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, whos 33 and from hull, was arrested in october when 300 tablets of the painkiller tramadol were found in her suitcase. Daniela relph reports. Laura plummers 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
Yearin companies. Thats review 2017 a year in business. Good morning, welcome to bbc news. High winds and snow have caused disruption for much of england and wales. 111,000 properties are without power in the midlands, the south west and parts of wales , after power lines were brought down overnight. Birmingham airport closed for a time to allow for slush and snow to be cleared from the runway. And collisions on the m1 and m25 caused by treacherous driving conditions left parts of both motorways closed. 0ur news correspondent joe inwood is here. Pretty chaotic overnight in parts of the country. Those hoping to travel and many people are today what do they face . Fairly widespread disruption, treacherous conditions. The most severe incident was the one on the m1, a jackknifed lorry by junction 19, which closed large sections of the motorway. We understand the lorry has been cleared. But delays will go on for a long time because of diesel on the road. Nearby, the a14, reports of multiple
Phil has the rest of the weather for the uk. A very good morning. A cold, bright day to many cup parts of the British Isles but in the nicks, snow has been falling and continues to fall in some areas. In the mix. Good morning. First, our main story. Thousands of homes are without power in england and wales, as overnight snowfall has brought down power lines. Western power says 14,000 properties are affected, from cornwall to sheffield. Meanwhile, parts of the mi, m5 and m42 motorways are also affected by snow. And some flights were diverted from Birmingham Airport after the runway was shut for a short time. Lets get more from our news correspondent andy moore. This really has happened in the last few hours but its causing a lot of chaos in certain areas. Overnight, an unusual combination of heavy rain turning to snow and that has caused quite a few problems. First of all, with the western Power Distribution company dealing with lots of different problems across the south west and midla
Stop drinking before it becomes a problem. Nhs england will make a decision early next year, which could ease the pressure on police, ambulances and hospital services. Adina campbell, bbc news. Cricket, and englands attempt to win the fourth ashes test in melbourne have been frustrated by the rain. At stumps on day four, australia were 103 2 in their second innings, trailing englands first innings total by 61 runs. With more from melbourne, heres patrick gearey. At last for england, some hope, a chance to cheer without lurking fear, to read and not weep. Why isnt Alastair Cook on the front cover . That score remained correct. Cooks third day of batting lasted one ball. He watched it, Jimmy Anderson hit it, Cameron Bancroft caught it. Cook carried his bat unbeaten a lesson in focus and patience. England needed to bowl in a similarfashion. Waiting worked initially. They removed Cameron Bancroft, then produced enough movement to tempt usman khawaja. England were still nearly 100 ahead and
Time for sportsday. Hello and welcome to sportsday. Im hugh woozencroft. Our main headlines this evening. Aksel lund svindal soars to success in south korea to become the oldest olympic Alpine Skiing champion. The Europa League is back with arsenal making a good start in their last 32 tie in sweden. And billy monger shows his bravery as a modified car increases his chances of a motor racing return, less than a year after after losing both his legs. Good evening. Lots in store but we start of course at the winter olympics, where there were nine medals upforgrabs. Both of britains mens and womens curling teams are in a good position to qualify from their round robin groups after wins on day six of the winter olympics. The men beatjapan, while the women snatched a sudden death victory against china. Holly hamilton has more. Downhill skiing is seen as the games marquee event, the showcase on the slopes. It is only fitting that this norwegian marked an iconic moment at the age of 35. He got