his first trip to see soldiers under his command in a combat zone. it comes days after his defence secretary, jim mattis, resigned in a dispute over the president's decision to pull us forces out of syria. stock markets in the us have made a remarkable rebound after days of losses, including their worst ever christmas eve. the dow index posted its biggest ever daily point gain, surging by more than 1,000 points in a single trading session. president putin says russia has acquired a new type of strategic weapon, after observing the final tests of a nuclear—capable hypersonic missile. he said it was a new year's gift to the nation. mr putin said the weapon could penetrate any existing or next—generation missile defence system. 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 to bag a deal.

but the number of in—store shoppers around the uk fell for the third year in a row, as joe miller reports. archive: prices slashed, goods aplenty, bargains galore... it is a yuletide ritual that stretches back decades, and one that shoppers in cardiff queued in the early hours to perform. lured by the promise of bumper discounts, they turned out in their droves, from liverpool to belfast to gateshead. boxing day's great, because you can decide what you want. from, like, christmas presents, you can see what you want to, like, match them. i mostly spend christmas indoors watching movies with my family, so boxing day is nice to come out and get some fresh air. millions more are estimated to have hit the high streets 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, and it has taken the wind out of boxing day sales. the number of shoppers out

and about this morning was more than 9% lower than on black friday, and 4% lower than on boxing day last year. things were even worse in shopping centres, which saw almost 7% fewer customers. retailing is a really tough environment at the moment. consumer confidence is really low, and it's been low for the best part of two years. what we need is some certainty, some economic certainty and some political certainty, and then shoppers will start to feel more confident about spending money. in london's west end, it is a different story altogether. here, bargain hunters are out in force — 15% more of them than last year. and among them are many visitors from overseas, here to take advantage of a weaker pound. getting customers through the door is not the only challenge. with warehouses full of stock, retailers have been forced to keep slashing prices, and they'll need the spendthrift christmas spirit to stretch well into the new year. joe miller, bbc news. now on bbc news: 0ne

of the highlights of 2018 from our documentary series our world. more than two years ago, social media star qandeel baloch was murdered in her bed, the victim of a so—called honour killing in pakistan. in this programme, our world returned to ask whether there has been justice for kandeel. a warning — there are adult themes and descriptions of violence in this film which some viewers may find upsetting. this is a story about justice and honour. qandeel baloch was a girl who rose from nowhere and became pakistan's social media superstar. her highly provocative videos shocked many in pakistan, but brought her fame. two years ago, qandeel was murdered. her own brother said he had done it because she brought shame on the family. at the time of the murder,

qandeel‘s parents wanted justice for their daughter. amid an international outcry, the pakistani government quickly passed a law against honour killings. my name is hani taha, i have reported on this story from its very beginning. two years on from her murder, are we any closer to justice for qandeel? in the city of multan, in the punjab region of pakistan, the trial of qandeel baloch‘s murder is entering its third year. qandeel‘s elderly father and his lawyer have been coming to the court since the trial began in 2016. it is a complicated case,

with seven people charged with taking part in her murder. today there is a bail hearing for one of the defendants. qandeel‘s cousin is accused of strangling her, along with her brother waseem. qandeel‘s father and his lawyer are bitterly opposed to the bail. you can clearly see two years he has aged so much and he has practically lost his eyesight, he is pretty much blind now and i really wonder if he has gone blind with grief.

he still cries the same way that he did when i first met him two years ago. they have travelled several hours to come here, which is very difficult, they don't have that kind of money or resources to do this. he has been doing it for two yea rs consistently. to understand why this case is so important, you need to see where it all began. in 2016, just after her murder, i travelled to the village in rural punjab where qandeel was born. in this part of the world, women stay at home and are rarely seen. this is the house where she grew up. mohammed azeem, her father was a farmer and her

mother, a housewife. qandeel had six brothers and two sisters. qandeel spent her childhood in his room. it wasn't long after this photo was taken that in keeping with local tradition, qandeel was married. but her marriage only lasted a year. after her divorce in 2007, qandeel settled in multan, a city a couple of hours drive from her village. it was also around this time that qandeel started making videos for social media. for pakistan, her videos

were provocative and daring. but her dream was to make it into the mainstream. like so many other girls trying to break into the scene, the reality was anything but glamorous. to earn money, qandeel was probably working as an escort. as qandeel‘s ambition grew, she left multan for karachi, entering the heart of pakistan's entertainment industry. qandeel‘s appearance on pakistan's idol thrust her into the limelight. even though she didn't win, she was an instant hit. she became a regular on national tv, promoting her brand. it was on one chat show

that she met mufti qawi, a well—known celebrity cleric, who was also from multan. the two flirted on camera. mufti qawi suggested they meet she was in karachi. a few weeks later, during the holy month of ramadan, qandeel met mufti qawi in a hotel in karachi. it was during this meeting that she took a number of selfies. in one, she was wearing the mufti's hat. this picture in particular caused a media storm. the selfies spread like wildfire.

soon she and the mufti were everywhere. the day after the selfies with the mufti qawi were released, qabdeel appeared on one of the most popular talk—shows. qandeel and mufti qawi continued to argue and for the presenter, it was tv gold. he extended the show to 90 minutes. this broadcast further inflamed the situation. in the fallout, mufti qawi was suspended from his job with pakistan's religious council. during the selfie video with mufti qawi, qandeel mentioned for the first time that she was from multan. armed with this information, the local multani press

swung into action. a few days later, details of qandeel‘s personal life started appearing everywhere. her real name was fouzia azeem, her passport, her families details the fact that she had a child from a previous marriage, was made public. as these details surfaced, she became increasingly worried about her safety. two weeks before she died, she asked the authorities for protection, but her request was ignored. the allegation is that,

two weeks later, qandeel‘s brother wasseem drove with two accomplices to the house qandeel was renting from her parents. after the meal, he mixed sleeping pills in with milk, which the whole family drank. he waited for the pills to kick in and when his parents went off to bed, was seen fetching his accoomplices and together they entered qandeel‘s room and killed her. waseem was arrested later that night and immediately confessed to killing his sister. he said that qandeel‘s involvement with the mufti was the final straw. at the time of the murder, multan police's investigating

officer was a woman, attiya jafri. although no longer in charge of the case, she maintains a keen interest in it. gradually, a fuller picture began to emerge. her brother claimed he had been told to murder qandeel by his oldest brother, who lived in saudi arabia. but it was the role played by the mufti which most concerned the police when they questioned him. two years ago, i had gone to talk

to the mufti myself. he had been keen to declare his innocence, but made a chilling threat. but justice caught up with the mufti. because he had been

uncooperative with the police investigations, he was denied a bail extension and fled, but was quickly rearrested. we tried to speak to him for this programme, but his associates demanded $10,000 for an interview with him. today, he remains on trial, accused of involvement in qandeel‘s murder. since we interviewed the mufti in 2016, he has conceded that he knew the man said to have driven qandeel‘s relatives to and from the scene.

it's his cousin, abdul basit. qandeel‘s story has been brought into almost every home in pakistan. there is a 28—part tv series based on her life. but her legacy may be greater than this. in response to her murder, the government passed new law against honour killings — even if family forgives the killers, the state will still try them for murder. but the slow pace of the trial is worrying for those who want qandeel‘s law, as it's known, to be applied and to set a legal precedent. this woman works for a human rights organisation based in lahore. they've been supporting qandeel‘s parents, and are keen ensure that this landmark case is quickly concluded. today, they will push for a higher

court to speed things up. we want to basically set a precedent. if a father wanted to get his son punished, because what he did, so why not to support him? in the beginning they were very passionate and energetic, and then they knew that the justice will get done very quickly. but nothing like that and slowly and gradually, and urges and their passion gradually turned into frustration. and same is case with us. we are very frustrated with why the case is delayed so much. like why two years? this is notjust one story. just imagine what happens with the ordinary cases every day. you know? like, thousands and thousands of cases are pending, people take adjournments, and, you know, like, there is nojustice, you know? for years and years people are just, like, they arejust like, go to the courts, and nothing happens. they are considered by the reports that qandeel‘s parents

are changing their mind about the case. they're worried that if the parents withdraw their testimony, the case could be dismissed entirely. two years ago, the parents wanted their son to be executed. but now, once the team have left, they make a rather shocking statement to me. as well as saying that waseem is innocent, they now no longer agree with the new federal law against honour crimes. it seems that in rural pakistan, despite the new law, the centuries—old tradition

of honour killing is still seen as legitimate. this lawyer is representing the family. he comes from the same area as qandeel‘s parents, and is representing them, not for money, but out of local loyalty. he is making the case that waseem, a jobless 23—year—old drug addict, was coerced into carrying out the murder by his cousin, haq nawaz. so despite what was said two years ago, the family now say that waseem was an innocent party in the murder of his sister. i wanted to ask this police woman whether it was possible that waseem was innocent, and whether this crime really was an honour killing. the trial of qandeel‘s alleged murderers drags on. waseem is injail

planning his innocence. haq nawaz is applying to the high court from jail. but the mufti, his cousin, and three other member of the family accused aiding and abetting remain free for now. it seems that qandeel is as controversial in death she was in life. it is easy to understand a mother's love and the pull of local custom,

but for many in pakistan, it is more important that qandeel‘s law is applied and there is finally justice for qandeel. hello there. it may not have been a white christmas but it wasn't a particularly bright christmas either for many of us. this was how it looked on boxing day in tenby in the south—west of wales. through in tenby in the south—west of wales. the david wil of through the david wilkie large areas of cloud. it will be predominately dry. —— through the day ahead. 0ne wea k dry. —— through the day ahead. 0ne weak frontal system moving across scotland. rain clearing away to the east and clearer skies across the north—east of scotland. it may be chilly to start the day. certainly something chillier across southern england south wales. here the skies

have been clearing. a few fog patches and a touch of frost in purple —— places. for many more the day starts off cloudy, mild, spots of drizzle around. for north—east england, for eastern and northern scotland, maybe north east wales and merseyside, and certainly southern england and south wales, there is at least a fighting chance of seeing some spells of sunshine. predominately cloudy elsewhere, highs of 8— 12 degrees. during thursday night we continue to see this large areas of cloud drifting across the map. it will turn quite misty with fog patches in places. then a frontal system approaches the north—west. patchy rain by the end of 19 to northern ireland and western scotland. as we go through the first part of friday, the wet weather will ease eastwards. behind it, watch what happens to the cloud, it, watch what happens to the cloud, it starts to break up. for scotland, northern ireland, then northern england and maybe the midlands and east anglia, we could see something brighter developing, more widely sunny conditions by friday afternoon. a bit more cloud further

south. again, it is mild. high pressure, are familiar friend, south. again, it is mild. high pressure, are familiarfriend, still with us as we head towards saturday. however, this frontal system are pressing the north—west likely to spin up into an area of low pressure. some rain, heavy rain at that, likely to drift across a good pa rt that, likely to drift across a good part of scotland during saturday. patchy rain feeding in to northern ireland and northern england. to the south of that, predominately dry. again, predominately cloudy. temperatures, 11— 12 degrees. not bad for this time of year. for the last two days of 2018 it does look largely dry, but cloudy. for most of us largely dry, but cloudy. for most of us it will be mild. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: president trump and the first lady pay a surprise christmas visit to american troops in iraq — his first presidential trip to a combat zone. a strong rebound on wall street — the dow index has broken a record and, for the first time, gained more than a 1,000 points in a single trading session.

russia's president witnesses the final test of a hyper—sonic missile he claims can penetrate any missile defence system. sister wendy beckett, the nun whose passion for art made her a tv star, has died at the age of 88.