by four wickets in brisbane chasing down their target of 271 with five overs to spare. Australia had looked to be going well when aaron finch scored his second hundred in as many matches but then englands slow bowlers found the form that had been so lacking in the test series including a couple of wickets for part time spinnerjoe root. In reply half centuries from Jonny Bairstow and alex hales took the game away from australia and england now head to sydney knowing a win will clinch the five match series. Brazil legend pele is in hospital after collapsing with symptoms of severe exhaustion. Hes 77, and was due to travel to london this weekend for a dinner to be held in his honour by the football writers association. Pele is the only player to win three world cups. Hes suffered from kidney and prostate problems in recent years. Theres more bad news for the Wales Rugby Union side ahead of next months six nations Rhys Priestland is going to miss most of tournament with injury. The bath fly half had been carrying a hamstring injury and has now withdrawn from the squad to continue his rehabilitation. There are plenty of options for Warren Gatland at no 10, though, including dan biggar. Rory mcilroy is enjoying his return to competitive golf, picking up six shots in the abu dhabi championship thanks to four birdies and a great eagle on the last. He is now nine under par, three behind the leader, thomas pieters, the belgian. Happy birthday tommy fleetwood, a very slow start but he is back in contention with a round of 68, on ten under par. Tyson fury is a step closer to returning to the ring. Last month, the former world heavyweight champion accepted a backdated two year suspension after testing positive for a banned steroid. He hasnt fought since taking the world title from Vladimir Klitschko in 2015. His license was suspended in 2016 over a range of issues. He admitted to using cocaine to help with his depression. But after an interview with the british boxing board of control this morning, he has been reinstated subject to medical clearance. That is all the sport for now. Now on afternoon live lets go nationwide and see whats happening around the country in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. Sally magnusson will be joining us from glasgow, where the Scottish Transport minister is urging people not to travel due to poor weather conditions, with fresh warnings for snow and ice throughout the day. We will talk to sally in a moment. And in birmingham, im joined by nick owen, where a bird flu prevention zone has been declared after a number of wild birds died after contracting the virus. Hell also be bringing us the story of two pubs in evesham, which used to be connected by a tunnel, dating back to tudor times. Very intriguing. First to sally, how are weather conditions at the moment . I have to say, when i drove into work in glasgow everything was delightfully clear. But a few minutes ago there was a massive flurry of snow, you might be able to see it. Occasionalflecks happening and we are told to expect more fla kes. And we are told to expect more flakes. In other parts of the country it has been going hard all day and the message is we havent seen anything yet because there is an amberwarning out seen anything yet because there is an amber warning out at the moment. One upfrom an amber warning out at the moment. One up from a yellow. Frequent snow showers forecast. Along with possible high and fund and this will affect most of Central Scotland down to the south west possible higher will and thunder. People have been advised to leave work early. In this situation, it is alarming for transport, and the Scottish Transport, and the Scottish Transport minister has issued a very strong warning. Do not travel and avoid travel between the hours of three oclock and ten oclock if you are within the amber weather warning area, between glasgow, edinburgh, perth, the west, south west and to the borders, dumfries and galloway. If you are in that area, avoid travel division will be severely disrupted and there will be extremely challenging weather and a lot of snow coming in, but if you do have to travel then you must plan ahead and you must drive to the conditions and you must acquit yourself appropriately. That is the message, but when will things improved7 message, but when will things improved . The amber warning ends at ten oclock tonight but we are expecting problems with ice on the roads and there might be temporary blizzard conditions on the ends 77 and m 74 and m 90 motorways. Motorists who venture out, which includes me on my way home, we have to hope we dont spend 11 hours in our cars as some people did on tuesday night. Ive got my wellies and my fleece and waterproof trousers but i forgot the spade. You can trousers but i forgot the spade. You ca n always trousers but i forgot the spade. You can always go and buy one. Laughter sally, thanks for joining can always go and buy one. Laughter sally, thanks forjoining us. Nick is in birmingham, the bird flu prevention zone7 is in birmingham, the bird flu prevention zone . This started when 31 dead birds were found to have the virus in dorset and another 13 have been found dead in warwickshire which indicates it is spreading, hence the prevention zone. It has been circulating in europe for while but it is not a risk to humans and our food by people who keep but it is not a risk to humans and ourfood by people who keep birds and poultry, they will be concerned. But people. They are trying to reduce the risk of it spreading. What are the government saying about this7 what are the government saying about this . Basically farmers have been told to cover up ponds with net income so wild birds cant land and they have been told to feed and water their birds in enclosed areas to discourage any wild birds and this is now a legal requirement, incidentally with nets. Anyone with more than 500 birds has got to ta ke with more than 500 birds has got to take extra bio security measures by restricting access to nonessential people and this now applies right across england. And nick, explain the background to this. So whats this about two pubs with a secret tunnel7 it is originally about a couple of pubs in the centre of evesham in worcestershire, just across the road from each other, 50 yards apart. An expert can explain. One of the enterprising landlords discovered that his cellar actually met the seller of the crosskeys across the road underground, and he had the idea of putting a doorway between the two pubs. So ifjack was sitting here with his tank and he saw his wife, he could go down the steps into the seller and come up in the other in and stay there until she had gone away. All in aid of henpecked husbands to bewildered their wives the crosskeys, by the way, is now an estate agents. Ive already put in a planning application for a 2 part tunnel in the village where i live. Cheers go and get yourself a spade before you go home tonight, sally. Thanks for joining us. If you would like to see any more on any of those stories you can access it via the bbc iplayer. New zealands Prime Ministerjacinda ardern has announced that she is pregnant. She and her partner, Clarke Gayford, are expecting their first child injune, after which she plans to take a six week break. Ms ardern will be the second elected world leader to give birth while in office, and the first to do so in nearly 30 years. Earlier i spoke to the labour mp melanie onn who has campaigned for parliament here to be more inclusive of mothers. She told me she welcomes the news that new zealands Prime Minister is due to have a baby this summer and hopes it will break down barriers. New zealand is leading the way, breaking down barriers, maybe she did not intend to break them down, but the fact it is happening will be a signal across the world to say it should never be a barrier and it should never be a concern or a consideration for any employer and any business and any organisation not to have a woman in senior roles. You have been campaigning for the modernisation of parliament here, what specifically would you like to see done to modernise the house of commons in particularfor women and mps7 we have seen huge changes and credit has got to be given to the current Speakerjohn Bercow who has gone against the grain of a very traditional establishment and encouraged people to bring their children into work, has opened up the palace of westminster and made it more Family Friendly but there is a lot more to do. I know there have been colleagues wanting to bring their new babies into parliament, to still participate in debates, even if their children are still breast feeding, for example, and that has not been possible. It has not been seen as an acceptable situation. But i feel strongly that if women who are councillors are able to breast feed in council chamber, is it so distracting and so significant in the house of commons chamber, that it will draw all of democracy to a standstill . No, it wont. What it would do is normalise a situation and make it very clear that this is a very normal human situation. That was a labour member of parliament talking about the fact that the new zealand Prime Minister is going to be having a baby. Prison inspectors have delivered a scathing report on liverpooljail, saying Living Conditions there are the worst they have ever seen. They found damp and dirty cells with rats and cockroach infestations as well as a backlog of around 2000 maintenance tasks. Heres our correspondent adina campbell. Liverpool prison has faced a long Running Series of problems but todays report by her majestys inspectorate of prisons underlines a catalogue of squalid Living Conditions. Including broken windows, an infestation of cockroaches and blocked toilets. It also found two thirds of inmates had easy access to drugs, often smuggled by the growing use of drones, with more than one seized every week. And violence had also increased, more than a third of prisoners said they felt unsafe at the time of the inspection. What you are witnessing there is a prime example of the lack of investment at liverpool prison over the years, and that is down to government cutting budgets and cutting the staffing levels. Now, it is due to, also, an amount of repairs that were outstanding at the time of that inspection. Over 2,000 outstanding repairs, simple repairs that are not getting done. The head of the prison and Probation Service has admitted there were failings in the jail but says immediate action is being taken by appointing a new governor, including improvements to cleanliness. Todays report has also pointed to concerns over health care, something the bbc revealed last month, with worries about suicide rates, staff shortages, and access to specialist treatments. Lancashire care Nhs Foundation trust says it has made improvements over the last two years, despite challenging conditions. All too often what we are finding in prisons is that there are unacceptable levels of violence, that self harm is high, that there are self inflicted deaths on a totally tragic and astounding level. The reasons for this are many and varied but what it does need, in our view, the inspectorate, is close and serious attention to getting the basics in, to keep people safe. Liverpool isnt the only prison with problems. Yesterday the government was ordered to make immediate improvements to nottingham jail over safety concerns. Another example of how the crisis in some of englands prisons is continuing. Whether its cutting down hours, working from home orjob sharing, since 2014 uk employees have had the right to ask for Flexible Working. But less than half of parents feel it is an option for them according to the charity working families, which is calling on the government to do more to help parents achieve a work life balance. Our consumer Affairs Correspondent Nina Warhurst reports. Should ourjobs work around our families or should ourfamilies be built around our jobs . For kaytie, the crunch came when she had pippa. In her Global Marketing role there wasnt an option to go part time and stay in glasgow. And after 12 years with the same company she took redundancy. It is hard because you have given an awful lot of who you are to that one job and then suddenly you are out of that, almost cast out, not intentionally. Its difficult to know who you are, where you are going next, what do i do now . Kaytie has now set up a craft shop and she loves it, but cant help wondering what might have been. Since 2014, if youve worked somewhere for more than six months youve been entitled to ask for Flexible Working. So that might be fewer hours, maybe working from home or perhaps a job share. But your employer has been allowed to say no if theyve found its detrimental to their business. And that, combined with a slow cultural shift in some places, means not everybody feels its working for them. More than half of parents surveyed felt Flexible Working isnt a genuine option for them. Nearly two in five said their current hours mean they dont get to say goodnight to their kids. And more than 13 said they are working the equivalent hours of an extra day a weekjust to get theirjob done. Do you know what time that meetings going to finish at . But things are changing, for some at least. With five kids, john needs a job that works for him and hes found it. He starts at 9 30am every day and doesnt work school holidays. Does that mean things are nice and calm at home . I wouldnt say that, with five kids. Things would never be calm, however, it is a lot less stressful. Less stressful for staff and the boss says better for business. Since expanding Flexible Working, productivity has gone up by 30 . Weve found theres lots of mothers and fathers at home who have got great skills and capabilities, but little or no access to childcare or its too expensive and theyve never thought of asking for term time working. And this way they can do both. They can do both, basically. The government told us kaytie says getting to pick noah and pippa up every day is the bestjob shes ever had, but she hopes that if they become parents it wont come at the cost of compromising their careers. In a moment the business news. First a look at the headlines on afternoon live. The government announces it will not challenge the controversial decision to release serial sex offender john worboys from prison but lawyers for two of the victims say they will pursue a judicial review. The Celine Dookhran murder trial hears from a friend of the victim who says the alleged killer spent weeks planning kidnap, rape and murder. The parents accused of holding their 13 children captive in california plead not guilty to torture, abuse and false imprisonment. Heres your business headlines on afternoon live. It turns out that december was a pretty disappointing month for the retailers. We spent less and bought fewer items through the month compared with november these are official government figures and the office of National Statistics which collects them says its because christmas shoppers are buying a lot of stuff earlier, often on the infamous black friday. Which of course falls in november. Carpetright shares have plunged 45 after warnings that full year profits will be much lower than expected. Its down to what it calls a sharp deterioration in uk trade, especially in the key period just around christmas. In the 11 weeks to 13 january, sales in shops open more than a year fell 3. 6 . Profits now wont be £14 million for this year, it says more like between £2 6 million. There could be a mass closures of cash machines if a shake up of the network goes ahead as planned. This is according to the Consumer Group which. Link, the company that runs the free to use network is reviewing its atms. We are going to talk about costa coffee, they are having problems, with bread . Yes, costa coffee is has had a drop in sales and the figures from whitbread are not encouraging. With costa, difficult to know the reason, are there fewer people on the high street, that could be true . Maybe increased competition . There are new artisan coffee shops, they are new artisan coffee shops, they are very are new artisan coffee shops, they are very smart. I dont know if you have frequented them. Once or twice, once or twice. I thought so that might be the competition that is pulling the rug from under the feet of costa. There is talk of costa is being spun off from whitbread but thatis being spun off from whitbread but that is just talk at the moment. We have been talking about carpetright, and the collapse of their shares, is that a shock . It is quite unexpected, profits down, they think it will be between £2 million and £6 million, but originally they were thinking £14 million and say that is a sharp fall. Again, weaker demand over christmas, funny goings on in the retail sector, some companies are doing quite well and some are really falling. It could be to do with the company itself and it could be to do with the whole sector and the fact that people are not buying houses as much as they were and they are not playing stuff for their houses. And now another story, into serve. Shares have plummeted as a result, there is a report out today, but it was a rumour rather than a fa ct, but it was a rumour rather than a fact, but it is thought that they are being monitored by the government. This isnt absolutely certain but there are worries about it. It says their profits are still on track as they were in october, but back in october they issued a profits warning. We are not sure how well they are doing. Joining us now is neil wilson, Senior Market analyst, at etx capital. How seriously do you take these worries7 how seriously do you take these worries . We have heard about the profits warnings, and we know the broker, they have suggested they might need to raise capital but it is not in the same position as carillion, the debt is not so big, and they are addressing it. What we have seen, the most recent update, they upgraded their forecast, and i think they are not in the same position and it is not helpful to have reports being put on a Government Watch list, but im sure the government is looking at all of these outsourcers and they have all had some sort of problem in the last few years. They are engaging and trying to turn it around. If they need to raise capital, that will raise the shareholder value but it is probably good for the company. We will leave it there. Thanks. That is it. A quick look at the market. Very quick. Carpetright, that is the casualty, it has recovered a bit, but only a small amount. casualty, it has recovered a bit, but only a small amount. I hope you did have any shares in it. Laughter keeping your mouth shut thats it from your afternoon live team for today. Next, the bbc news at 5pm with jane hill. Time for a look at the weather. Heres Sarah Keith Lucas. Good afternoon. We have a north westerly wind in porting more snow showers and the amber warning in the south west of scotla nd amber warning in the south west of scotland where we could have another 1015 scotland where we could have another 10 15 centimetres of fresh snow falling on what is already lying on the ground. So the course of the night, abandoned train heading in from the north west, that will turn snow across parts of the Brecon Beacons and the chilterns, turning back to rain further south a band of rain. Hell stay for the chilterns and the cotswolds, and then returned to much brighter skies hill then returned to much brighter skies hill snow. Us now i pretty cold, but turning slightly milder from the south west. Mostly dry and the on saturday, the second half of the weekend turning increasingly wet and windy with further snow for Northern England and scotland. Goodbye. Today at 5pm, ministers say they wont 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. Ill 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