10 things you need to know this Monday

Slept through the Today programme? Never read the Sunday papers? Missed Andrew Marr? Still not sure who the EU president is? The First Post's new Monday morning service, posted at 8am, is designed to help...

BRITAIN UNDERWATERA number of deaths have been reported as a result of the torrential rain that has affected Cumbria and other areas of Britain over the past three days. In Cumbria a policeman, PC Bill Barker, was swept away when a bridge collapsed on Friday; in Devon, canoeist Chris Wheeler died after being pulled from the River Dart; in Powys, a woman  was swept away by the River Usk in Brecon. There are currently 17 flood warnings in force across England, Scotland and Wales. Pictures...LABOUR PULLS BACK
An Ipsos/MORI poll for the Observer shows the gap between the Conservatives and Labour has shruck to six points - with the Tories on 37 per cent and Labour on 31 per cent. Several opinion polls earlier this summer put the gap at 16 points or more. If these voting intentions prove accurate, Britain is heading for a hung parliament at the spring general election - or even a Labour victory. More...FORT HOOD SHOOTER 'PARALYSED'
Major Nidal Hasan, charged with 13 murders following the shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas on November 5, is paralysed from the neck down, according to his lawyer John Galligan. As a result, a military magistrate ruled there was no need to move him to a more secure hospital. US defence secretary Robert Gates has ordered all branches of the military to seek better ways of "identifying service members who could potentially pose credible threats to others".

FRONTLINE PREGNANCIES
Ten servicewomen have been flown home from Afghanistan between May and October this year after becoming pregnant, according to the Sunday Mirror. Seven hundred of the 9,200 British troops serving in Afghanistan are women. Despite a strict "no touching" rule on the frontline, the women are unlikely to be disciplined. An Army spokesman told the Mirror: "Together, both servicemen and women face an uncertain future and, as those bonds of war strengthen, inevitably relationships will develop."

KATIE PRICE QUITS JUNGLE
Katie Price, aka Jordan, has walked out of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! after viewers nominated her for one "bushtucker trial" too many. When she was picked on Sunday for yet another revolting test - this one involving a pit of snakes - she said: "Someone else has to do it. I'm just not doing it anymore." ITV issued a one-line statement on its website: "Katie Price has left the jungle."

400LB BOMB FAILS TO EXPLODE IN BELFAST
Fears of a pre-Christmas reign of terror by dissident republicans in Northern Ireland increased over the weekend after a 400lb car bomb - nearly as big as the Omagh bomb that killed 29 in 1998 - failed to explode after crashing through a barrier in central Belfast on Saturday night. "Had this device functioned as the terrorists planned, there would certainly have been widespread damage and destruction," said police. Gerry Kelly of the official republican party Sinn Fein said the bomb attempt was "futile" and such actions had "no place in advancing republican or democratic objectives".TERRIBLE TWINS GONE
The spiky-haired identical twins John and Edward Grimes, otherwise known as Jedward, were finally voted off The X Factor last night, after losing in a sing-off against Olly Murs whose performance of Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight won three of the four judges over. Only the boys' mentor, Louis Walsh, could bring himself to vote for their twins' version of Boyzone's No Matter What. Without a dance routine or any gimmicks, most observers felt Jedward were finally found out.

GILLIGAN'S BACK
Andrew Gilligan, the former BBC reporter who first reported that the Labour government had "sexed up" an Iraq war dossier to make the case for invasion more acceptable to the British public, has disclosed in a report for the Sunday Telegraph - his new employers - that troops were rushed into battle without adequate armour or training and that Tony Blair misled the public throughout 2002 when he claimed Britain's objective was "disarmament, not regime change". Gilligan's report was based on documents leaked to the Telegraph before the start this week of the Chilcot Inquiry - which aims to "identify lessons that can be learnt from the Iraq conflict".

SPURS BEAT WIGAN 9-1
Tottenham Hotspur became the first Premier League team in 14 years to score nine goals in one match when they beat Wigan 9-1 on Sunday. Jermain Defoe scored five - all in the second half - with Peter Crouch, Aaron Lennon and Niko Kranjcar supplying one each. An own goal from Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland completed the humiliation. Defoe is the first player to score five in a Premier League game since Alan Shearer in 1999. More...DIVORCE THERAPY ON NHS
Divorcing couples are to be offered counselling on the NHS, the Health Secretary Andy Burnham is to announce this week. Troubled relationships are a key factor in the rising number of people suffering depression and anxiety - and who end up costing the nation some £12bn a year in anti-depressant drugs. ·