this is bbc news. the headlines at 4pm... a woman from hull is sentenced to three years in an egyptjail for taking painkillers into the country. her sister is concerned for her safety. she is on the verge of a mental breakdown. and so is my mum. it is just horrendous. universities must protect free speech and "open minds, not close them," orface possible fines. millions of shoppers hit the high streets as they hunt for bargains in the boxing day sales. a mum from norfolk says she's been "overwhelmed" by the international response to her capturing the perfect image on her phone — of meghan markle — alongside prince harry and the duke and duchess of cambridge. tottenham's harry kane sets a new record for the most premier league goals in a calendar year as he scores a hat—trick against southampton. good afternoon and

welcome to bbc news. a british woman accused of smuggling drugs into egypt has been sentenced to three years in jail. laura plummer, who's 33 and from hull, was arrested in october with 290 tablets of the painkiller, tramadol, which is banned in egypt. a spokesman from the foreign office says they will continue to provide assistance to the family. our correspondent hanan razek sent the latest from cairo. they found around 300 tramadol ta blets they found around 300 tramadol tablets in her suit gets. laura said she put those tablets for her boyfriend as he is suffering from severe back pain and this is a painkiller that is prescribed and is absolutely fine to get in the uk. however it is a band here in egypt and you can only get it through

medical prescriptions as it is popularly used among some young people as a sort of drug and it is a cheaper way to get drugs. laura plummer‘s sister jayne sinclair has been speaking to the bbc. this family, we are disgusted that he has been able to carry on this one. in what country are you actually allowed to submit a 38 page document in arabic for somebody to sign it without having an interpreter. from day one this has been a complete nightmare and yesterday in the court she wasn't even allowed to have her own interpreter, she had to get the court interpreting who was interpreting the wrong answers, so we are disgusted and we are so upset, absolutely devastated. do you know what happened in court today? was just the sentencing? we just thought she was in court, our lawyer

gave a fantastic case, she has got amazing evidence that supports her innocence and we were expecting for her to be freed or maybe it would be adjourned until january. her to be freed or maybe it would be adjourned untiljanuary. we never expected her to be sentenced to three years are told. it was a lot of pills she had the wasn't it? three years are told. it was a lot of pills she had the wasn't mm was 290, the equivalent of three boxes. people would say it is her owi'i boxes. people would say it is her own fault, what would you say in response to that? they are entitled to her opinion. they don't know laura. she was taking these tablets to help her man who has an accident. he didn't even know she was bringing them across. she was doing it for a kind gesture. that is all it was. how can you be sentenced to three yea rs how can you be sentenced to three years just for how can you be sentenced to three yearsjust for being how can you be sentenced to three years just for being kind? how can you be sentenced to three yearsjust for being kind? what are you going to do now? we are just going to have to appeal. sorry. your

sister is not doing ever so she? can you tell us about that? she is on the verge of a mental breakdown. and so was my mum. the verge of a mental breakdown. and so was my mum. it isjust horrendous. i can't believe that the country has done this to us. what did they gain by sentencing borough for three years to be mixing with real criminals? she is just for three years to be mixing with real criminals? she isjust a normal girl who works in hull, she sells clothes, she comes home and watches telly and goes to bed. she doesn't drink or smoke, she lives to good egypt, she loves egypt, she lost the egyptian people, we cannot believe this has happened to her. we are absolutely devastated. —— she loves the egyptian people. 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. the body of a woman has been found at an address which a bomb disposal squad was called to on christmas day. the street, in north tyneside, was completely cordoned off when the bomb disposal van arrived. a 41—year—old man, believed to be known to the victim, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. police have released cctv footage images — of three suspects, following a theft at a shopping centre in ilford, east london injuly this year. it's the first time these images have been released. a 69—year—old woman walked into lloyds bank in ilford and withdrew £1000 in cash from her account. the pensioner then got into a lift at the exchange shopping mall as she made her way to the car park. when she got into the lift, two of the suspects in the lift

began a discussion with the woman as a third suspect searched her handbag and removed the cash. anyone who can assist the investigation is asked to contact metropolitan police via 101 or by tweeting @metcc. 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" — and warned "britain will never be intimidated when it comes to protecting our country, our people, and our national interests." rear admiral chris parry is a former nato commander. he said it was important not to over—react. i wouldn't exactly echo the seriousness that the defence secretary has put out. this is a normal deployment by a russian warship that is coming down into the north sea.

she is perfectly entitled to do that under international law. it is demonstrating the right of innocent passage. we do this in the black sea and the baltic sea all the time. the russians have said, it's christmas, we will have to be at sea, so let's get somebody else out to look at us as well. i would hope this country would send a warship out to look at any warship that comes close to us, other than our nato allies. it's also a great opportunity to look at a brand—new frigate, it's the latest russian frigate. it has systems and other equipment on it we want to have a closer look at. 0rdinarily, we wouldn't get that close. the russians want to say to the world, we have intervened in syria, we want to show the russian flag around the world and there is no better way of doing that than putting your navy out to sea. it has appeared on all sorts of tv and news channels. the fact of life is the russian navy is on the up at the moment, getting

increased levels of expenditure. they want to show they can go anywhere they want to at any time they want to. they have done it in the baltic sea and black sea. any time they approach the united kingdom now, instead of going to the west of ireland, they tend to go down through the channel. they are showing their flag and are entitled to do so. a russian cargo ship is listing near portsmouth harbour and is being assisted by the coastguard. the vessel is at anchor in the river solent while a pilot vessel assesses its stability and cargo. the coastguard said it had power and was currently stable, while the 13 crew on board were reported to be safe and well. the maritime search and rescue service has warned of severe gales and rough seas later. supporters of vladimir putin are meeting in moscow 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 due to a fraud conviction. the third year we doctor or moscow correspondent and he was asked how much formality this all was. it is an absolute formality and it has already happened. more than 600 people gathered, a lot of athletes and culturalfigures, people gathered, a lot of athletes and cultural figures, the people gathered, a lot of athletes and culturalfigures, the world of music, ballet, and other public places here in russia who came together to nominate mr putin formally as their candidate for president. he is running as an independent this year so this is the first step needs to take. he then need to in—person submit the signatures and documents gathered at this session here to the electoral commission forformal this session here to the electoral commission for formal approval. and then, if you like, the next stage of then, if you like, the next stage of the race begins. he has to gallop 300,000 signatures from across butter to support his candidacy. but

it isa butter to support his candidacy. but it is a pretty much forgone conclusion. give the most popular politician here in russia and doesn't expect to have any real obstacles doesn't expect to have any real o bsta cles o n doesn't expect to have any real obstacles on the reraise to the kremlin. millions of shoppers across the country are hitting the high street today, for the traditional boxing day sales. analysts at barclaycard suggest one in three of us will head to the shops today in search ofa bargain. but with the rise of discount deals for black friday, and more of us shopping online, has the post—christmas shopping spree lost some of its appeal? james waterhouse reports. no camping, no stampedes. bell tolls. but there was at least a bell for the boxing day sale faithful in london this morning. in selfridge's, one of britain's oldest store names, you can get your hands on almost anything. perfumes, make—up, clothing and, of course, shoes. 50% off prada shoes. that's really good. £250 saving. we do love shopping! we like bargains more

than full price stuff. they are normally 480, i got them for 230. it's decent, isn't it? we can actually get these online, but over here they are cheaper. so if we can find the size, then yes. 0therwise online. different prices but similar scenes in york. retail analysts say they are seeing a shift in shopping behaviours, but only a slight one. the high street is still a significant impact on people's shopping because people going out for leisure and to meet people rather than just buying behaviours. that's the feeling in glasgow today as well. i think customers are very savvy, they're looking for depth of markdown. never mind 30%, customers today are looking for 50%—plus discounts. a bbc survey of a thousand shoppers suggested almost two thirds felt constant sales devalue the brand of the shop, and more people are spending in the black friday sales and can't fork out twice. in selfridge's at least,

people in their tens of thousands are walking around trying to find that dream discount. but this is the biggest store on the uk's busiest shopping street. the feeling from some experts and shoppers is that the boxing day sales have lost their appeal. for many, the boxing day sales are as traditional as the turkey itself, so it's going to take a lot more to put them off. james waterhouse, bbc news, oxford street in london. we normally say our correspondent is braving the crowds but fiona trott is in europe. it doesn't look that busy. it looks quite quiet. the windows say everything must go, up to 60% off there but it is a lot quieter than it has been. people in

your work saying it has been the quiet in quite a few years. we have got some research out today which also suggests that, yes, it is quieter according to some analysts, by midday today but fall on uk high—street slicked yorkville by 4.796 high—street slicked yorkville by 4.7% compared to last year and it is not a surprise. people we spoke to have been out and about to us they are doing smart sales shopping, they don't have money to splash out this year. they are buying for christmas next year, presence, christmas cards, all they are stopping up on expensive items, clothing, footwear which is another price about 3% compared to last year, as you heard in that report as well, the idea of the boxing day sale, isn't original any more, because one retail a nalysts we any more, because one retail analysts we spoke to said there could be sales fatigue. she was here in york telling us everyone has a deal on the two—for—one line these

days, black friday, sales leading up to christmas eve, they have spent their budget already. it appears as though to date's sales may be disappointing news for retailers who have seen really slow growth in non—food items since 2011.|j have seen really slow growth in non-food items since 2011. i will leave you to those empty shops. no one but me any socks yesterday, i am just saying! the headlines on bbc news. a british woman accused of bringing 300 painkiller tablets into egypt, has been sentenced to three years injail. laura plummer‘s family say they plan to appeal the verdict. the universities minister, jojohnson, is issuing his clearest warning so far that academic institutions must protect free speech. there were queues outside some stores and shopping centres this morning for the boxing day sales. but a bbc survey suggests the black friday sales in november are now more important to most shoppers. get the sport from mark edwards. it

has been a busy day. what a year it's been for harry kane. the tottenham striker helped himself to a hat—trick as spurs thrashed southampton 5—2 at wembley and in the process has broken the record for the most premier league goals scored in a calendar year. kane headed home his 37th league goal of 2017 on 22 minutes to surpass alan shearer‘s landmark which had stood for 22 years. his second came five minutes before the break, finishing off a lovely team move, turning in son heung min's cross. kane then completed his second hat—trick in three days, his 56th goal of an incredible year, to finish ahead of lionel messi as the leading scorer in europe for club and country in 2017. six other matches in the premier league today. we could get a shock result at old trafford. burnley currently 2—1 up, first half goals

from ashley barnes and steven defour, butjesse from ashley barnes and steven defour, but jesse lingard just pulled one back for united. chelsea lead 1—0 against brighton and hove albion. alvaro morata the goal. huddersfield are one goal up against stoke city courtesy of comments. all square everywhere else. celtic have extended their lead at the top of the scottish premier league to 11 points. they won 2—0 at dundee. james forrest opened the scoring for the visitors afterjust eight minutes and leigh griffiths then fired in celtic‘s second just before half time. that one the only scottish premiership game today, with five more to come tomorrow. it seems to be going from bad to worse for england's cricketers who are trying to avoid a series whitewash in the ashes — they were on the end of a tough day in the field in melbourne. having surrendered the ashes in perth a century from david warner and another great performance from captain steve smith left australia on 2411—3 at stumps on day one of the fourth test. patrick gearey was watching.

to borrow an australian raised in england were always going to have a card. a pitch that really suited the batsmen on a warm day here in melbourne. david warner made it look like any tool would be possible to australia. thanks to him they had 100 by lunch. england changed tack at the interval. they tighten things up at the interval. they tighten things up and got that of the art of thought cameron bancroft. they then frustrated warner as he neared a century on 99, he blinked, lobbing a catch up and it seemed he had give tom curran ‘s first test wicket on debut but a replay revealed no ball, but came warner and the mcg roared his hundred on the very next ball. warner did goes into james anderson caught behind and after t 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 to the umpire. a key moment. from there marsh and who

else but steve smith stabilised things. smith remained unbeaten and england may worry he is unbeatable. there are three boxing day matches in rugby union's pro 14 league — all derbies, and cardiff blues have the upper hand in the first of them. they beat the dragons 22—17. they still had to withstand a second—half fightback. this try proved to be the winner. 18 games since the dragons lost a welsh derby. lei nster leinster leader monster, 97—5 in front and are set to go top of their role. —— —— 57—5. might bite held on in an exciting finish to win the king george the sixth chase at kempton park. nico de boinville's mount led the way throughout the race. leading going into the final fence, the 6—4 favourite had to work hard on the run—in. 50—1 shot double shuffle came second

while tea for two was third for jockey lizzie kelly. the win gave trainer nicky henderson a big—race kempton double after buveur d'air triumphed in the christmas hurdle earlier on the card. that's all the sport for now. back to you. more on the british woman accused of bringing 300 painkiller tablets to egypt. she has been sentenced to three years in jail. laura plummer‘s family said it planned to appeal. 0n the line is a lawyer in egypt. first of all, can you clarify one thing? has she accidentally redid guilty to discharge? it isa it is a crime in egypt. she you cannot take tramadol here. it is

a crime. we treated as we do in cooking as it is cheaper. on that basis will you be appealing on her behalf?” is cheaper. on that basis will you be appealing on her behalf? i am sorry, be appealing on her behalf? i am soi’i’y, can be appealing on her behalf? i am sorry, can you ask me to question ain? sorry, can you ask me to question again? will see no appeal? laura has the option. she only had 16 minutes to submit foran she only had 16 minutes to submit for an appeal she only had 16 minutes to submit foran appeal in she only had 16 minutes to submit for an appeal in front of the court commission. you are her lawyer, are you advising her to appeal? of

course i advise laura to appeal. can igo course i advise laura to appeal. can i go back to the first question. some newspapers here are suggesting that because of the poor translation yesterday, she accidentally pleaded guilty, is that true or not true?m is true. what happened, it is a misunderstanding between laura and thejudge. thejudge misunderstanding between laura and the judge. the judge asked misunderstanding between laura and thejudge. thejudge asked laura are you guilty or not guilty but there we re you guilty or not guilty but there were three for smuggling and 34 tramadol, laura said yes, that i am charged with smuggling and tramadol, thejudge thinking that charged with smuggling and tramadol, the judge thinking that laura a nswered the judge thinking that laura answered that she pleaded guilty. he is thinking that she has confessed that she is guilty. the

misunderstanding happened to that laura did not confess and laura just repeated and agreed that she knew that she was charged for smuggling and this, though. how rare is it that there isn't an interpreter and next to a foreigner who is in the dockin next to a foreigner who is in the dock in an egyptian court and what we re dock in an egyptian court and what were her lawyers doing as this was all going? it sounds like very serious misunderstanding. yes, yes. we asked for a judge to point, but thejudge had option to we asked for a judge to point, but the judge had option to accept or not accept. thejudge the judge had option to accept or not accept. the judge spoke english. he came to appoint a translator. can

you explain her reaction to the three—year sentence? have you spoken to her since? laura was very angry and upset about the judgment, because, we believe that she is innocent. 0n the grounds that it is not a crime in england, but tramadol isa not a crime in england, but tramadol is a big crime in egypt. we will leave it there, it is not a very clear line. thank you very much. the lawyer for laura plummer. 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. the queen has come top of the christmas day tv ratings. her majesty's annual christmas day broadcast achieved combined figures of around 7.6 million. in second place was mrs brown's boys on bbc one with 6.8 million, followed by strictly come dancing with 6.5 million — and call the midwife with 6.3 million. 0ur entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba explained the ratings. to sit down and watch the queen's

christmas broadcast of the family is perhaps still one of those big christmas day tradition that people have done. it was on schalke, itn, bbc, that is why it has topped the christmas day broadcast. it is worth saying that once catch—up viewing for the christmas period is taken into consideration another programme will probably rise to the top of that list but at the moment the queen is certainly a big traditional pa rt queen is certainly a big traditional part of christmas day. people come together to sit down and watch. the bbc pedigree likes to say christmas day at the chance to show off and give audiences the chance to see the range of its programming across drama, entertainment, comedy. you have strictly come dancing, call the midwife, french and saunders, doctor who, all those kinds of programmes available in the top ten of most

watched on christmas day which the bbc dominated. the only itv programme to creep into the top ten was of course the popular soap coronation street. a huge range of programming across all genres on bbc 0ne programming across all genres on bbc one in particular yesterday and that seems to be what viewers wanted to sit down and watch. here is the weather. well, for many of us it's been a sunny boxing day so far, but tonight the weather will be turning — particularly across southern parts of the uk. rain, sleet and some snow on the way. so this is what it looks like through this evening. initially, rain splashing its way across southern parts of the country. look at the snow across the hills of wales there. possibly into the peak district, as well. there could be some wet snow and sleet in some of the bigger towns and cities across the midlands, as well. then towards the end of the night, may be around the chilterns and possibly the downs. there could be a little bit of wet snow, but this isn't going to be a big deal.

itjust looks like it's going to be a wintry flavour to that rain sweeping through. and for many northern areas, actually, the bigger risk is the ice through tonight and into tomorrow. this is what tomorrow looks like, a lot of sunshine around. once that low pulls away and it'll take time, so in norwich it'll be and windy and miserable, ithink, for most of the day. but for many of us, and sunny wednesday on the way. a british woman accused of smuggling drugs into egypt has been sentenced to three years in jail. laura plummer, who's 33 and from hull, was arrested in october with tablets of the painkiller tramadol. her family say they are planning to appeal the sentence. 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 boxing day sales are under way with millions of shoppers hitting the high streets as they hunt for bargains. meanwhile a bbc survey has suggested that online shopping and early black friday deals have made the post christmas sales less appealing. now on bbc news — in the latest programme in our 100 women series — high—profile women speak to bbc presenters about their work, life and ambitions.