North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, who ruled since 1994, has died, it is understood he has died of a heart attack due to physical and mental over-work, on Saturday 17th December. North Koreans poured into the streets on Monday to mourn the death of their leader, where state media hailed his untested son as the 'Great Successor' of the reclusive state whose atomic weapons ambitions are a major threat to the region. Experts say Kim Jong-un has the intelligence and leadership skills to make him suited to succeed his father. He is reported to have a ruthless streak that analysts say he would need to rule North Korea.

Doctors said the Duke of Edinburgh was likely to have suffered a heart attack which was halted by emergency surgery to unblock a blood vessel. On reaching Papworth Hospital by helicopter, the Duke would have been subjected to an electrocardiogram test by doctors to measure the activity of his heart. Blood samples would have been taken to measure the level of enzymes, with a heightened presence a tell-tale sign of a heart attack as they leak into the bloodstream when heart tissue is damaged.

Russell Brand announced he has filed for divorce from wife, singer Katy Perry after 14 months of marriage, due to irreconciable differences. The couple met in 2008 and married in 2010.

Four bodies were found in a house on Sunday in the Pudsey area of Leeds, as the road was sealed off in order to check for gas or chemical leaks. Police were called to the house as well as forensic teams who led the investigation. Online rumourss spread, suggesting the victims of the tragedy were a family of four including two young sons, later confirmed by police. Detectives investigating the deaths said Clair Smith, 36, and her two sons had been stabbed in the chest. Mrs Smith's husband Richard, 37, died as a result of smoke inhalation. The bodies, including those of Ben, nine, and Aron, one, were found in a bedroom in the house in Sheridan Way. West Yorkshire Police are not looking for anyone else over the deaths.

After months of phone hacking revelations there are still many questions which remain unanswered such as who deleted murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's voicemails, who at the News of the World was involved in hacking, and how much did James Murdoch know and were other newspapers also engaged in such practices. On Wednesday further investigations were held where News Of The World lawyer Tom Crone, held up a copy of the 'For Neville' email which indicated hacking went beyond a 'rogue reporter' during a meeting with James Murdoch, he told the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics.


Refernces: The Sun
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A Crown Prosecution Service lawyer is to face disciplinary action for alleged failings over a case involving undercover police officer Mark Kennedy, who had spent seven years underground infiltrating green groups.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has warned that there is a risk of Europe 'disintegrating' if a solution is not found to the eurozone debt crisis at a crucial summit in Brussels tonight. The key proposal on the agenda of the gathering is how to enforce budgetary discipline with automatic penalties for those eurozone nations that overspend. Germany and France are pushing for new European Union treaties, saying stricter fiscal rules should be enshrined there, but Prime Minister David Cameron has come under increased pressure from his own party to promise a referendum on any new EU Treaty designed to save the euro. The prime minister said he would fight for the UK national interest has said that he will block a new European Union treaty if it does not protect UK interests.

References: www.bbcnews.co.uk
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ITV News Bulletin

Chancellor George Osborne has said public sector pay rises will be capped at 1% for two years, as he lowered growth forecasts for the UK economy. The number of public sector jobs set to be lost by 2017 has also been revised up from 400,000 to 710,000. Borrowing and unemployment are set to be higher than forecast and spending cuts to carry on to 2017, he admitted.

The main story which were covered by many TV broadcasts as well as Radio and the newspapers were the Public sector strikes. Many newspapers and TV reports, reported live from the strikes. Public sector strikes took place on Wedensday across the UK. Tens of thousands of people joined rallies around the UK as a public sector strike over pensions disrupted schools, hospitals and other services. About two-thirds of state schools shut, and thousands of hospital operations were postponed, as unions estimated up to two million people went on strike.

References: www.telegraph.co.uk
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