1. OECD: UK 'TO RETURN TO RECESSION'
Britain is set to return to recession in 2012, according to the economic research group the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In its latest quarterly economic report, it predicts a modest downturn over the first six months of the year and says that the Bank of England will need to print more money.
George Osborne: killing us softly with his No Plan B
2. MORE NHS PATIENTS DIE AT WEEKENDS
Patients admitted to NHS hospitals for urgent treatment at weekends are almost 10 per cent more likely to die than during the rest of the week, says a report cited in the Daily Telegraph. The report, published by Dr Foster Intelligence using official figures, has prompted the Department of Health to ask trusts to investigate the issue.
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3. FOOTBALL MOURNS GARY SPEED
Football is in mourning for Gary Speed after the Wales manager was found hanged on Sunday morning. The 42-year-old was discovered at his home in Chester. Cheshire Police said there were no suspicious circumstances and the death is now being dealt with by a coroner. Friends are puzzled as to why Speed took his life.
Is football to blame for the death of Gary Speed?
4. INDONESIAN 'GOLDEN GATE' COLLAPSES
The death toll following the collapse of Indonesia's version of the Golden Gate bridge at the weekend has risen to 12. The 720-metre-long bridge over the Mahakam river in Indonesian Borneo, was built to resemble the San Francisco landmark and opened in 2002. It gave way over the weekend and more than 30 people are still missing.
5. BORIS 'MORE INFLUENTIAL' THAN PM
Boris Johnson has been named Britain's most influential man in a poll. The Mayor of London topped GQ magazine's 100 Most Influential Men in Britain 2012 list. GQ says Johnson outclassed Prime Minister David Cameron, who finished second. "When he says jump, the Prime Minister tries to guess how high," says the mag.
Boris Johnson the man to beat as London election nears
6. JEFFERIES TELLS OF HARASSMENT
Chris Jefferies, the landlord of murder victim Jo Yeates, has told the Leveson Inquiry how the media made him feel like a "priest at the time of the Reformation" after he was wrongly arrested over her death. Earlier Paul Staines, the political blogger known as Guido Fawkes, was summoned to the inquiry after evidence was leaked to his website.
Blogger summoned by Leveson for leaking Campbell evidence
7. EGYPT GOES TO THE POLLS
Egyptians have been voting in the opening stage of the first elections since the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February. This stage of the polling, which will run until January, covers elections to the 508-member People's Assembly. The election timetable will be completed in March 2012.
8. FILM DIRECTOR KEN RUSSELL DIES
Tributes have been pouring in for controversial film director Ken Russell, who has died at the age of 84. Glenda Jackson, who won an Oscar for his 1969 film Women in Love, said he had been treated "scandalously" by the British film industry, but Michael Winner said his contribution had been "absolutely unique".
Ken Russell, enfant terrible of British cinema, dies at 84
9. PAKISTAN CLOSES NATO SUPPLY LINE
More than 400 oil tankers and thousands of containers en route to Nato forces in Afghanistan are stuck indefinitely at the Pakistan border on instructions from Islamabad. It follows the deaths of 24 Pakistan army personnel on Saturday when US-led troops hunting the Taliban called in an airstrike on Pakistan border posts.
Pakistan and the US: it's becoming deadly serious
10. HOT TICKET: LOWRY IN LONDON
Days after Christie’s made the headlines by auctioning an L S Lowry painting for £5.6m, Richard Green’s New Bond Street gallery has opened with a show of 38 works by the perennially popular British artist. Lowry’s signature muted northern landscapes and matchstick figures feature in paintings and drawings from 1934-1969. Until 17 December.
