this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:00pm: the government defends its decision to award a contract for nearly £14 million to a shipping company with no trading record, as part of its preparations for a possible no—deal brexit. the uk and france step upjoint patrols and increase surveillance to tackle a rise in the number of migrants trying to reach britain in small boats. bangladesh's governing party wins a landslide election victory, but the opposition says the vote was rigged. the parents of a british man murdered by his chinese wife win custody of their six—year—old granddaughter, but have been forced to leave their grandson behind. and at 11:30pm we will be taking another look at the papers with parliamentaryjournalist tony grew and entertainment journalist and broadcaster caroline frost. stay with us for that. good evening and

welcome to bbc news. the department for transport has defended its decision to award a contract worth nearly £14 million to a shipping company that has never done any business. as part of the government's preparation for a no—deal brexit, seaborne freight has been contracted to transport goods vehicles between ramsgate and ostend in belgium. a bbc investigation has found that the company, which was formed less than two years old, has no trading record and no significant assets. this report by our business correspondentjoe miller does contain some flashing images. 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 from locations like portsmouth and plymouth, one british business has been handed millions of pounds by the department for transport on the promise of providing 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 company'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 that 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 29 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 that 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‘s services are ever needed, it could keep some taxpayers' money. another example, say critics, of a failure to plan properly for a no—deal brexit. the home secretary has said britain and france will step up action to deal with the growing number of migrants crossing the channel in small boats. sajid javid, who has returned early from his christmas break, said he had discussed the situation with his french counterpart. more than 200 migrants have made the journey in the past two months. today, six iranian men were found at kingsdown in kent. from there, alexandra mackenzie reports. cold, wet and exhausted — iranian nationals on a beach in kent. they arrived on an inflatable boat this morning. they received medical assessments and were questioned

by immigration officials. this afternoon, the beach was busy with locals. it's fairly calm today. it is quite mild, but that's just not a crossing that people should be making. the home secretary has spoken to france's interior minister. in a statement, he said... these are the shores that migrants are desperate to reach. but what happens next depends partly on how the problem is tackled across the water in france. here in dunkirk, volunteers help the migrants. it is thought government attempts to clear camps has led to organised crime gangs encouraging many to leave france. in boulogne, locals say boats have

been stolen to aid these journeys. translation: here, it's very easy to get a boat to go to england. to steal a boat is easier than stealing a car. if you use a professional fishing boat, the maritime authorities think it's a fisherman who's going fishing. back in kent, the coastguard helicopter surveys the shoreline, as many other migrants are expected to risk their lives on this perilous journey. alexandra mackenzie, bbc news, kingsdown. a 21—year—old man has died following an incident outside a house in wigan. officers were called by the ambulance service shortly after 9:30pm on friday evening following reports a man had been assaulted on bickershaw lane in abram. william livesley was taken to hospital but died from his injuries yesterday. police are questioning a 57—year—old man. a man who died after a minibus overturned in the scottish borders

yesterday has been named by police. rossjones barker was 59 and came from east lothian. the group had been on their way to kelso races. our correspondent david cowan sent this report. some of the men who survived this said today they felt lucky to be alive. 23 of them were on board a private minibus heading from midlothian to the kelso races. tarmac showed where it swerved off the road. a group of men who had been on the minibus gathered today at a bowling club back in newtongrange. some of them clearly still in a state of shock. none of them would be interviewed, but they wanted to thank two groups of people — members of the public who stopped here and offered first aid, blankets and cups of tea,

and the emergency services who dealt with the aftermath and ferried them to hospital. aged between 24 and 75, many of the group were regulars at this community—run pub in the close—knit former mining village of newtongrange. i know my neighbour across the road. he got out hospital last night, he was concussed. his father—in—law was under the bus, very serious. these are all people i know. 59—year—old rossjones barker was pronounced dead at the scene. six other men remain in hospital with serious injuries. all are said to be in a stable condition. david cowan reporting there. the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, has urged britain to get its act together and stop expecting the eu to solve its problems over brexit. the comments come as the senior brexiteer minister, liam fox, said the chances of britain leaving the eu will only be 50—50 if mps reject the prime minister's brexit deal. he said, if the deal is rejected, that would shatter the bond of trust between the electorate and parliament. in bangladesh, the party of prime minister sheikh hasina has

been declared the winner of the general election. but the main opposition parties have demanded a new vote, amid accusations of vote—rigging. at least 18 people have been killed in clashes. our correspondent yogita laymaye is in the capital, dhaka. her report does contain some flashing images. 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. bangladesh's prime minister, sheikh hasina, has been in power for ten years. tonight, the election commission declared yet another

victory for her. she has 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. on the other hand, they are attacking our party workers, leaders. the opposition has now called for a fresh election. people are being killed, people are being arrested. candidates have been arrested. it's unprecedented. unprecedented. 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 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. translation: 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. those and all the other boxes were opened and counted, taking ms hasina towards a historic victory. but it is also a controversial one. yogita limaye, bbc news, dhaka. the presidential election in the democratic republic of congo has been marred by administrative delays and technical glitches with new voting machines. voters have been choosing a successor to presidentjoseph kabila, who has been in office for 17 years. there have been reports of clashes at a polling station in south kivu province that claimed the lives of a police officer, an electoral official, and two civilians. from kinshasa, louise dewast sent this report. it contains some flashing images. elections are underway,

and they are chaotic. these people came to vote, but were turned away. this polling station wasn't ready, yet the country's electoral commission has had two years to prepare. presidentjoseph kabila himself was able to vote. people desperately want change. in kinshasa, a sprawling city of 12 million people, most live with no electricity or water, despite the country's immense mineral wealth. the election means the future to me, so i have voted for the candidate who will bring for us a bright future. as he promised us to fight the poverty and to bring back the justice in the country. people here are very aware that this election could be flawed, that the vote could be rigged

in favour of the ruling party's candidate. presidentjoseph kabila has repeatedly said that these elections will be free and fair, but not many here believe him. the fear is that president kabila wants his chosen successor to be in power so he can keep pulling the strings behind the scenes, and then run again in the next elections. translation: we have always been afraid of vote—rigging, but we don't have a choice. we come to vote, but i really don't know if my voice will count or not. if these long—awaited elections are not seen as credible, this could trigger violence, and ultimately worsen the humanitarian situation in this conflict—ridden country. a lack of stability here could destabilise the entire region. louise dewast, bbc news, kinshasa. 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 rural china, but they have 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 has happened to their parents. their english grandparents want to raise them in the uk. but, in a heartbreaking decision, they had to agree to a custody deal

to bring just their granddaughter alice back, 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, when 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 has 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. laura westbrook, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: the government has defended its decision to award a 14 million pound contract to a shipping company, with no trading record, as part of its preparations

for a possible no—deal brexit. britain and france have agreed to implement what they're calling an "enhanced action plan" to prevent migrants crossing the english channel on small boats. bangladesh's governing party has won a landslide election victory, but the opposition says the vote was rigged. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here'sjohn watson. good evening. 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 produced a 3—1win on the south coast. david silva and sergio aguero on the scoresheet and it sets up what is a fascinating match up on thursday when the top two, liverpool and city play each other in the league. we play to score two, three, four.

that is all we can do. of course we have to demand our people in front to finish the situation. we have 45 actions to finish the game. after one win, the game was more equal and you know, the situation is that. that is football. in the previous games, we did absolutely everything. we have to live with that. and except and improve. today i had the feeling the players did absolutely everything. 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, watching the boys enjoy themselves.

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 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 141 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 stand on the brink of an historic series win. 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. michael van gerwen will play michael smith tomorrow in the final of the pdc world darts championship at alexandra palace. the dutch 2—time champion

was in superb form as he swept to a 6 sets to one victory over scotland's gary anderson in their semi—final this evening. and michael smith ended the run of nathan aspinall to reach his first world championship final. both men were playing in the last fourfor the first time, but 10th seed smith won 6—3. that's all the sport for now. 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' visayas and bicol regions had caused widespread landslides and flooding. local media say dozens of other people are missing or trapped by landslides. new year's eve travel on some of the country's busiest rail routes

is likely to be disrupted by another strike in the long running dispute over guards on trains. members of the rmt union on south western railway will walk out for 24 hours. 200 years ago around a third of argentina's population were black. but today very few people admit to being of african descent. despite their huge and historical influence on society, black argentinians still face racial discrimination and are often treated as foreigners in their own country. our correspondent reports from buenos aires. there is nothing more argentine than the tango, but many are unaware that its roots are african. for the afro—argentines whose families descended from the slave trade, they often feel like they've been written out of history, and invisible to fellow argentines.

i don't know why there are no people from africa. mistaken as foreigners, these are the people who face racism today. translation: i belong to an ethnicity that has been systematically denied. it hurts. it's deep, and it remains with you throughout your time. translation: it makes me feel angry to have to explain that i'm argentine, because my ancestors did a lot for this country. argentines are always trying to be white and european, and this is why they feel that everything black is bad. jose delfin acosta died whilst

in police custody 22 years ago. his brother, angel, who is of mixed heritage, says jose was beaten to death by racist police. the government says the case is being investigated. it's also been referred to an international court. translation: racism didn't end with the death of my brother. racism is still around. and ifeel very lonely when i'm defending my brother, because the organisations don't do anything. 200 years ago, a third of the people in this city were black. now, official estimates claim that argentines of african descent make up less than 1% of the population of this country. although many people dispute this, something i put to the government. how can you do yourjob effectively when so many people here that i've spoken to say that there are no afro—argentines here? translation: for a long time, society was not educated

or informed, and did not value the contribution of afro—argentines. we are changing this trend. we need to recognise we come from this history. it's a hard task, but one which will help this country redefine its true national identity and celebrate its african heritage. celestina olulode, bbc news, buenos aires. many of us will be thinking of what new year's resolutions we'd like to stick to in 2019 with exercise being one of the most popular things people want to do more of. but there's not much more one 90—year—old can fit into his regime. meetjohn carter, the back—flipping daredevil who loves baseball, skiing, and even diving. get old but take your time, don't

rush it. i just love his presence and positivity, how he's lived his life, so ijust wanted to share that story with you. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. i need a bit of frost for my bulbs. you will be in luck. the weather will take a bit of a u—turn. have some cold weather on the way and i can promise you you will be getting a frost as we had through the first week of 2019. not particularly wintry but less mild. we had a lot of cloud around and still a lot of clout. the weather front is moving into the far north—west of scotland's —— cloud. for the here and now, another reasonably mild

night. we are seeing some mist and fog patches developing. take care on the roads in the south. they could be the odd dent patch of fog around. new year's eve, a mild start to the day. through the day, we still have a lot of clout but it will tend to thin and break. the odd spell of sunshine breaking through. later in the day, there will be patchy rain moving into the north—west of scotla nd moving into the north—west of scotland and that will tend to be quite light and patchy as it sinks further south. temperatures 10—12 on new years day. still reasonably mild for that time of year. if you are getting out to watch the fireworks, most of us, it is set to stay dry. it is patchy rain across the far north of scotland but not a washout. are largely drive, fairly cloudy picture for new years eve night. moving into new years day, we have a

wea k moving into new years day, we have a weak front thinking south but really, it is high pressure that will be dominating the weather. this as the front pushes further south, it will draw in the winds, more of a northerly or north—easterly direction into wednesday. new year's day on tuesday, clout into northern ireland, it will tend to fizzle out. —— cloud. more sunshine than in recent days. cooler in the north, seven in aberdeen. we will hold onto the double figures for at least a day or two. overnight, the double figures for at least a day ortwo. overnight, quite the double figures for at least a day or two. overnight, quite chilly night. we are expecting some fairly frosty conditions. for the start of 2019, it is still remaining largely drive but things will start to turn cold up and a return to the night—time frost. still pretty dry and with clear skies overnight, we should be some sunshine by day. hello, this is bbc news.

we will be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment. first the headlines: the government has defended its decision to award a £14 million contract to a shipping company with no trading record as part of its preparations for a possible no—deal brexit. britain and france have agreed to implement what they are calling an enhanced action plan to prevent migrants crossing the english channel on small boats. bangladesh's governing party has won a landslide election victory, but the opposition says the vote was rigged.