this is bbc news. the headlines at ten: a british woman is sentenced to three years in jail in egypt for taking painkillers into the country. her sister says she fears for her safety. she's on the verge of mental breakdown. and so‘s my mum. it's just horrendous. universities should open minds, not close them, says the government, and face fines if they don't protect free speech. millions of shoppers have been searching for sale bargains, but fewer of us have hit the high streets compared to last boxing day. a russian cargo ship is listing near portsmouth harbour, and is being assisted by the coastguard. it's harry's game — tottenham's star striker sets a new record for the most premier league goals in a calendar year by scoring a hat—trick against southampton. and at 10:45, we'll bring you the paper review with political commentatorjo phillips and political editor of the sunday mirror nigel nelson. good evening and

welcome to bbc news. a british woman has been sentenced to three years in prison in egypt after being found guilty of smuggling drugs into the country. laura plummer, who's 33 and from hull, was arrested in october when 300 tablets of the painkiller tramadol were found in her suitcase. daniela relph reports. laura plummer‘s family and friends say she is naive, not a criminal. but today the 33—year—old shop workerfrom hull is beginning a three—year sentence injail in egypt. her mother, roberta, and her egyptian partner, omar caboo, have been at court to support her during the hearings this week. laura plummer had been travelling to the red sea resort of hurghada to visit omar in october when she was stopped

by the authorities. in her suitcase were 290 tramadol tablets, a painkiller which is legal on prescription in britain, but banned in egypt. she said the tablets were for her partner, who suffers from severe back pain, but she was arrested and has been held since then in a communal cell with up to 25 women. herfamily at home in hull have described today's sentence as horrendous. she's just a normal girl who works in hull. she just sells clothes, she comes home, she watches telly and she goes to bed. she doesn't drink, she doesn't smoke, she doesn't do anything. she lives to go to egypt. she loves egypt. she loves the egyptian people. she's in love with omar. we cannot believe this has happened to her. we are absolutely devastated. laura plummer had been going on holiday to egypt's red sea resort for several years, but for her supporters, she has been let down by the country she loved. this woman doesn't deserve to be

incarcerated in an egyptian prison and, to be honest with you, as much as i respect the customs of egypt and the laws and the judiciary and everything else, this will put people off travelling on holiday to egypt in the future, and i think the egyptian authorities need to be mindful of that. the egyptian legal system is complex. laura plummer will now appeal against the three—year sentence, a jail term her family say is shocking and unjust. daniela relph, bbc news. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are jo phillips, political commentator, and nigel nelson, political editor of the sunday mirror. the universities minister, jojohnson, has warned academic institutions that they could face fines if they fail to protect free speech. some universities and student groups

have banned speakers because of their views or because they promote extremism. mrjohnson said that in some of the cases, debate is being stifled. a new regulator, the office for students, is to be given powers to uphold free speech. emily unia reports. jo johnson wants universities to open minds, not close them. he has criticised the practice of "no platforming," when student unions and other university groups ban speakers with what is seen as offensive or unacceptable views. it's vital we uphold this principle of legal freedom of speech because it is the real underpinning of how we progress of society, how we deepen our stock of knowledge, how we remain innovative and ultimately how we also resist injustices, how the rights of minorities to stand up and be counted and not suppressed

are upheld. the minister wants young people to hear and challenge controversial opinions, a view shared by the vice chancellor of the university of buckingham. universities must be about letting a dialogue and debate happen, not suppress. if you suppress people's views, then you are a man exercising them, then you romanticise them, you legitimise them, you publicise them. what we need to happen at universities is the opposite. the feminist campaigner, julie bindel, who has personal experience of no platforming, argues the problem lies with the national union of students. students that are polled are clearly signed up to this ridiculous snowflake attitude of wrapping them in cotton wool. students tell me all the time that they want to hear the likes of me speaking against this blanket no platforming of feminists, as we are the ones mainly no platformed, and they want to make a decision about who speaks at the university. the nus have yet to comment, but their platform contains six groups including the bnp.

next april, the government is planning to bring in a new regulator for universities. the office for students will have the power to find, suspend or deregister institutions that failed to uphold free speech. emily unia, bbc news. a russian cargo ship listing near portsmouth harbour is being assisted by the coastguard tonight. the mekhanik yartsdev is at anchor in the solent while a pilot vessel assesses its condition. the coastguard said it had power and was currently stable. the 13 crew on board are reported to be safe and well. there are warnings of gales and rough seas later this evening. the body of a woman has been found at an address to which a bomb disposal squad was called on christmas day. the street in north tyneside was completely cordoned off. a 41—year—old man believed to be known to the victim has been arrested on suspicion of murder. two people including a police officer have died following a collision between a police car and another vehicle in sheffield last night. the 46—year—old officer was responding to an emergency call when his marked car was involved in the crash. a passenger in the other vehicle, a 61—year—old woman, also died. dave edwards reports.

the crash happened on this road, the a57, about 50 yards also down there. a marked police car was travelling in this direction towards sheffield, responding to what has been called an immediate incident. the silver citroen c3 was going the other way, when the collision occurred. the officer driving the police car was pronounced dead shortly after. he was a 46—year—old man. a passenger in the citroen, the 61—year—old woman, also died. she was from sheffield, and the driver of that car is in the serious condition in hospital. now, south yorkshire police are not doing any interviews today, but they have released a statement, which says "we have lost a friend, a colleague from our police family.

the officer had been with us for 12 years and was a passionate professional and universally liked. his colleagues and everyone across the force are devastated by what has happened. our thoughts are with both families. anyone who saw what happened here last night asked to contact the police by calling 101. the independent police complaints commission are now investigating. dave edwards, bbc look north, sheffield. millions of shoppers across the uk have headed to the high street for the traditional boxing day sales. in some places, the queues began to form outside stores in the early hours of the morning, with research suggesting that one in three of us went in search of a bargain today. some retailers have reported large numbers of people looking for the best deals online instead. analysts say footfall in high streets and shopping centres across the uk appears to have been lower than expected. duncan kennedy reports from southampton. it's been fast, if not furious, heavy if not heaving. but after all that turkey, there have been plenty of bargains to gobble up. have you got what you wanted? yes. it's been successful. successful trip, yeah. here at southampton‘s west

quay shopping centre, 10,000 people an hour surged in. what is it about boxing day sales? cheaper. half the price. really? yeah, really. some people say there are these sales all year round. to be honest with you, black friday was better than actually today. and, it's only got the rubbish what's left, that they've put in. but, you are still buying it? yes, only because i got my christmas money, yesterday. with inflation outstripping many wages, some experts have been predicting a slow boxing day, but in many places, the discounts are proving irresistible. well, ithink, first and foremost it's always about getting a great bargain. and you can see, on the windows around us, there are stores that have got 50%, 60%, 70%, even, discounts on some of their products in store. so that is a great incentive to come out. in fact, researchers say that something like 34% of us will have gone shopping today. that compares to just 25% of us last boxing day. they reckon that overall we will be

spending more than £4 billion. york was just one of the places where they queued for the bargains. online shopping, it seems, not yet the all—conquering consumer choice. going on holiday next week, so i've got some light pyjamas, and some trainers. which are £5 from £14. very good, isn't it? london's oxford street also brought out the shoppers, although some analysts said overall numbers are down by 4%. but many are still bagging the bargains. 50% off prada shoes. so, that was actually good. that's a £215 saving. we do love shopping. we like bargains more than full priced stuff. in glasgow, two arms were not enough for some to take care of business, but whilst many online companies were reporting sales of more than 6% today, for others only the real deal will do.

it's a bargain. i think i've saved something. officialfigures for who spent what, where, and when on boxing day will come later. unofficially, it seemed as traditional as ever, and for some, it has been a case of shop till you drop. duncan kennedy, bbc news. tesco says it will investigate after receiving complaints from customers about turkeys that had apparently gone off. the supermarket said it had sold hundreds of thousands of "great quality" turkeys this christmas, but admitted it had a small number of complaints in recent days. tesco said would get in touch with each customer to investigate what had happened. police have released cctv images of three suspects following a theft at a shopping centre in ilford, east london, in july. it's the first time these images have been released. a 69—year—old woman walked into lloyds bank in ilford and withdrew £1,000 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. as she got in, two of the suspects distracted the woman whilst a third suspect searched her handbag

and removed the cash. anyone who can assist the investigation is asked to contact the metropolitan police by phoning 101 or tweeting @metcc. a group of russian electors have formally given their support to vladimir putin as a candidate in next year's presidential election. mr putin is seeking a fourth term in office, and will run as an independent this time. he still needs 300,000 signatures before his nomination is confirmed. on monday, opposition leader alexei navalny, his main rival, was barred from standing in the election. that decision has already prompted a call for an opposition boycott, and raised fears about pluralism in russian politics. olga ivshina is from the bbc‘s russian service. it's very easy to get the

signatures, even his main opponent alexei navalny, who was under heavy pressure, managed to get all the signatures needed quite easily. almost no one doubts that putin will win. what is interesting for the kremlin is that it's very important, turnout is very important, and also the amount of people who will vote for the amount of people who will vote foer putin, the amount of people who will vote for mr putin, because the kremlin sees these elections as a vote of confidence for mr putin and his policy. that's why they do want the turn out to be very high, and also boycott alexei navalny and make it ha rd boycott alexei navalny and make it hard for him to achieve the desired goal. syria's armed forces say one of their militaryjets has been downed by insurgents in northern hama province, killing the pilot. the area has seen intense aerial strikes by the russian and syrian air forces in the country's civil war. rescue workers say dozens of civilians have been killed i recent weeks in the bombing of towns away from front lines. 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. i think 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. and you expect somebody to look at them 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 our 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. ordinarily, we wouldn't get that close. the russians want to say to the world, we're a great power, 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. the headlines on bbc news: the family of a british woman, jailed in egypt for three years for drug smuggling, say they're "devastated" at today's decision by an egyptian court. universities must protect free speech and "open minds, not close them," orface possible fines. despite millions of shoppers searching for bargains in the boxing day sales there's been a downturn in shoppers on the high street in shoppers on the high street. as we've been hearing, a woman from hull has been jailed for three years in egypt for taking tramadol painkillers into the country. they're legal in the uk. laura plummer, who's 33, was convicted of drug smuggling. her family say they will appeal against the sentence. earlier my colleague simon mccoy spoke to her mp, labour's karl turner about laura. she's a woman of good character, a decent, honest, ha rd—working

she's a woman of good character, a decent, honest, hard—working british woman from hull, who has had not so much as a parking violation, and she has found herself in this terrible predicament where she faces a custodial sentence in a foreign prison. it is utterly terrifying for her. what do you make of this apparent misunderstanding in court of the hearing yesterday which led to today's's. .. it of the hearing yesterday which led to today's's... it wasn't of the hearing yesterday which led to today's's. .. it wasn't a of the hearing yesterday which led to today's's... it wasn't a hearing because she was sentenced to three yea rs, because she was sentenced to three years, the conviction was there already. how do you understand any appeal will be taken forward?” don't know if that's correct, i spoke to the lawyer, mr osman yesterday, and communicated with him on e—mail today. i understand there was something lost in translation. thejudge asked a was something lost in translation. the judge asked a tribunal member a question, and frankly using which wasn't very good. the defence team had been interpreted there to translate but the judge refused to hear from translate but the judge refused to hearfrom them. however, the translate but the judge refused to hear from them. however, the lawyer for laura made representations that

the matter must be adjourned and the new hearings start today. it is my understanding that that is exactly what has happened, but the courts found today that laura was guilty of possession, not trafficking, there's a great deal of difference, and she was sentenced for possession today. i have spoken to alistair burt, the minister responsible for egypt i have spoken to alistair burt, the mir foreign ponsible for egypt g i have spoken to alistair burt, the mir foreign foiee e for egypt g i have spoken to alistair burt, the mir foreign foiee tee egypt g with him today, and i conversations with him today, and i know he is making representations as we speak to officials in egypt, and we speak to officials in egypt, and we are very, very worried about laura's well—being, and that's what the minister's priority is right now. so foreign office ministers are very much involved constantly. so you are truly feel the government has done as much as it can at this stage? i have to be honest, i have been very impressed with the foreign office, i spoke with the foreign

secretary boris johnson office, i spoke with the foreign secretary borisjohnson directly, i was impressed by his understanding, interest and knowledge of the case. i know he has made representations directly to the egyptian prime minister, and the minister responsible, alistair burt, has made representations constantly, and the british embassy officials are co nsta ntly british embassy officials are constantly informing myself and government ministers of what is happening. so i have absolutely no criticism of the foreign office. i have been terribly impressed, and i hope and expect them to continue to make representations on behalf of laura. there are things that can be done, it's too early to second—guess what ministers might say or do, but there are options available to us and we are very hopeful that this will come eventually to a happier conclusion. karl turner talking to simon mccoy little earlier. lewis hamilton has apologised after sharing a video of him chastising his nephew for wearing a dress. the formula one driver tweeted that his words had been "inappropriate" and that it was "not acceptable" for him "to marginalise

or stereotype anyone." during the video, he said he was "sad" his nephew was dressed as a princess and shouted at him for doing so. out of all the professional photographers with their expensive kit waiting to snap a picture of the royal family at the christmas day service in sandringham, it was a mum from norfolk who captured the perfect image on her phone. the photograph taken by karen anvil has now been used by publications from all over the world. mike cartwright reports. the photograph that has gone everywhere. the picture that everybody wanted. taken not by the press pack or a world photographer, but karen at sandringham with her daughter on her phone. the two of them and their dog luna, back there today. that picture all over the papers. it wasn't intentional, it was just that it captured the right moment at that time, and there was no planning, it wasjust fun. it was lovely. i caught the moment, and it was great. somewhere in the crowd,

the two had been here on christmas day before. but they wanted to see meghan. walking to church, the duke and duchess of cambridge, prince harry and meghan markle. karen never dreamt she would scoop this. a picture that may go down in history, now help pay her daughter's college fees. i did know how much i am expected to get. a bit, i have been told. anything. for me, when somebody said, £50, i was like, yes! 50 quid! but it's going to go on my daughter. i work on my daughter, she is my pride and joy. i think it's fantastic. i think my mum deserves it, i know she didn't do it intentionally, but good things happen to good people. now shared dozens of

times on social media, that moment captured by karen in the right place at the right time. mike cartwright, bbc look east. the queen came top of the christmas day tv ratings. combined figures we re day tv ratings. combined figures were 7.6 millions. in second place was mrs brown's boys and in third place strictly come dancing. lizo mzimba explains 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 sky, itn, bbc, that is why it has topped the christmas day broadcasts. 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 part of christmas day. people come together to sit down and watch. the bbc especially likes to see christmas day as a 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 are there in the top ten of most watched on christmas day yesterday, 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 one, in particular yesterday, and that seems to be what viewers wanted to sit down and watch. when cotton was king, the north—west of england was its kingdom. now the industry is making a return to the uk. a mill in manchester has become the only textile factory to spin cotton commercially again. the process has revived the sector, connecting businesses across the region as they make clothes using the yarn. our correspondentjudith moritz has followed the supply chain from start to finish. her report contains some flashing images. fresh off the boat from california, cotton has come back

to its spiritual home. refurbished and re—energised, this manchester mill is the first in the uk to spin commercially again. for the first time in 50 years, cotton is in full production. it's really re—engaged the weavers and the finishers and the dyers to pull together and forge those chains back again. and there is honestly an enormous appetite for provenance and british—made. we're following the process as the cotton spun here finds its way from the bale to the clothes hanger. from its raw state to spun yarn. i'm now going to take this cotton from here in manchester over to blackburn to be dyed. that's for you. what happens now? we are going to take this into our dye house. we're going to load it onto a dye stand. we are going to bleach it, we're going to dye it and we're going to dry it.

this yarn dyer‘s used to source all its cotton overseas. now it only travels 30 miles. turned pink, it's time to take the yarn up the road to burnley to be woven. the resurrection of the cotton process comes at a good time for the industry. bbc news and the trade body make it british spoke to almost 100 textile businesses to see how their 2017 has been. 30% of them say they're exporting more british—made goods than last year. there is concern about the age of the workforce. two thirds have staff whose average age is over a0. but overall, the news is positive. 50% of them are turning over more than a year ago. the factory weaving our pink cloth is a good example. our order book is really healthy. so the next six months' forecast is looking great. so much so that we're now having to put on extra shifts and recruit additional staff.

here you are, then. back in manchester, our cloth is now ready to be made into a shirt. cut. pressed. stitched. and finished at this factory. one of the few of its kind to survive. i don't think we'll ever see a return to the halcyon days of cottonopolis. however, there is huge opportunities for businesses and brands like ours to create sustainable, viable and ultimately very profitable businesses by making things here again in the uk and selling to an international market. spun, dyed, woven and stitched, the cotton process has been sewn back together again. ourjourney behind the seams ends with a shirt made from local yarn. judith moritz, bbc news, manchester. how did you spend your christmas day? eating and drinking? 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: itravelled 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 from 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 non—profit event, and the 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? they take it very seriously, don't they? good evening. after a great christmas for many, eventually some snow did fall, and it left a few places with beautiful boxing day scenes. that's how it looked earlier on for a weather watcher close to edinburgh. tonight, mixed in with rain, there will be further sleet and snow in places. in the north of the country, wintry showers, and in

the country, wintry showers, and in the south, wet weather pushing up across england and wales, and on its leading—edge, some snow, especially over the high ground of the peak district into the midlands, mid wales, and other southern areas. don't be surprised if you see snow. more like sleet or rain at low levels and the further north you go, wintry showers but also very low temperatures, so there could be icy stretches tomorrow morning. tomorrow looks like a miserable day across the south—east, this band of rain with sleet and snow struggling to clear away, hanging around into the afternoon across east anglia and the far south—east, but the further west you come we are into sunshine. if you come we are into sunshine. if you are planning a stroll, a beautiful looking day but chile, four or beautiful looking day but chile, fouror5 beautiful looking day but chile, four or 5 degrees across the south west and wales, and over high ground showers will be wintry. showers across northern in and and the bulk of scotland, want in glasgow in the afternoon, wintry showers in northern scotland and feeding down

into northern ireland. a breezy, blustery day, and as we go through into the evening, the wintry showers keep coming for northern areas particularly, with the risk of icy stretches as temperatures widely dip close to freezing or below freezing in places. thursday is shaping up to bea in places. thursday is shaping up to be a decent day with this bump in the isobars, high—pressure giving mainly fine conditions. a system waiting in the wings west which will introduce thickening cloud and outbreaks of rain into the far south—west of england and south—west wales and northern ireland, eventually, later in the day, but for many more it stays fine and dry with crisp sunshine, but after a cold, frosty start, temperatures will struggle to recover. it looks like liver styles of showery rain at times towards the end of the week but the other thing you will notice is by the weekend it will turn much milder. good evening.

millions of shoppers across the country have headed to the high street today for the traditional boxing day sales. in some places the queues began to form outside stores in the early hours of the morning with research suggesting that one in three people went in search of a bargain today. but some retailers have reported large numbers of people deciding to look for bargains online instead. and analysts say footfall in high streets and shopping centres across the uk today appears to have been lower than expected. duncan kennedy reports from southampton. but, after all that turkey, there have been plenty of bargains to gobble up. i love actually coming to the shop because you get to try it on. it's the business of it. it's exciting. here at southampton's west quay shopping centre, 10,000 people an hour surged in. why not do it all online? why come out to the shops on boxing day? it's just nice to get out. a bit of fresh air. we had some lunch.

try before you buy. what is it about boxing day sales? cheaper. half the price. really? yeah, really. some people say there are these sales all year round. to be honest with you, black friday was better than actually today. and, it's only the rubbish what's left, that they've put in. but, you are still buying it? yeah, only because i got my christmas money, yesterday. with inflation outstripping many wages, some experts have been predicting a slow boxing day, but in many places, the discounts are proving irresistible. well, ithink, first and foremost it's always about getting a great bargain. and you can see, on the windows around us, there are stores that have got 50%, 60%, 70%, even, discounts on some of their products in store. so, that is a great incentive to come out. in fact, researchers say that something like 34% of us will have gone shopping today. that compares to just 25% of us last boxing day. they reckon that, overall, we will be spending

more than £4 billion. york was just one of the places where they queued for the bargains. online shopping, it seems, not yet the all—conquering consumer choice. going on holiday next week, so i've got some light pyjamas, and some trainers, which are £5 from £14. very good, isn't it? london's oxford street also brought out the shoppers, although some analysts said overall numbers are down by 4%. but many still bagged a well—heeled bargain. 50% off prada shoes. so, that was actually good. that's a £215 saving. we do love shopping. we like bargains more than full priced stuff. in glasgow, two arms were not enough for some to take care of business, but whilst many online companies were reporting sales up more than 6% today, for others only the real deal will do. it's a bargain. i think i've saved something. officialfigures for

who spent what, where, and when on boxing day will come later. unofficially, it seemed as traditional as ever, and for some, it has been a case of shop till you drop. duncan kennedy, bbc news. a british woman has been sentenced to three years in prison in egypt after being found guilty of smuggling drugs into the country. laura plummer, who's 33 and from hull, was arrested in october. she was found to be carrying almost 300 tablets of the painkiller tramadol in her suitcase. it's legal in the uk but banned in egypt. daniela relph reports. laura plummer‘s family and friends say she is naive, not a criminal. but today the 33—year—old shop workerfrom hull is beginning a three—year sentence injail in egypt. her mother, roberta, and her egyptian partner, omar caboo, have been at court to support her during the hearings this week. laura plummer had been travelling to the red sea resort of hurghada to visit omar in october

when she was stopped by the authorities. in her suitcase were 290 tramadol tablets, a painkiller which is legal on prescription in britain but banned in egypt. she said the tablets were for her partner, who suffers from severe back pain, but she was arrested and has been held since then in a communal cell with up to 25 women. herfamily at home in hull have described today's sentence as horrendous. she's just a normal girl who works in hull. she just sells clothes, she comes home, she watches telly and she goes to bed. she doesn't drink, she doesn't smoke, she doesn't do anything. she lives to go to egypt. she loves egypt. she loves the egyptian people. she's in love with omar. we cannot believe this has happened to her. we are absolutely devastated. in response to the court ruling, the foreign office says it will continue to provide assistance to laura plummer and herfamily.

it also says its embassy in egypt is in regular contact with the authorities there. this woman doesn't deserve to be incarcerated in an egyptian prison and, to be honest with you, as much as i respect the customs of egypt and the laws and the judiciary and everything else, this will put people off travelling on holiday to egypt in the future and i think the egyptian authorities need to be mindful of that. the egyptian legal system is complex. laura plummer will now appeal against the three—year sentence, a jail term her family say is shocking and unjust. daniela relph, bbc news. academic institutions have been warned by the government that they must protect freedom of speech or face possible fines. the universities ministerjo johnson said they had a duty to ensure students could both hear and challenge controversial ideas. some student groups have banned speakers advocating disputed points of view on subjects including israel's relations with the palestinians,

the role of the british empire and transgender rights. we don't need people to be cosseted. we don't need to suppress debate and stifle debate. debate is how bad ideas and prejudices get exposed, and it's about how knowledge advances. so it's an absolutely vital part of the learning process that we have full debate, that we have freedom of speech within the law operating in our university system. tributes have been paid to a police officer who died in a head—on car crash in sheffield yesterday. south yorkshire police say the officer died at the scene and a woman travelling in the other car died later in hospital. the police officer was responding to an emergency when his marked car was involved in the crash. polls have closed in the second round of liberia's presidential election.

it's hoped the outcome will be the first smooth democratic transition of power for 73 years. voters were choosing between the vice—president, joseph boakai, and the former international footballer, george weah. the winner should be known by the end of the week. mr weah won the first round in october but did not achieve the required 50% of the vote. with all the boxing day sport here's marc edwards at the bbc sport centre. thank you sophie. there were 29 goals in eight premier league games today. match of the day follows the news on bbc one, so if you don't want to know the results, you know what to do. harry kane helped himself to a hattrick, as tottenham hotspur thrashed southampton 5—2 at wembley. kane has broken alan shearer‘s 22—year—old record for the most premier league goals scored in a calendar year. he finishes 2017 with 39 league goals to his name. there was late drama at old trafford asjesse lingard rescued a point with a 90th minute equaliser for manchester united. they drew 2—2 with sean dyche's burnley, despite being 2—0 down at half—time.

elsewhere, there was a six—goal thriller at the vitality stadium. bournemouth three times coming from behind to draw with west ham. liverpool thrashed bottom of the table swansea 5—0 while there were also wins for chelsea and watford. league leaders manchester city play tomorrow. celtic moved 11 points clear at the top of the scottish premiership with 2—0 victory over dundee at dens park. james forrest opened the scoring before leigh griffiths added celtic‘s second just before half time. it was the only scottish premiership game today, with five more to come tomorrow. england's cricketers have had a tough time in the field on day one of the 4th ashes test. a century from david warner and another great performance from captain steve smith left australia on 244—3 at the close of play. patrick gearey reports from melbourne. no wonder they couldn't wait to get in. australia's festive season began with their series victory last week. ashes monday. in fact, in what seems an age since england first landed, the only thing they haven't lost is the toss. at the worst moment,

that deserted them, too. so australia batted, of course they did. this was a gift certificate of a pitch. happy christmas, david warner. 50 runs at england's expense, 100 for the aussies by lunch. ouch. at the other end, cameron bancroft had only been marginally more involved than the spectators. out of sorts, out for 26. a wicket, finally. the rambunctious warner grew edgy as he neared his century. on 99, he blinked. there, tom curran's first test wicket, what a moment. butjust a moment. look at the replay. no ball, not out. a misstep to sum up a series. back came warner. next ball, no mistake. a100, and the boundless joy of a reprieved man. his second life was short, though. whenjames anderson got him, there was no escape. england battled back. stuart broad as much as anyone. he'd gone 414 balls without a wicket before he removed usman khawaja. broad's blood up. was this shaun marsh out next ball? the umpire said no. the technology upheld that. crucial.

small margins can mean hard yards. in one of cricket's great venues, one of the great modern batsmen. steve smith rolled ominously on, unbeaten, perhaps unbeatable. but had the cricket matched the occasion? people want to see, you know, exciting cricket. you know, we did our best. we didn't bowl a great first session. we didn't add to that excitement, unless you're a david warner fan. but second session, we did all we could on that pitch, it's certainly been a very slow pace at the mcg. it's the kind of match which might be decided not by magic, but by mistakes. and so far in this series, unfortunately for england, they've made too many of them. patrick geary, bbc news, in melbourne. might bite, trained by nicky henderson, held on in an exciting finish to win the king george vi chase at kempton park. nico de boinville's mount led from the front throughout. the 6—4 favourite was chased all the way by double shuffle. tea for two, ridden by lizzie kelly, was third. there were three local derbies in the pro—14 today. cardiff blues won 22—17 at the dragons and leinster beat munster in limerick.

but the most dramatic finish was in llanelli where the scarlets came from behind in injury time to beat the ospreys, despite having had stef evans sent off in the first half. josh macleod scoring with the very last play of the match. much to the delight of the llanelli faithful. 12—9 to the scarlets. a quick reminder that day two of the 4th ashes test starts in the next hour so you can keep up to date with all the news on the bbc sport website. that's all from me, good night. hello. good evening. if you haven't seen much snow yet this festive season that may not be the end of your christmas story because there this is how it looked earlier on and

tonight we will also have some further sleet and snow in places. some wintry showers beading in. some snow fall especially over the higher ground. at low levels more like sleet or rain. and there could be some icy stretches tomorrow morning. across south east areas tomorrow looking like quite a miserable day, this area hanging around most of the day. but further west, some sunshine. a beautiful looking day

but also cold. and there will be some showers over higher ground. some crisp sunshine across the north of england and the bulk of scotland. some wintry showers still feeding down into northern ireland. quite a blustery day as well. and into the evening wintry showers just keep on coming in some northern areas in particular. temperatures are being widely close to freezing or below in some places. thursday shaping up to bea some places. thursday shaping up to be a decent day. a frontal system sta rts be a decent day. a frontal system starts to introduce thicker cloud and rain into the far south—west of england and northern ireland later in the day. but for many it stays

dry and bright but temperatures struggling to recover. further spells of a showery rain at times towards the end of the week but by the weekend it will turn much milder.