this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 5pm. japan is to restart commercial whale hunting next summer, in defiance of a global ban. campaigners say they‘ re worried by the decision. cos ifjapan, if you like, gets away with this, other countries may want to try and do the same thing and then more and more populations could be exposed to whaling. queues for the boxing day sales but the number of people on the high street today has fallen, for the third year in a row. several people are injured after a powerful earthquake hits around europe's most active volcano, mount etna on sicily. sister windy beckett, the nun who became famous around sister wendy beckett, the nun who became famous around the world as an art historian and broadcaster has died at the age of 88. and in half an hour, we look at how the social media giants came under fire, the printed press got smaller, and blockbuster tv got even bigger, that's in review 2018: the media year. good afternoon.

there's been international condemnation of japan's decision to withdraw from the international whaling commission and resume commercial hunting. the government of australia described it as "regrettable", new zealand said it was "u nnecessa ry". japanjoins iceland and norway in defying the moratorium on commercial whaling, first introduced in the 1980s. this report, from navteonhal, contains images you may find distressing. it's a bloody business. ships like this are only catching and killing wales for what the japanese authorities claim are research purposes. but japan wants to commercially hunt species, too. officials in the country say eating wales is part of their national culture. translation: at the international whaling commission meeting in september, it became obvious

that it is not possible for states with different views to exist side by side, which led to our decision to leave. the hunting of wales was banned by the international whaling commission in 1986 after they were almost driven to extinction. but countries like iceland and norway still hunt mainly minke wales, which are not endangered. and japan catches between 200 and 1200 wales per year under a programme of scientific research. this move has brought condemnation. conservationists argue it could undo the progress made over the last few decades. well, it is notjust about what japan does, it is now about whether other countries will follow suit, whether other countries will also step outside of the whaling commission. because ifjapan, if you like, gets away with this, other countries may want to try and do the same thing and then more and more populations could be exposed to whaling. we are very concerned about the potential

for an expansion, again, of whaling outside of any international control. japan's withdrawal from the international whaling commission means it will resume commercial whaling byjuly 2019. it claims this will be restricted to japan's territorial waters and economic zones, meaning ships will cease whaling in the act arctic ocean. and japanese boats will only hunt species with healthy population numbers. but this controversial practise is now likely to face renewed scrutiny. bargain hunters have been hitting the high street to take advantage of the annual boxing day sales. some people began queuing at midnight to bag a deal when stores openeed this morning. shoppers are expected to spend around four billion pounds today, despite many shops having slashed their prices before christmas. our business correspondent joe miller has more. it is a site that will bring much needed festive cheer to britain's ailing retailers. bumper discounts...

shoppers in manchester, newcastle and cardiff queued from the early hours of the morning. boxing day is great because you can decide from what you want. you can decide how to match christmas presents. i usually spend christmas in doors so it is nice to get fresh air. millions more are expected to visit shopping centres. the starting gun was fired a few weeks ago. black friday, an american import, is increasingly popular on line and the high street. shops have slashed prices one month before they used to. after a miserable year, to do's sales could be the last chance from many struggling shops. today could be the last chance saloon for many struggling shops. even a busy boxing day may not be enough. there are warehouses piled high with unsold goods and it is making them offer steeper discounts. it is a race to the bottom. in the west end in london, it is looking up. footfall up by 10:30am this morning.

a lot of customers here driven by the low pound. people want to get out of the house and breathe some fresh air. customers can get up to 70% off, good bargains. up to £50 million is expected to be spent in london. household debt is rising. shoppers have less disposable income all together. the struggling high streets will be hoping the christmas splurge stretches well into the new year. several people have been injured after an earthquake measuring four point eight magnitude hit an area surrounding mount etna on the island of sicily. more than 150 tremors have been felt since europe's most active volcano erupted on christmas eve. james reynolds reports from rome. the earthquake hit the slopes of mount etna at around 3:20am. it damaged nearby homes and buildings. in a nearby village, an 80—year—old man had to be rescued from his home.

translation: my father-in-law was under the rubble. it is a miracle, he's born—again. it's a miracle we're still alive. some decided to take shelter in their cars or in local gyms. anywhere just to be safe. people here are used to living with the constant fear of eruptions and earthquakes. mount etna dominates the island of sicily. it is the biggest active volcano in europe. in recent days, scientists recorded more than 100 tremors, causing the authorities to restrict flights to the regional airport in the city of catania. one official concludes, our country is unfortunately very fragile. a man has died after being hit by a police car in liverpool.

the victim, who has yet to be identified, was knocked down on scotland road shortly before 7:00 last night. the merseyside force has reported the incident to the watchdog, the independent office for police conduct. the queen's christmas broadcast was the uk's most watched christmas day programme, 6.4 million viewers tuned in. michael mcintyre's christmas special, on bbc 1, was the day's next most watched with 6.1 million viewers. our entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba, explained why the queen's annual speech has come top again this year. that is not that surprising. it is traditional to sit and watch the queen at three o'clock. and that advantage of being on multiple channels, notjust bbc and itv, but some of the sky channels as well. michael mcintyre with 6.1 million. most people watched the queen on bbc one.

the bbc did dominate the ratings as far as the top ten are concerned. ratings have been going down consistently for ten years. ten years ago, 14.3 million watched wallace and gromit, a matter of loaf and death. that is twice as much as any programme yesterday. we are seeing a downward trend. three more migrants trying to reach britain were intercepted overnight, the home office has confirmed the men, who were on board a small boat, were rescued by the french authorities near dover. authorities on both sides of the channel picked up a0 migrants yesterday, who were also trying to reach britain. our correspondent emily unia is in dover. we know what happened over? we know

a little it was a french authorities who picked up the three men, they we re who picked up the three men, they were iranian, and they have now been passed over to the uk authorities, they were in british waters when they were in british waters when they were in british waters when they were picked up despite being picked up by the french, they're being processed and interviewed by the officials after a medical assessment so that all in train now and now in addition to the a0 people who arrived yesterday. when we spoke yesterday, that significant number trying to get in the previous nightly talk about the impact to grant them visas for a time it had on the numbers, is not thought to be a push factorfor this particular number coming through in the last month or so? yes, that does seem to bea month or so? yes, that does seem to be a reason, so be a bit —— lifted the restrictions last year for them and boost tourism but they ended up at 10,000 iranians overstaying their visas and those people have been making their way across europe into other eu countries including the uk, but bear in mind, the past few days

we had christmas holiday so fewer ships crossing the channel and also good weather conditions of people probably are seizing the opportunity. thanks vary much. sister wendy beckett, the nun who became famous around the world as an art historian, has died at the age of 88. she died this afternoon at a carmelite monastery in norfolk. david sillito has been taking a look back at her life. scripture tells us that the angel gabriel was sent by god to a virgin in the town of nazareth. sister windy beckett, a man talking about paintings. who would have guessed this would have been such a hit? it happened like this. she simply stood and spoke and millions in britain, america and around the world sat and listened. i really cannot afford spend time looking at them.

i went to get onto this... even more remarkable was she had only ever seen most of these paintings in books in her little caravan in the woods. sister wendy beckett was a hermit. it was an old caravan that i got for £60 and it stood on blocks and it was an insulated and it had a skylight that the rain came through. but i loved it. she was 16 when she first joined the nuns. as a child she had been almost too clever. i never expected to be able to talk to anybody. i took that for granted that is how people were. they never found anybody they could talk to. at oxford, her tutor wasj r r tolkien. she received a congratulate first. a round of applause.

coping with work and epilepsy led her to seek almost total solitude. then during a rear excursion to a gallery, she was overheard talking about art. it was that that learnt to her tv career. she found the idea of fame and tv career not enjoyable, she enjoyed solitude. even at maths she sat alone. that's where i will be for eternity, i hope. i have been tucked away in the belfry of the graveyard. thanking god for allowing me a life of such in imaginable happiness. lucky me. sister windy beckett died today at

the age of 88. officials from north and south korea, have carried out a ground breaking ceremony, for a project to modernise north korean railways and roads — and connect them to the south. the ceremony, which also included members of families divided by the separation of the two countries 68 years ago, was held in the border town of kay—song. from seoul, laura bicker reports. a north korean band welcomes the south korean officials as the train from seoul crossed the border dividing the two countries and arrived at panmun station in kae—song. the ceremony included laying some railway sleepers and putting up joint road signs. the south's president moonjae—in and the north korean leader kim jong—un agreed earlier this year to work towards connecting the peninsular's transport systems. south korean engineers have spent the last few weeks inspecting hundreds of miles of the north's railways to check the work needed to modernise the network.

it's thought it will take billions of dollars of investment. translation: we are very much aware that the re—connection of our railways and roads means more than just physical reconnection. people and supplies will come and go through the routes and interchange cooperation in various fields. but this ceremony is as far as the two koreas can go for now without breaching strict economic sanctions designed to target the north's nuclear weapons programme. seoul received an exemption to sanctions from the un security council to carry out today's ceremony. the japanese will begin whale hunting again next summer,

in defiance of a global ban imposed after some species were driven to the brink of extinction. bargain hunters queue before dawn for the boxing day sales — but overall the number of shoppers on the high street has fallen again. scientists create a 3d digital model of cancer — a new way to look at the disease to help in the search for more treatments. and sister wendy beckett — whose passion for art made her a television star — has died at the age of 88. good evening. there's been international criticism ofjapan‘s decision to resume commercial whale hunting. the government of australia

described it as regrettable. new zealand said killing whales was unnecessary. japanjoins iceland and norway in defying the moratorium on commercial whaling, which was introduced in the 1980s. our science correspondent victoria gill's report contains some distressing images. they are the ccean‘s gentle giants, but these majestic mammals are now at the heart of an international dispute. it's all about the bloody business of commercial whaling. business that japan says it will resume in the summer of 2019. translation: at the international whaling commission meeting in september, it became obvious that it is not possible for states with different views to exist side by side, which led to our decision to leave. the international whaling commission is the body that banned the hunting of whales in 1986 after many species were almost wiped out. but countries, including iceland and norway, still hunt primarily minke whales,

which are not endangered. japan already catches between 200 and 1,200 wales every year under a programme of what it calls scientific research. the country's hunted whales for centuries and the meat was a key source of protein during desperately poor years immediately after world war ii. translation: people around my age remember the old times when we would eat whale meat. there are shops that sell it and i sometimes buy some, but it's not like people are queueing up for it. officials though, still say that eating whales is part of japanese culture and it can be done sustainably. but this decision has sparked condemnation. conservationists say it could threaten populations of whales that have recovered since the ban. it's not just about what japan does, it's now about whether other countries will follow suit or whether other countries will also step outside of the whaling commission, because ifjapan, if you like, gets away with this, other countries might want to do

the same thing and then more and more populations could be exposed to whaling. so we are very concerned about the potential for an expansion, again, of whaling outside of any international control. japan says commercial whaling will be restricted to its own territorial waters and economic zones, so its ships will cease whaling in the antarctic ocean. despite the reassurances though, many are calling on the country to reconsider. victoria gill, bbc news. thousands of bargain hunters have been hitting the high street for the annual boxing day sales — with some starting to queue from as early as midnight last night to bag a deal. but the number of in—store shoppers around the uk fell for the third year in a row, according to analysts, though shoppers are still expected to spend around £a billion today. our correspondent, joe miller, has more. prices slashed, bargains galore... it is yuletide ritual that stretches back decades and one that shoppers

in cardiffjude in the early hours to perform. lowered by the promise of bumper discounts, they turned out in their droves, from liverpool to belfast to gateshead. boxing day is great because you can decide what you want, from christmas presents, you want, from christmas presents, you can decide what will match them. boxing day is nice to come out and get some fresh air. millions more are expected to visit shopping centres across the country. but the starting gun for seasonal sales was fired a few weeks ago. black friday, an american import, is increasingly popular both online and in stores. the number of shoppers about this morning was 9% lower than black friday and a% joe woods morning was 9% lower than black friday and a%joe woods and boxing day last year. things were even worse in shopping centres, which saw almost 7% fewer customers. worse in shopping centres, which saw almost 796 fewer customers. retailing isa almost 796 fewer customers. retailing is a really tough environment at the

moment, consumer confidence is really low a nd moment, consumer confidence is really low and it has been over the best pa rt really low and it has been over the best part of two years. what we need is some certainty, economic certainty and political certainty and then shoppers will start to feel more confident about spending more money. in london's west end it is a different story altogether. here, bargain hunters are out in force. 1596 bargain hunters are out in force. 15% more than last year. and among them are many visitors from overseas. he had to take advantage ofa overseas. he had to take advantage of a weaker pound. one keen shopper from pakistan says he spent £2500 on oxford street. i come here, it is a very good price. everything is half price and the shopping is london's very best. getting customers through the door is not the only challenge, with warehouses full of stock retailers are forced to keep slashing prices and they will need the spendthrift christmas spirit to stretch well into the new year. joe miller, bbc news. three more migrants have been rescued from a small boat as they tried to cross

the english channel in the early hours of this morning. it follows the rescue yesterday of a0 migrants, including two children, mainly from iraq, iran and afghanistan. the home office has blamed organised crime. there has been a sharp rise in the number of migrants attempting to cross the channel from france since october. a man has died after being hit by a police car in liverpool last night. the victim was knocked down near the wallasey tunneljust before 7pm yesterday evening. it's being reported that the police car was responding to an emergency call when it collided with the victim as he was crossing the road. the incident is now being investigated by the independent office for police conduct. more than 20 people have been injured in italy after an earthquake hit the area around mount etna in sicily. several buildings were damaged by the a.8 magnitude quake, which struck in the early hours of the morning. it was the most powerful since the volcano erupted on monday. two former presidents of egypt, hosni mubarak and mohamed morsi, came face—to—face in court for the first time today. mr mubarak is testifying in the retrial of mr morsi and other leaders of the muslim brotherhood, who are accused of having

orchestrated a prison break during the arab spring uprising of 2011. scientists in cambridge have created a 3d digital model of a cancer — providing a new way to look at the disease. the tumour sample — taken from a patient — can be studied using virtual reality. researchers hope it will provide new insights into how cancers spread. our medical correspondent, fergus walsh, reports this is 21st—century pathology. on a conveyor belt is a wafer thin slice taken from a human tumour. multiple slices, each just one cell thick, are analysed to reveal all the characteristics of the cancer. then, the sample is reassembled digitally so it can be studied, using virtual reality. we are on the bleeding edge of nearly every technology. greg hannon, director of cancer research uk's cambridge institute, showed me round his virtual lab, where we are

transformed into avatars. this giant multicoloured cloud of bubbles is the virtual tumour. the tissue sample it came from was the size of a pinhead. the purpose of this project is to understand how each of these cell types influences each other. what messages do they send to each other and how does that influence their behaviour? this shows how the incredible diversity of cancer cell types interact in order to evade the body's defences. now that knowledge may ultimately help in the search for new treatments. at this point, we decided to go and explore the tumour in more detail. i think you can really start to appreciate its structure. i'm noticing something interesting here. we willjust move around. it looks to me like there are sets of tumour cells that are floating above the structures, almost as if they are streaming out.

it is when those cells leave the duct to become invasive disease that they become really dangerous. so here, are you capturing potentially the moment when this cancer begins to spread? yes. i think that is what is really remarkable here because i think unless we're looking at the tumour in this detail, this resolution, in this many cells in this dimension, we would never be able to find such an event. researchers at the crick institute in london say that the virtual tumour will help explain how cancers interact with healthy cells and eventually spread. it is a huge step forward. it is so much more dynamic and real than what we've been able to do in the past by looking at very static analyses of what is happening in essentially two dimensions. this virtual pathology lab can be accessed by researchers anywhere in the world, helping scientists share knowledge

in the fight against cancer. fergus walsh, bbc news, cambridge. with all the sport now, here's holly hamilton at the bbc sport centre. hello — it's boxing day, which means a busy day in the premier league — and the halfway point of the season. and for liverpool, a a—0 victory over newcastle united at anfield sees their lead at the top stretch to six points as they chase their first league title since 1990. as for manchester city, they've lost again — going down 2—1 at leicester city. this means it's tottenham who go above them into second. at the other end of the table, a late equaliser saw wolves snatch a draw at craven cottage. it does mean fulham move off the bottom of the table — but that will be little consolation to the home fans. jo currie reports. if anyone could do with the christmas miracle, it is full. bottom of the table and weathered

premier league win since november, their home match against wolves was their home match against wolves was the perfect home opportunity to resurrect their season. and when you are struggling you can always do with luck. that is what fulham got as the referee failed to spot this handball from denis odoi. at the other end things were not going quite airway. alexander mitrovic going close, just not close enough. as half—time approached, festive spirit was in short supply at craven cottage. when this tackle by calum chambers on saiss only received a yellow card, it got tempers flared. after the break fulham refocused theirfighting spirit after the break fulham refocused their fighting spirit and it after the break fulham refocused theirfighting spirit and it paid off. subdued ryan sessegnon finally finishing off the scrappy goal, which replays showed clearly crossed the line. the home fans‘ joy was short—lived as saiss bundled the ball into the net to bring wolves level with five minutes remaining. there was still time for mitrovic to almost win this for fulham, was not for this last—ditch lunge from conor

coady, meaning they had to settle for a point on a day they felt they deserved all three. jo currie, bbc news. in the scottish premiership, leaders celtic stay top of the table after a a—3 win at aberdeen. scott sinclair completed his hat—trick amid a spell of four goals in the final seven minutes as celtic secured a fifth successive win at pittodrie. and clan des obeaux was the surprise winner of the king george vi chase at kempton. the 16—1 shot ridden by harry cobden narrowly beat veteran thistlecrack in a dramatic finish, giving trainer paul nicholls his 10th win at the boxing day showpiece. the gold cup winner, native river, came in third. there's more on the bbc sport website, including live text commentary of brighton against arsenal in the premier league. arsenal are already ahead. but from me, bye for now. sister wendy beckett — the nun whose passion for art made her an unexpected television star — has died at the age of 88. her broadcasting career began in the early 1990s and she went on to appear in several bbc series.

each time filming was over, sister wendy returned to her life as a hermit at the carmelite monastery in norfolk, where she died this afternoon. david sillito looks back at her life. the sculpture tells us that the angel gabriel was sent by god to a virgin in the town of nazareth. sister wendy beckett — a nun talking about paintings. who would have guessed that this would have been such a hit? god became man and it happened like this. there was never a rehearsal or written script. she simply stood and spoke. and millions in britain, america and around the world sat and listened. and here we have the great mythological scene, but i really can't afford to spend time looking at it because i want to get on to this huge... she was 16 when she first joined the nuns. as a child she had been

almost too clever. well, i never expected to be able to talk to anybody. but i took that for granted, that was how people were. they never found anybody they could talk to. at oxford, her tutor was jrr tolkien. she received a congratulatory first. not so much a degree, more a round of applause. she began writing art books, but the pressure of work and coping with epilepsy led her to seek almost total solitude. but then, during a rare excursion to a gallery, she was overheard talking about art. it was that that led to her tv career. but she found the idea of fame and celebrity mortifying. herjoy was silence and solitude. even at mass, she sat alone in the belfry. well, that's where i'm going to be for eternity, i hope.

tucked away in the belfry of the graveyard, thanking god for allowing me a life of such unimaginable happiness. lucky me. sister wendy beckett, who died today at the age of 88. we're back with the late news at 10pm. now on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are.