this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:003m... universities must protect free speech and "open minds, not close them," or face the consequences. as the boxing day sales get under way, a warning that prices for many everyday items could rise unless the government focuses on replacing trade agreements after brexit. a royal navy frigate spent christmas day escorting a russian warship through the north sea — one of several russian ships to pass close to the uk in recent days. it was officially a white christmas in the uk for some, with areas of cumbria and the south of scotland recording light snowfall. how a mum from norfolk managed to capture the perfect image on her phone ahead of all the official photographers waiting to snap the royal family. and australia's batsmen put the hosts in control in melbourne, as england's bowlers struggle to take wickets on the opening day of the fourth ashes test. in half an hour, join me, sarah campbell, as i look back to the photocall held here

at kensington palace that introduced prince harry's bride—to—be meghan markle to the world's media. that's in the royal review, 2017. good morning and welcome to bbc news. the universities minister, jojohnson, will use a speech today to warn that academic institutions must protect free speech. he'll say students must be able to both hear and challenge controversial views during their years of study. some universities and student groups have refused entry to speakers, as edward curwen reports. time spent at university must open minds, not close them. that's the view ofjojohnson, the universities minister,

who will today set out a firm defence of free speech on campus. speaking at a jewish cultural festival in birmingham, he will say students must be free to challenge each other‘s views, and groups seeking to stifle those who do not agree with them must be stopped. his defence of open debate comes after speakers on subjects from the state of israel to transgender rights have faced bans, sometimes by student unions, for having views considered inappropriate. others have demanded so—called ‘safe spaces', where they won't hear about issues they may find upsetting. mrjohnson will say this cannot be tolerated, reiterating universities have an obligation to protect free speech and encourage frank and rigorous debate. from next april, a new regulator, the office for students, will have the power to fine universities that fail to uphold free speech. the body representing british universities said it would not allow legitimate debate be stifled. the challenge for university leaders will be deciding where to draw the line between extremist speech and a frank exchange of views. edward curwen, bbc news.

we can speak to a freedom of speech campaign and editor of political website little atoms. do you think there is a real problem on university campuses at the moment in terms of censorship of speakers and perhaps universities and student bodies deciding where to draw the line on the subject of free speech? i think line on the subject of free speech? ithinka line on the subject of free speech? i think a lot of issues have got co nflated i think a lot of issues have got conflated here. i certainly think there is more of a censorious attitude at large in society. yet there is not as liberal and attitude to use free speech as we saw 15 yea rs to use free speech as we saw 15 years ago, and that has a lot of reasons, such as the rise of extremism in the world so people are more nervous about free expression. i think withjo more nervous about free expression. i think with jo johnson's more nervous about free expression. i think withjojohnson‘s speech today, there is an element of a

culture war, a generational war that is being played out here. that young people in universities are, to use the derogatory term, snowflakes, who will not listen to dissenting views. i think the government should probably avoid playing the game of casting one generation against another. the government has its own role here. as was said as recently as 2015, the conservative government introduced the counterterrorism and security act, which obliges universities to report those who they feel express radical views. i don't trust the government to become an arbitrator of what is acceptable free speech and what isn't. do you think universities have clear guidelines and a clear message on what they should do when dealing with speakers who appear on their

campuses who may be controversial? universities already do have an obligation to free speech. there are currently rules in place preceding this. but there is a conflict, certain elements of the national union of students, who have become more censorious, who have extended their no—platforming policies beyond what they were originally intended for. they were originally intended for. they were originally intended for neo—nazi and fascist speakers, and we now see radicalfeminist speakers being barred from speaking. what the government is suggesting here, is that one moves on the definition of acceptable speech from one institution to the next. they are now saying a government agency will decide. they are now suggesting that nigel biggar, an academic, who

is somehow being persecuted because he suggested there were upside as well as downsides to imperialism. all that has happened there is that fellow academics have written letters saying he is wrong and incorrect. nobody has stopped him speaking or teaching his course. in a way, people who are calling for robust debate are at the same time being very reactive when their own ideas are being called out and being challenged. from the political website little atoms, thank you very much. retailers have warned that prices for many everyday items will rise unless the government focuses on replacing trade agreements which will no longer apply when britain leaves the eu. the department for exiting the european union said it is committed to continuing existing trade and investment deals. but helen dickinson — the chief executive of the british retail consortium — says about 80 trade deals will be lost when the uk exits the bloc, and replacing them will be a big task. thejob in hand is really focusing on those trade arrangements, and replicating the bits, particularly from the point

of view of uk consumers. and we're talking here about everyday products that people buy week in, week out. fish from norway, wine from south africa, clothes from turkey. all of those products that are on our shelves or on websites that we are buying from each and every day, each of those have lower tariff rates on them than would exist if we didn't have those deals in place. what we are trying to do with the research that we have gathered from our membership — so, from many of the retailers in this country — is really highlight which countries are the ones that are most important for what people in the uk are buying, day in, day out. and south africa and turkey are the top two of those. and really, just put a little bit of focus on it. given, as you say, the focus up to now has been all about the relationship with the eu. just let's recognise that there is... there's another world out there, which is the relationship

with all those other countries too. and that has an impact on uk consumers. millions of shoppers are expected to head out to the boxing day sales today. it has traditionally been an important period for retailers across the uk. but a majority of shoppers surveyed by bbc radio 4's you and yours programme say online shopping and early black friday deals have made the post—christmas sales less compelling. 0ur correspondent emily unia has been to oxford street in central london to see if the internet is beating the high street. i am being told that it is not as busy as it used to be. it does feel busy here today. there are shoppers out in force and people have queued for hours early this morning in the hope of bagging some of the best bargains. but i understand things are changing. but here to tell me a little bit more about it is jace tyrrell from the new west end company.

he looks after a lot of the shops in oxford street and bond street. give me a flavour of how today has felt so far. certainly less speedy panicked queues than we have had in the past on boxing day. but very solid, a lot of people here are shopping and there are a lot of bags here already. i can see a lot of international visitors here, which is good news for the west end. 0nline now, not so much the panicked queues we had in the past. but there are some good bargains for people coming out to shop today in the west end. we have a radio 4 survey saying people are geared more towards black friday now, where discounts are happening, and they expect to spend less on boxing day. is that something you are seeing? we see now where sales are spread out more over four or five weeks. from black friday right up to boxing day. we still think with international visitors here today, the spending levels are quite high, so we think we will be up about 4% on last year, about 52 million going through the tills. but really buoyed by the international visitors

who are spending on average more than £1000 on every shopping trip here in the west end today. goodness me. give me a flavour of what people are buying, what kind of bargains are people hoping to grab today? it has been a very mild winter so far, so a lot of fashion is heavily discounted, so good news for shoppers coming in. luxury brands, handbags and jewellery items, a lot of shoppers on bond street already looking for good bargains, and outside here on oxford street as well. a good day all round, we are hoping, right across the west end. and the effect of the weakened pound on shopping here, how is that working out? where are you seeing people coming from abroad to try to get better value? i think china now is our top market. it will reach number one this year. really a key market for us. they love going to regent street, all the flagship stores down there. i think with the pound still decreasing a little bit more probably, we're really buoyed by the international visitor. i think the chinese now account for 20% of overall spending in the west end. jace tyrrell, thank you very much. it feels really busy today. there are people out enthusiastically looking for bargains, but it seems more and more people are logging on, on christmas day in the hope of getting some even

better online discounts. the royal navy says there's been an increase in the number of russian ships travelling through or near the uk's territorial waters over the christmas period. yesterday, hms st albans was sent to escort a russian warship through the north sea as it passed close to uk waters. the defence secretary gavin williamson said he will not "tolerate any form of aggression". a 20—year—old man will appear before magistrates this morning charged with murder, after a fatal stabbing in a restaurant in middlesbrough on christmas eve. efreeqi mohamed siddig is accused of killing 41—year—old mazhar ali from stockton—on—tees who died in hospital yesterday. a british woman being held on suspicion of drug—smuggling will appear in court in egypt later this morning. laura plummer was arrested in october when officials found 290 tramadol tablets in her suitcase, which are legal in the uk, but not in egypt. the shop assistant from hull says she was carrying the pills for her egyptian partner,

who suffers from back pain. supporters of vladimir putin will meet in moscow later to begin the formal process of nominating him as their candidate for president in next year's election. mr putin is seeking a fourth term in office, and will run as an independent this time. it comes a day after the electoral commission barred opposition leader, alexei navalny, from standing. virginia langeberg has the story. he's spent almost 18 years in power. he's a man familiar with the grand entrance. but on this occasion, vladimir putin is expected to not even turn up to his own nomination event. some have read into that decision as a sign of confidence, but the kremlin says the russian president has a prior engagement. today marks the official launch of mr putin's presidential campaign. he's running as an independent, and has until the end of january to collect 300,000 signatures to register his bid. there's little doubt the president will be re—elected.

there are no strong rivals now that anti—corru ption campaigner alexei navalny has been formally disqualified. the central electoral commission deemed mr navalny ineligible because of a corruption conviction, which he says is politically motivated. translation: it's not about me. it is about the fact that a candidate is needed who will finally come to the election and speak openly about everything that happens in our country now, who will describe our reality honestly. absence of prospects, poverty. i did that, and that's why you don't want to let me take part in the election. navalny says he will now launch an appeal in russia's constitutional court. following his ban, he called on his supporters to boycott the election. but polls show president vladimir putin is on course for a comfortable re—election, meaning he'll remain in power for another six years, until 202a. virginia langeberg, bbc news.

the nhs has promised to cut back on prescribing gluten—free biscuits, pasta and anti—dandruff shampoo. a study by the taxpayers alliance has found many items, which are prescribed by gps in england, are available in supermarkets — often at a much cheaper price. nick quraishi reports. the taxpayers alliance has highlighted a number of items it says were prescribed on the nhs last year. they include ambre solaire factor 50 sunscreen. a non—branded version is available for half the price. branded gluten—free biscuits, significantly more expensive than a supermarket equivalent. ibuprofen, 30% cheaper away from the nhs. and colgate total advance toothpaste. over the counter, it's a seventh of the cost. the taxpayers alliance says... the health service says it's already

reviewing ten items it claims are ineffective, unnecessary and inappropriate for prescription. nick quraishi, bbc news. a tropical storm that was threatening southern vietnam has weakened and is expected to dissipate within the next 48 hours. yesterday, hundreds of thousands of people were told they may need to evacuate their homes as forecasters warned that up to 20 centimetres of rain could fall. the headlines on bbc news. the universities minister, jojohnson, is issuing his clearest warning so far that academic institutions must protect free speech. as the boxing day sales get under way, the head of the british retail consortium

says prices for many everyday items will rise unless the government focuses on new post—brexit trade agreements. a royal navy frigate spent christmas day escort in a russian warship through the north sea, one of several russian ships to pass close to the uk in recent days. sport now, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's holly hamilton. plenty of premier league action coming up this afternoon, but first to melbourne. england are trying to avoid a series whitewash in the ashes — and day one of the fourth test hasn't really given us much hope that might be possible. a century from david warner and another great performance from captain steve smith left australia on 2411—3 at the close. patrick gearey was watching. to borrow an australian phrase, england were always going to be in for a lot of hard yakka, from the

moment they lost the toss and had to field on a pitch that suited the batsmen on a one day in melbourne. david warner made it look like any total was possible for australia's top thanks to him they had 100 by lunch. england changed tack after the interval, getting rid of the out of sorts cameron bancroft, then frustrated warner as he neared his century. 99, he blinked, and it seemed he had given tom curran his first test wicket on debut. the replay revealed no ball. back came warner, and the mcg roared his hundred. after tea stuart broad got his first wicket for more than 400 deliveries, usman khawaja. he nearly got another with his next, shaun marsh given not out lbw. the review went with the umpire's call, a key moment. from their marsh and steve smith, who else, stabilised things. smith, who else, stabilised things. smith unbeaten. and england worry he

might perhaps be unbeatable. people wa nt might perhaps be unbeatable. people want to see exciting cricket. we did oui’ want to see exciting cricket. we did our best. we didn't bowl great in the first session. we didn't add to that excitement, unless you are a david warner fan. but the second session, we did all we could on that pitch. i know it wasn't exciting to watch, and it wasn't exciting to play, to be honest. when it is that attritional. but there is not a lot we can do about it from here. that's the picture we have for the next five days. we just have to put up with it. football's festive fixtures continue with eight games today. leaders manchester city play newcastle tomorrow but in this afternoon's early kick—off, tottenham meet southampton with harry kane looking to break a record held by alan shearer. kane's hat—trick in saturday's win over burnley put him level with shearer on 36 goals in the calendar year. manchester united's task is to narrow the huge 14—point gap between themselves and manchester city at the top of the table. they're at home to burnley today. united slipped up at the weekend, allowing leicester to equalise in injury time —

but burnley manager sean dyche knows that doesn't mean his side will get an easy ride. they still look a high—quality group of players to me. i was there recently when they had to dig in and get a recently when they had to dig in and geta win recently when they had to dig in and get a win against brighton side who played very well. but that's the mark of a good side. if it's not quite there day or the other team are playing well, they still come out with the result. i don't think we will go there expecting it to be anything other than a tough game. in the late kick—off, liverpool host bottom of the table swansea, who are still looking for a new manager after sacking paul clement last week. liverpool's last game was their 3—3 draw with arsenal on friday, so they've had an extra day to recoverfor this match — but managerjurgen klopp knows a side in trouble can be a dangerous one. they are under pressure. that's clear, they are fighting for the league, 100%. they will not change until boxing day. but we will be

ready. we will perform. and there's just one game in the scottish premiership this afternoon, with champions celtic away to dundee. serena williams said she'd get back on the tennis circuit pretty quickly, after giving birth to herfirst child — and she's announced her return. she'll play an exhibition match against jelena ostapenko in abu dhabi next week — it'll be four months since her daughter alexis arrived. williams hasn't played since she won the australian open injanuary and although she hasn't yet decided whether she'll be defending her title, the tournament organisers have said it's very likely. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. out of all the photographers waiting to snap a picture of the royal family at the christmas day service in sandringham, it was a mum from norfolk who managed to capture the perfect image on her phone. this photograph taken by karen murdoch has now been used by journalists from all over the world. she says she hopes its sale will help with her daughter's university costs.

she spoke to bbc breakfast this morning and explained what it's been like since she took the image. in one word, overwhelming. i've had five likes, maybe, on a tweet before! i just... it is a nice photo, though. i do like it. it's a great photo! yeah, it's lovely. but it's bonkers. now, there's another word for you — bonkers! laughter. so, karen, tell us how you managed to get that shot. because you were down there with your daughter. paint the picture for us, how did you get that perfect picture? yes, well, i was with my daughter, rachel, and my friend sara. and i literally, and i hate to sound like a bit of a geek here, but i was fangirling! i was literally, we were all like, "merry christmas!" as you can probably tell, i can get a bit excitable. and that's it, it was just lucky. it was pure luck. i took it on my iphone. yeah, a great picture, yeah. and i'm glad everybody liked it. so you shouted merry christmas,

they turned round and gave you a smile, and then what happened? you put the picture on twitter and facebook and the like? well, what i did... oh, this is embarrassing! but i couldn't remember if meghan had an h in her name or not. so i put her name in and ijust... i think it was the bbc website just saying, the royals are attending. so i put my picture in the comments. and the rest, as they say, is history. definitely the right place at the right time. how did you spend your christmas day? eating? drinking? bit of telly? how aboutjumping out of a plane wearing only a floppy suit? that's what the competitors at the wingsuit flying world cup got up to, as tim allman explains. you know what they say — what goes up must come down. a principle they understand

all too well at the wingsuit flying world cup. teams from around the globe competing in this extreme and hair—raising sport. translation: i travelled more than 400 kilometres to see this. we arrived here early in the morning, just to watch the wingsuit flying show. it's spectacular! you can say that again. a couple of skydivers perform a 360—degree rotating nosedive. while others piggybacked on their team—mates. but not everybody was happy with how things turned out. translation: i think our performance this time didn't reflect our real strength. we will get to our best through regular competition. i hope we perform better next time. the chinese team finished third overall, behind the winners, france, and the united states, who came second. it is a nonprofit event, and a local school received a cheque

worth more than $30,000. so some charitable spirit, combined with a little heart—stopping terror. how can you get more festive than that? tim allman, bbc news. the queen has come top of christmas day tv ratings. because the state broadcast achieved combined figures of around broadcast achieved combined figures ofaround 7.6 broadcast achieved combined figures of around 7.6 million. in second place was mrs brown's boys on bbc one with 6.8 million. stricker come dancing at 6.5 million and call the midwife at 6.3 million. let's get more from our entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba. the queen's christmas day broadcast was broadcast on multiple challenges. these are the single channels. but it topped the ratings. it seems coming together at christmas to sit down and watch the

queen's christmas broadcast as a family is still one of those big christmas day tradition is that people have done. it was on sky, itn, bbc, and that is why it has topped the christmas day broadcast. it's worth saying that once catch—up viewing for the christmas period is taken into consideration, another programme will probably rise to the top of the list, but at the moment, yes, the queen, certainly a big traditional part of christmas day with people sitting down together to watch. how do all the christmas specials compared across different channels? we had the strictly come dancing special, the new doctor who and so on. the bbc in particular likes to see christmas day as a chance to show off and give audiences a chance to see the range of its programming across drama, entertainment, comedy. so you have strictly come dancing christmas special. call the midwife, french and saunders. doctor who, as you mentioned. all those programmes are there in the top ten of the most

watched on christmas day yesterday, which the bbc dominated. the only itv programme to creep into the top ten was the popular soap coronation street. a huge range of programming across all genres across bbc one in particular yesterday, and it seems to be what viewers wanted to sit down and watch. and a big time of yearfor down and watch. and a big time of year for the soaps, as you mention. does viewing on christmas day and around the christmas period vary? do we watch more programming live as opposed to on the iplayer and netflix in the rest of the year. it's a mix. a lot of stuff is watched live. the queen's christmas broadcast doesn't get a big uplift on catch—up viewing on the iplayer, but other programmes watched live as people sits down at christmas, but because there are also a lot of clashes between programmes that people want to see on different channels, you get a lot of catch—up viewing coming in. a few years ago

downton abbey was in fourth place but got a massive uplift on catch—up viewing to become the most watched christmas day programme. it is a mix of both. a lot of live viewing you don't get on other days, but when there are clashes people want to catch—up with the programmes they didn't get to see live later on. time for the weather forecast with phil avery. hello, a much brighter day than of late across many parts of the british isles. certainly feeling a good deal fresher than of late as well. forget all about the double—figure temperatures, that won't be the case, despite the presence of the sunshine. i hope you made the most of the bright start across the south—west because increasingly through the afternoon we will find the cloud and wind and rain spreading everfurther towards the east. temperatures struggling despite the presence of the sunshine. pretty cold across the northern half of britain, showers turning increasingly wintry through the northern parts of scotland. and as the cold air floods down towards this mass of cloud and rain, it will change from rain to snow through wales and eventually by the end of the night, widely across lincolnshire, the midlands, down into the high ground of southern britain as well.

on through wednesday, will push that threat of lying snow ever further towards the south and east. if you don't see much in the way of snow, you will see quite a bit of rain until that system moves away. and then we open up the door to much brighter weather, yes, but it will be a cold, fresh sort of day, temperatures in the range of 2—7. this is bbc news, our latest headlines: the universities minister, jojohnson, has given his clearest warning yet that academic institutions must protect free speech. he says universities must "open minds, not close them" and students should have the resilience to take part in frank discussions. the british retail consortium has warned that consumers face rising prices after brexit unless britain can replicate trade deals negotiated by the eu with dozens of other countries. millions of shoppers are heading out to the boxing day sales this morning.

but a survey commissioned by the bbc indicates that the traditional post—christmas spending spree is being eroded by the black friday sales in november. the ministry of defence says a royal navy frigate spent christmas day escorting a russian warship through the north sea. the navy said several russian vessels had passed close to the uk in recent days. voters in liberia are choosing a new president today in the decisive second—round run—off between the current vice—president and a former world footballer of the year, george weah. now on bbc news, from the engagement of prince harry and meghan markle to the retirement from royal duties of the duke of edinburgh, sarah campbell looks back on the key events in review 2017: the royal year. reporter: congratulations from all of us!

how are you both feeling? thrilled! this was the year in which prince harry introduced his new leading lady, the american actress meghan markle. the fact that i fell in love with meghan so incredibly quickly, was sort of confirmation to me that everything, all the stars were aligned, everything was perfect. after 70 years of public service, the duke of edinburgh, britain's longest—serving royal consort, hung up his hat and retired from royal duties. prince george had his own milestone moment — his first day of school. and flexing their royal muscles in an effort to put the issue of mental health firmly on the national agenda.