this is bbc world news today with me, karin giannone. our top stories. the opposition in bangladesh calls for fresh elections, saying the governing party has manipulated today's poll. "judge me on what trump didn't do" — the outgoing white house chief of staffjohn kelly gives his view on his time in the white house. polling has officially closed in historic elections in the democratic republic of congo but the vote has been marred by delays and technical glitches. the parents of a british man murdered by his chinese wife win custody of their six—year—old granddaughter but are forced to leave their grandson behind. and we meet the thai man who uses his pets to help bereaved people through their grief. hello and welcome to world news today. bangladesh's opposition has

condemned what it has called a farcical election and demanded a new vote. the prime minister, sheikh hasina, is heading for a fourth term with a huge majority that continues to grow as results come in. our correspondent yogita limaye reports from the capital, dhaka. clashes outside a polling centre in dhaka. they spot a reporter and try to stop him from filming. it was just one of the many violent incidents in bangladesh on election day. others were more deadly. but in large parts, polling did go off peacefully. this indoor basketball court was the women's section of a voting booth for the day. after they cast their ballots, people's fingers were marked with ink. bangladesh's prime minister, sheikh hasina, has been in power for ten years but she's confident she will be back. "i firmly believe we will win the election," she says. she's been credited with bringing

development to the country and tackling islamist militancy. but her government has also been accused of cracking down on the opposition. two days before the polls, i asked her to respond. look, all the allegations they are making but they couldn't prove it. on the one hand they are placing allegations and on the other hand they are attacking our party workers and leaders. the opposition is calling the election a farce. we call on the election commission to cancel and declare void this election which is a farcical election, and do so immediately. these are workers from prime minister sheikh hasina's awami league standing outside a polling booth and this is something we have seen across the city of dhaka today.

behind me, all of the political posters you can see are also from the same party. in contrast, the presence of the opposition on the streets is really hard to find. that left people split on whether they wanted to participate. translation: the process was ok. i was a bit worried that my vote might have been stolen but i did get to vote. translation: all the parties did not get equal opportunities to campaign. that is why i did not cast my vote. in one part of bangladesh, the bbc saw ballot boxes which had been filled even before polling began. now those and all the other boxes are being opened and counted. it is widely expected that prime minister hasina will win but it will be a controversial victory. the outgoing white house chief of staff, john kelly, has given a wide—ranging interview to the la times. in it, he defends his sometimes rocky tenure, and says it is best measured by what the president did not do when he was at his side.

mr kelly is leaving the white house on wednesday. the bbc‘s dan johnson in washington told me more. there are some interesting insights here that show where he differed from the president's approach and explain perhaps why he is leaving the white house next week. on the boardwalk on thejohn kelly's assessment was, it is not a wall. very early in trump's administration going back nearly two years, they dropped the idea of a nearly solid concrete wall across the border, and even though the president uses that language, john kelly says the reality is that border security will be improved by increasing technology, by putting more border agents on the border and by improving fencing in some areas. that is what the president started referring to as steel slats, but certainly the idea of one continuous concrete walljohn kelly has com pletely concrete walljohn kelly has completely shut down as he leaves

the white house. some other issues he is confronted, he is defended the tough stance on immigration but says he does have compassion for the migrants coming over. something the president hasn't shown in his tweets over the christmas period. and he said really his time in the white house should bejudged by said really his time in the white house should be judged by the things the president hasn't done, the things that have been threatened and talked about but haven't been carried off. things like around nato, which was talked about but didn't happen. and afghanistan. and he does underline that whatever decision donald trump makes, he is a lwa ys decision donald trump makes, he is always fully briefed on all the fa cts . always fully briefed on all the facts. do we get any sense on where the two began to go their separate ways 7 the two began to go their separate ways? yes, john kelly has been keen to impress that a big part of his role and job over the last 18 months oi’ role and job over the last 18 months orso, he role and job over the last 18 months or so, he says he spent long hours in the white house trying to give the president the fullest briefings he could so the decisions were based

on the best of intelligence, even though the president has repeatedly said he prefers to make decisions based on his gut instinct. john kelly has been keen to defend his role in terms of giving the president as many options as possible before making his decisions and actually holding off from making decisions and getting the president to wait for more information. it might be the presidentjust got impatient with that approach and that he would prefer to have someone as chief of staff who will carry out exactly what he wants and will follow his wishes and urges. john kelly has said he didn't approach thisjob through kelly has said he didn't approach this job through a political lens. that he tried to be impartial in that sense, and on occasions, to stand up to the president. that is why many people respected john kelly and many on the other side feared who may followjohn kelly in that job. whether it will be somebody who can stand up to the president. at the moment we have an interim chief of staff and we are still awaiting a permanent replacement. polls are officially closing in the democratic republic of congo,

where people have been voting for a successor to president joseph kabila, who's been in power 17 years. the election has been hit by a series of delays and marred by violence. the bbc‘s salim kikeke is in the capital with the latest. many of the 39 million voters registered in the democratic republic of congo would have voted by now. for those who haven't, some of the polling stations are still open for those who haven't had a chance to vote. it has been quite a challenge for the electoral commission. it has been quite a challenge for the electoral commission, they're using voting machines for the first time, but for the voters themselves, some have had an easy ride, walking to the polling station, cast their votes and go home. but for some, in a polling station like this one, they have spent hours trying to practise their constitutional right to vote.

but for many, the whole experience has been quite smooth. "i'm happy," she says, "because i was lucky to vote and i was the last person to vote." translation: not too many problems, everything went well. it was all calm. translation: i voted at 2pm and spent about two minutes, that's it. the electoral commission has assured that each and every voter will get a chance to vote tonight. now, once the voting is complete, the process of counting begins, and according to the electoral commission, provisional results of the presidential poll will be announced on the 6th of january. those results will be confirmed on the 15th of january, and on the 18th of january, the electoral commission will swear in the new president of the democratic republic of congo. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. a powerful storm in the philippines has killed at least 22 people. the philippine disaster relief agency said a tropical cyclone

which moved through the eastern philippines had caused widespread landslides and flooding. local media say dozens of other people are missing or trapped by landslides. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, has written a letter to the south korean president, moonjae—in, saying he wants to hold more summits to discuss peace next year. the letter follows three meetings between the two sides in 2018. talks over north korea's weapons programme have stalled since mr kim met the us president donald trump in singapore in june. police in morocco say they've arrested a swiss national — arrested a swiss national in connection with the murder of two scandinavian tourists earlier this month. the two young women — from denmark and norway — were found dead at an isolated hiking spot in the mountains south of marrakesh. the arrested man is also suspected of recruiting moroccans to carry out terrorist attacks. a british couple whose son was murdered by his chinese wife have won custody of one

of their grandchildren after a long legal battle. ian and linda simpson are due to return to the uk later this week after reaching a deal during a court hearing over christmas in china. but they've been forced to leave their other grandchild behind. laura westbrook reports. eight—year—old jack and six—year—old alice have been at the centre of a long international custody battle. their british father, michael, seen here with them, was stabbed to death in his apartment in shanghai by his estranged chinese wife last year. weiwei fu is now serving a life sentence for murder. since their dad's death, jack and alice have been living with their chinese grandparents. they haven't been told what happened to their parents. their english grandparents want to raise them in the uk. in a heartbreaking decision, they agreed to a custody deal to bring just their granddaughter alice back to the uk, leaving jack with his chinese family back in china. they will also have

to pay them £10,000. ian simpson says bringing both of the children to the uk is what his son would have wanted. michael raised them very much in a western style. they spent a lot of time, they spent two visits a year over here. they speak english and... they were already talking about a divorce, weiwei, and she was... weiwei was happy that the children would go with michael. because he was the real carer. so as far as we're concerned, that's where they should be. he's told the bbc that their campaign to have both of their grandchildren back in the uk will continue, but for now, these two siblings will live thousands of miles apart. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: all the day's sport, including manchester city, who have closed the gap at the top of the premier league after a win at southampton.

this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines: bangladesh's opposition has condemned what it has called a farcical election and demanded a new vote. the prime minister, sheikh hasina, is heading for a fourth term with a huge majority. let's stay with that story now. we are nowjoined by dr ali riaz, from illinois state university. thank you for talking to us. what do you make of these claims by the opposition? i think they have the credence. their claims are credible because if you look at the size of the victory, it raises concern because through the whole day, what we have seen in bangladesh is that a p pa re ntly we have seen in bangladesh is that apparently it is a fair election but things started to change way before the date because there was intimidation, some who couldn't show

up, even those who showed up, they we re up, even those who showed up, they were driven out. and that's what we need to look into and focus beyond the election day. and even during the election day. and even during the election, the ballot stuffing that has been recorded shows the claim by the opposition has resonated and it has a credibility that we need to look into. you don't think the success is that this government has had, so i mean the economic growth, the personal popularity of the prime minister — you don't think that's enough to produce this sort of victory? you don't think that's enough to produce this sort of victory7|j don't think the site itself is very much to do with this one. had there been a much to do with this one. had there beenafair much to do with this one. had there been a fair election, we could no how much popularity they are claiming. if that is the case, that the party is so popular, why did they have to resort to this kind of

election? it is not only a victory, it is how the victory has been secured. and that is what we have seen. but it is not inconsistent with what we have been witnessing for the past five years. we have seen how the press was muffled, how the democratic space has shrunk, how the democratic space has shrunk, how the opposition has dealt with it, and it has pointed to this kind of situation, and that's why it is not only the economic growth as you, it is also a governance issue that was on the ballot, so to speak. given the climate of recent years that you have described, how do you rate the performance of the opposition under these conditions? did they stand a chance? it was stacked against them from the get go because the electoral commission wasn't acting asa electoral commission wasn't acting as a neutral arbiter or actor. the administration, to a great extent,

was politicised and influence was theirs. and also, even that the opposition was facing its own problems, because the chief of the bnp has already been incarcerated. all these problems were there. but since october, they came together, so since october, they came together, so they had an opportunity to be a formidable opposition. they didn't know if they would win. if it had been a know if they would win. if it had beenafair know if they would win. if it had been a fair election we would know that. but to this point, what we have seen has not been a fair election. we have to leave it there. thank you very much indeed. the british government has defended its decision to award a contract for nearly $18 million to a shipping company with no trading record, as part of its preparations for a possible no—deal brexit. seaborne freight has been contracted to provide ferry services carrying goods vehicles from ramsgate to ostend. a bbc investigation has established that the company has never run a ferry service and has no significant assets. our business correspondent

joe miller reports. these are the large ferries that will carry thousands of lorries across the channel to relieve congestion at dover in the event of a no—deal brexit as soon as march. but while two large international shipping firms have been awarded contracts to provide extra crossings at locations like portsmouth and plymouth, one british business has been handed millions of pounds by the department for transport on the promise of reviving this terminal, with a regular route to belgium. ramsgate's commercial port has been dormant for the best part of five years. currently, no large ferries depart from here, but the government has given almost £14 million to a firm called seaborne freight, which has never sailed a vessel and has no significant assets to get a regular service up and running injust three months. as of a couple of months ago, the compa ny‘s total share capital was valued at £66. and this is seaborne freight‘s

website, which says it serves the needs of cross—channel freight traffic and claims that freight ferry services operate between ramsgate and ostend, even though there is, as yet, no such service in operation. one local councillor told me he believes seaborne is in no position to provide any service. as a conservative, ifeel that as a shell company which is a company that exists just on paper it is a complete waste of money of £14 million of taxpayers' money to provide what will be an unsustainable service across the channel here at ramsgate. the department for transport acknowledges seaborne freight, which was set up by seasoned shipping industry figures, is just a start—up but insists it was carefully vetted. and the company's chief executive is adamant that it will have ships to provide a service in time for brexit day on 29th march. but when we asked them to name the vessels it would use on the route, the company declined to do so. a campaigner who opposes the use of ramsgate as a commercial port had a simple question in response.

if you have ships, you can name them, but everybody in the industry does not believe seaborne freight has any access to ships at the moment. the government hopes it won't have to resort to contingency plans. it prefers a negotiated exit from the eu. but regardless of whether seaborne freight‘s services are ever needed it could keep some taxpayers' money. another example, critics say, of a failure to plan properly for a no—deal brexit. now all the sport. the premier league champions manchester city put back—to—back league defeats behind them as they beat southampton to move seven points behind rivals liverpool in the race for this season's title. after defeats to crystal palace and leicester, they bounced back to win 3—1 on the south coast. david silva and sergio aguero on the scoresheet, and it sets up

what is to be a fascinating match—up on thursday when the top two, liverpool and city, play each other in the league. it's now three wins from three for ole gunnar solskjaer following jose mouinho's sacking. manchester united's interim manager watched paul pogba score twice as united beat bournemouth 4—1 at old trafford. you have to enjoy sitting down and watching the boys enjoy themselves. and they were great. second to none. it's the biggest compliment you can get when you see the players working like this and the enjoyment we have of working hard and that's the foundation of any team. chelsea moved five points clear of fifth—placed arsenal thanks to a 1—0 win. a vital three points for burnley in the days other game. they beat west ham 2—0 at turf moore. susanna dinnage has pulled out of replacing richard scuadamore

as the chief executive of the premier league. the tv executive, currently with discovery, was announced as his successor in mid—november with the understanding she would take up her new role early next year. she was called by those who led the recruitment process as the outstanding choice from a very strong field of candidates. australia are 2—1 down in their test series with india after slipping to defeat in melbourne, leaving the visitors on the brink of a first series win down under. australia still needed 1111 more runs to win at the start of the final day but only had two wickets remaining, and they lost both of those for just three runs. it's the first time india have won a test match in melbourne since 1981 and with one match of the series remaining, they stand on the brink of an historic series win. we always knew that we can do this. so although we're very happy, we are not shocked. we are not surprised

by what's happening, we always believed that this is very possible because of the talent that we have on the side, and the mind that we've been caring and the mind set that we've been caring for the last 12 months regardless of, you know, what's said, regardless of the the mistakes we've made. our mind set never shifted once. russia could face further sanctions if as expected it misses tomorrow's deadline to hand over data from its anti—doping lab, the bbc has learned. in september the world anti—doping agency?lifted a three—year ban on the country for state—sponsored doping, on the condition that samples from its moscow lab were transferred by the 31st of december. it's believed senior wada officials accept the deadline will pass and the country could face being banned once again from international sporting events. it's the final day of the nfl's regular season with all 32 teams in action. in the early games, tom brady's new england patriots clinched a first round bye with a convincing win over the new yorkjets. the houston texans won the afc south title with a win against jacksonville but will have to wait to see if they get a bye into the second round. it is all to play for

in the later games — reigning champions philadelphia will need a helping hand in order to reach the playoffs. the eagles have to beat the washington redskins and hope minnesota suffer a defeat to the chicago bears. the baltimore ravens need to beat bitter rivals the cleveland browns in order for their season to continue. and the final game is a winner goes through between the the tennessee titans and indianapolis colts. that's all the sport for now. thank you. a thai man has made it his life's mission to help people through their grief of losing a loved one, and he does this with a team of animals. lets take a look. let's take a look. more on all our stories on the bbc website. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @karinbbc. thanks for watching bbc world news today. from me and the rest of the team, goodbye. good evening. as 2018 draws close to

an end, the weather is looking pretty mild and settled with a big area of high pressure in charge. through the weekend, quite a lot of cloud. this was norfolk on sunday afternoon. some clear spells around through this evening and overnight, so through this evening and overnight, so temperatures dipping for a time, but we are also set to see some mist and fog patches developing, particularly in wales and southern england. some clear spells lost in through the night in the east but mostly a frost—free and mild start to monday morning. the new year's eve weather is shaping up to be mostly dry and settled. a lot of cloud at some sunshine breaking through. some rain to the north—west of scotland, which could move further south as we head into the evening. most of us still in double

figures on monday. if you have plans to see in the new year, apart from rain across parts of scotland, it is looking mostly dry with a fair amount of cloud in the sky. some of the most important stories of 2018 have been brought to us by a journalist working in the dangerous parts of the world. you may find some of the scenes in the firing line upsetting. the white race is under a full assault. some of the most powerful images of this year, often filmed in difficult and dangerous places. but who are the people who bring us these pictures? why do they do it? how do they do it? and what impact does it have on one person? each year, we step behind the camera

and speak to the men and women who bring us some of the most important stories of our time, often under extremely difficult circumstances and under great personal strain. these freelance video journalists are honoured by the rory peck awards, named after a british freelancer who was killed in moscow covering the october coup in 1993. his memory lives on through the rory peck trust, which now works to support freelance journalists and their families worldwide. this year, the films chosen by the judges reflect the troubled world we live in — racism, war, and the refugee crisis which made headlines in 2018 all part of the final entries. first up, the rory peck award for news, the films that capture the immediacy of a story.

since last year, hundreds of thousands of rohingya muslims have poured into bangladesh, fleeing persecution and violence in the northern rakhine province of myanmar. this has become one of the world's worst refugee crises. freelancer al—emrun garjon from bangladesh has been covering the plight of the rohingya for many years. as a journalist, it is our duty to keep clear on the emergencies taking place around us, i understood the problem, and emphasise with the suffering. i felt the only way i could help was to capture what i knew and so to broadcast to the world. garjon‘s footage captured the displaced men, women,

and children risking their lives crossing the sea and muddy rivers to safety. exhausted and uncertain of what lay ahead, they carried whatever they could on their backs, but some didn't make it. this woman said the monks killed her husband, and her younger son went missing as they crossed the border. garjon found it difficult not to get emotional while filming these harrowing scenes. i have seen many deaths, blood and fire in the line of duty, but i really have not witnessed anything on this scale before. i was struggling to hold back my tears and hold my camera still. the only thing that kept my focus was that i can only help these people if i can film. the judges said, "you think you know everything about a story,