EDITORIAL:::GREAT BRITAIN FRIEND COUNTRY SOUTH ASIAN RISING SUN BANGLADESH NATIONAL ELECTION HELD

GREAT BRITAIN FRIEND COUNTRY SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRY RISING SUN BANGLADESH NATIONAL ELECTION HELD TODAY.
A FREEDOM FIGHTER LED PARTY BANGLADESH AWAMI LEGUE MOHAJOOT LEAD PARTY AS WELL ARE ESPECTED TO WIN WHICH PRIME MINISTER SEIKH HASINA.THEY ARE IN POWER FOR LAST 10 YEARS.THEY WORK LOTS FOR BANGLADESH.FREEDOM FIGHTER MINDED PEOPLE ARE SUPPORT THEM LOTS.MOST OF ARE SUCH THIS KIND OF VOTER ACROSS BANGLADESH.THIS PARTIES CHIEF WAS BANGLADESH FOUNDER FATHER OF NATION BANGABANDHU SEIKH MAJIBUR RAHMAN.NOW LEAD HIS DAUGHTER SEIKH HASINA

OTHERSIDE OIKKOFRONT LEAD BNP AND ITS ALLIENCE PERTICIFIATE BY LEAD DR.KAMAL HOSSAIN A OXFORD GRADUATE BANGLADESHI INTERNATIONALLY FAMOUS LAWYEAR .

THERE ARE VERY IMPORTANT MATTER IS THAT BANGLADESHI PEOPLE STRUGLED FOR THEIR COUNTRY FROM 1952 TO 1971.ITS NEED TO MENTION THAT 21ST FEBRUARY BANGLA LANGAUGE MOVEMENT ARE INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY RECOGNISED BY UN..AND 16 TH DECEMBER 1971 IS NATIONAL INDEPENDENT DAY OF BANGLADESH.

HEART TOUCING VERY IMPORTANT ELECTION 11TH BANGLADESH NATIONAL ELECTION WHERE MOST OF BANGLADESHI PEOPLE GIVEN VOTE FARELY&PROUDLY.

WE HOPE BANGLADESH WILL GO HIGH WORLD STAGE IN EVERY ESPECT INCLUDING-ECONOMICAL,EDUCATIONAL,GENDER EQUALITY,FOOD,HEALTH,HOUSING,BUSINESS,SC&TECH,IT ETC.
BANGLADESHI PEOPLE MAKE SMILE FOR DEDICATION FOR SUPER HERO FREEDOM FIGHTERS WHOME ARE GIVEN THEIR LIFEAND BLOOD FOR COUNTRY.

BANGLADESH GO AHED AND BE SUPER POWER IN WORLD STAGE................ 

New Year Honours 2019: 'Super model' Daphne Selfe receives British Empire Medal

Entertainment reporter(wp/bbc):

A 90-year-old fashion model who helped boost opportunities for older women in the industry has received the British Empire Medal.

Daphne Selfe, of Baldock, Hertfordshire, began modelling in 1949.

Her long career has helped to challenge negative views of ageing which has helped put older people in front of the camera as models, she said.

Official recognition in the New Year Honours now stands beside her industry-accepted status as a "super model".

After she was photographed for the leading fashion and style magazine Vogue at the age of 70 - the first time it had featured an older model - she was approached by leading organisations to do more work.

This has helped inspire agents, photographers and clothing designers to consider older people as models.

'Building confidence'

"Older people have money to buy nice clothes and want to see people of their age wearing them in the magazines," she said.

She has no plans to retire because she enjoys what she does so much and can look back on career highlights such as being photographed by David Bailey and modelling for Dolce and Gabbana.

The Daphne Selfe Academy was founded in 2015 so women of all ages could benefit from her industry experience and what she called her personal values of professionalism, etiquette, positive thinking and healthy living.

"The academy helps them to build confidence to do what they want to do," she said.

The academy also aims to develop young models and encourage women from all walks of life to improve themselves.

Mrs Selfe, whose husband Jim died in 1997 after 43 years of marriage, has three children and four grandchildren.

The British Empire Medal was founded as a military honour in 1917 and was revived for civilians in 2012 to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

Gatwick drones: Sussex Police 'sorry' for arrested couple

staff reporter(wp/bbc):
Sussex Police's chief constable has said he feels "really sorry" for the couple who were held for 36 hours over the Gatwick Airport drones chaos.

Paul Gait and Elaine Kirk, who were released without charge, said they felt "violated" after their home was searched and their identities exposed.

Giles York told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme he was "convinced the grounds for arrest were well-founded".

Two drones found near the airport have been ruled out of being involved.

Mr York defended the decision to hold Mr Gait for an extended period, despite his employer saying he was at work during the drone flights.

He added: "I'm really sorry for what [Mr Gait] has experienced and the feeling of violation around it.

"[But] what might have been worse as an experience for him would have been to be released under investigation still.

"We were able to exhaust all our lines of inquiry on that first instance and were able to release him from police custody saying he was no longer a suspect."

About 1,000 flights were affected during the chaos between 19 and 21 December when drones were seen near the runway.

A suggestion by a senior Sussex police officer that there may have been no drones was later dismissed as a "miscommunication".

Mr York said police received 115 reports of sightings, including 93 confirmed as coming from "credible people", which he later said included a pilot, airport staff and police officers.

He admitted police drones launched to investigate could have caused "some level of confusion".

However, the Sussex force later denied the use of police drones had caused any disruption.

Mr York revealed two drones found by police near the airport had now been ruled out of causing the chaos, which saw flights cancelled or diverted.

Despite searches of 26 potential sites, he said: "I don't think we have found the drone responsible."

However, he said he was "absolutely certain that there was a drone flying throughout the period that the airport was closed".

• Miscommunication blamed for drone confusion
• Gatwick drones pair 'no longer suspects'
• Labour calls for inquiry into Gatwick drones

He confirmed military technology had been installed following the incidents, "dramatically" improving security at the airport, but said he could not rule out future disruption of the same kind.

Sussex Police has renewed its appeal for help to find "the criminal whose activities led to widespread disruption".

Mr York said: "Public safety remains a priority and what we are dealing with is both unprecedented and challenging.

"There will be information relevant to this inquiry within the community and, with a £50,000 reward on offer for information from Gatwick Airport Limited, it is vital that people come forward so we can bring to justice the person responsible for this criminal act."

One dead and 23 hurt in minibus crash in Scottish Borders

Pic:Bus accident(wp)
Staff reporter(wp/bbc):

One man died and 23 people were injured when a minibus overturned in the Scottish Borders.

They were travelling in the private bus from Newtongrange to Kelso when the accident happened at about 10:50.

A major incident was declared after emergency services were called to the crash on the A6089 between Carfraemill and Gordon, near Lauder.

One man was pronounced dead at the scene, while 22 passengers and the driver were taken to hospital.

They were treated at Borders General Hospital in Melrose, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

The bus was carrying a group of people from Newtongrange on an outing to Kelso Races.

Ch Insp Steven Duncan said: "We're providing ongoing support to the family of the man who tragically lost his life, along with those who have been injured and their families.

"Our road policing unit, together with partners, are currently working to establish the full circumstances surrounding this.

"We'd ask anyone who may be concerned that a loved one has been affected, or anyone who could help with our investigation, to get in touch immediately via 101 and quote incident number 1369 of 29th December."

Photographs from the scene show the upturned bus in a field next to the road.

An air ambulance and four fire engines were among emergency service vehicles sent to the scene of the accident.

A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: "Due to the number of passengers requiring assistance, we dispatched a large number of resources to the scene including our air ambulance, trauma and Special Operations Response Teams (SORT).

"Sadly, there was one male fatality and our thoughts go out to his family for their tragic loss. Twenty three other patients were treated by our crews and transported to Borders General Hospital, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow for further treatment and care."

Police said the NHS and Scottish Borders were also providing assistance to the force and those affected by the accident.

UK mortgage approvals show first annual rise in 14 months - UK Finance

Business correspondent(wp/reuters):
A decline in the number of mortgages approved by British high-street banks flattened out last month, with the first year-on-year rise since September 2017, figures from industry group UK Finance showed on Friday.

Britain’s housing market has slowed since the country voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, and other surveys this month have shown anxiety among consumers and businesses ahead of the planned departure on March 29.

Friday’s data showed British banks approved 39,403 mortgages for house purchase in November on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from 39,640 in October but up by 0.2 percent from November 2017 — the first annual rise in 14 months.

“The housing market is struggling for momentum in the face of still relatively limited consumer purchasing power, fragile consumer confidence and, possibly, wariness over higher interest rates,” Howard Archer, chief economist at consultants EY ITEM Club, said.

Many economists expect house prices to be flat or marginally higher next year, as weakness in London and surrounding areas weighs on faster price growth in other parts of Britain, though the Bank of England has said falls of as much as a third are possible if Brexit descends into chaos.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s minority government plans to seek parliamentary approval for her Brexit deal in the week starting Jan. 14, after scrapping a vote before Christmas due to opposition from lawmakers of all parties.

Without a deal, Britain faces major economic disruption from the reintroduction of tariffs and customs checks at its borders.

UK Finance said credit card lending picked up slightly last month, though this mostly reflected a shift in preferred payment means rather than higher borrowing, with credit cards offering better consumer protection for purchases such as holiday travel.

Net lending to non-financial businesses fell by the most since May, dropping by 656 million pounds ($829 million).

“Overall lending to businesses has remained subdued in this period of economic uncertainty,” UK Finance’s managing director for commercial finance, Stephen Pegge, said.

The Bank of England will publish November mortgage and consumer credit data from a wider range of lenders on Jan. 4.

($1 = 0.7910 pounds)

Liam Fox says '50-50' chance Brexit may be stopped - paper

Political reporter(wp/reuters):

Trade minister Liam Fox said there is a “50-50” chance that Brexit may be stopped if parliament rejects the government’s divorce deal with the European Union next month.

“If we were not to vote for that, I’m not sure I would give it (Brexit) much more than 50-50,” Fox, a leading supporter of leaving the EU, told the Sunday Times newspaper.

With three months left until the United Kingdom is due to leave the EU on March 29, May’s Brexit deal is floundering, opening up a range of possibilities from a Brexit without a trade deal to calling Brexit off.

Earlier this month, May pulled a planned vote on her deal after admitting parliament would reject it. Lawmakers are set to vote on the deal in the week starting Jan. 14.

UK to spend over £100 million on ferries to cope with no-deal Brexit

Staff reporter(wp/reuters):
The British government will spend more than 100 million pounds chartering extra sea ferries to ease cross-Channel congestion if the United Kingdom fails to secure a trade deal before leaving the European Union next year.
Just three months before the United Kingdom is due to leave the world’s largest bloc, the risk of a no-deal Brexit is rising — the nightmare scenario for many businesses, which are now planning for an economic shock.

Extra ships will be needed to work new routes across the Channel in the event that the main French terminal of Calais and Britain’s Dover and Folkestone are clogged up by customs checks.

Currently, Britain’s membership of the EU means that trucks drive smoothly through border checks within the bloc. But in a no-deal Brexit, even a few minutes’ delay at customs for each truck would be likely to mean vehicles backing up at ports and queuing on feeder roads on both sides of the Channel.

To ease a potential backlog, the government has awarded three contracts to provide additional freight capacity on routes from English south-coast ports including Poole, Portsmouth and Plymouth.

They comprise one worth 47 million pounds with the French firm Brittany Ferries, a 47 million pound deal with the Danish shipping company DFDS and a 14 million pound contract with Seaborne Freight.

The leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat party, Vince Cable, called the move “complete madness” and said public money was being spent recklessly in a last-minute bid to prepare for a no-deal outcome.

The contracts were not put out to tender. The Department for Transport said it was responding to a “situation of extreme urgency” brought about by “unforeseeable events”.

About 16,000 trucks pass between Dover and Calais every day, transporting everything from perishable food to medicines and the industrial goods needed to keep factories running.

“This extra capacity is a small but important element of the DfT’s no-deal planning,” the Department for Transport said in a statement. “While remaining committed to working to ensure a deal is reached, the department is helping ensure the rest of government are fully prepared for a range of scenarios.”

Earlier this month, the government announced that all government departments must step up planning for a no-deal Brexit, including putting 3,500 armed forces personnel on standby to deal with any disruption.