Home / 2015 / December

Monthly Archives: December 2015

Railway signal problems and flooding hit Christmas getaway

Rail passengers have been hit by signal problems and flooding, as engineering work is due to disrupt train services over the festive period. Signalling problems at Gillingham disrupted Southeastern commuter trains from London, while flooding caused all trains to be cancelled between Folkestone Central and Dover Priory. Network Rail said 13% of journeys had been delayed across the entire network. ...

Read More »

More pain for George Osborne as ONS cuts UK economic growth

GDP estimate for third quarter cut from 0.5% to 0.4% after sharp slowdown in services, meaning UK chancellor is unlikely to hit growth forecasts George Osborne has received a second pre-Christmas setback after official figures showing a a stuttering performance by the economy in the months following the general election put the government’s 2015 growth forecast at risk. Following much ...

Read More »

Muslim family’s halted Disneyland trip is raised with PM

Labour MP Stella Creasy has called on the prime minister to challenge the US after a UK Muslim family was barred from boarding a flight to Los Angeles. The family of 11, from Ms Creasy’s Walthamstow constituency, had planned a holiday to Disneyland but were stopped at Gatwick Airport on 15 December. Mohammad Zahid Mahmood said his family was given ...

Read More »

Srihotto Moddhoma Naasti ( Sylhet is never in the middle- Always a pioneer )

By Piya Mayenin :: Bengali language cannot even write the word Sylheti because Sylheti has a s sound whereas Bangla does not have that s sound despite of having three ‘sho’ sounds and two ‘ch’ sounds. Those are not the the s sound in Sylhet. That is precisely why a non Sylheti professor who lived in Sylhet for 40 years ...

Read More »

NHS URGES PEOPLE TO ONLY USE A&E IN AN EMERGENCY AND AVOID POST-CHRISTMAS SURGE

NHS England today (Saturday) joins forces with the nation’s top A&E doctors to urge those patients who can to avoid the post-Christmas and New Year rush to hospital. With the festive season in full swing, they are reminding people to keep A&E for emergencies only between Boxing Day and December 29 when demand traditionally peaks. The advice from NHS England ...

Read More »

Council warning about drink driving

Tower Hamlets Council has launched a poster campaign to remind drivers that even one alcoholic drink can put you over the legal limit to drive. These adverts have been installed at different locations across the borough for the duration of the festive holiday period. The campaign aims to reduce the number of people who drink alcohol and drive over Christmas. ...

Read More »

Tower Hamlets Council nominated for awards

Tower Hamlets Council’s unique Find it, Fix it, Love it (FiFiLi) app and Assistive Technology (AT) Strategy Team have been nominated for prestigious awards. The FiFiLi app and AT Strategy Team have both been shortlisted in the Innovation category. FiFiLi is also nominated in the Environment category of the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards 2016, the 20th year since the ...

Read More »

A million migrants and refugees have reached Europe this year, says IOM

More than a million people have now reached Europe through irregular means in 2015, the International Organisation for Migration has announced, in what constitutes the continent’s biggest wave of mass migration since the aftermath of the second world war. Out of a total of 1,005,504 arrivals by 21 December, the vast majority – 816,752 – arrived by sea in Greece, ...

Read More »

Global support to Islamic anti-terror alliance hailed

The Council of Ministers has condemned the Houthi militants for breaking a truce aimed at restoring peace in Yemen. It also welcomed the pacts signed to end the conflicts in Syria and Libya. These were some of the key decisions taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman at Al-Yamamah palace on Monday ...

Read More »

Iain Duncan Smith’s ‘Christmas message’ to poorest families: Make up for benefit cuts by working 200 extra hours

The Government has admitted that families receiving in-workbenefits will lose out from April next year – but suggested they could make up the shortfall themselves if they worked harder. In what Labour has called Iain Duncan Smith’s “Christmas message”, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) proposed people “recoup the loss” from welfare reforms by doing three or four hours ...

Read More »