10 things you need to know this Monday

Never read the Sunday papers? Slept through the Today programme? Forgot to tape Strictly Come Dancing? Not sure what month it is? The First Post's new Monday morning service, posted at 8am, is designed to help...

UK 'FIRE SALE'
Gordon Brown will today announce a sale of public assets, aiming to raise £16bn and make a dent in the public debt. Up for sale will be the betting company Tote, the Channel tunnel rail link, a 32 per cent stake in the uranium processing company Urenco, and the student loan book. 

GATELY DEATH
Police investigating the death in Majorca of Boyzone band member Stephen Gately are seeking to interview a Bulgarian man who was invited back to the Port d'Andratx apartment Gately shared with his partner Andrew Cowles. They had been out drinking on Friday night and returned with the man in the early hours of Saturday. Gately's post-mortem will be held tomorrow as it is a public holiday in Spain today. More...OSBORNE UNDER FIRE
Economist David Blanchflower, a former Bank of England adviser, claims Conservative measures to cut public debt are potentially disastrous and that George Osborne and David Cameron "show absolutely no understanding of basic economics". More...FOOTBALL FLOP
England fans who paid £11.99 to watch Saturday's international against Ukraine online were infuriated to discover too late that the BBC had done a deal to show highlights. They were also unimpressed by the scoreline. England lost 1-0 - their first competitive defeat under new manager Fabio Capello (pictured above).

SAD BRITS
The British enjoy the lowest quality of life in Europe, despite the highest net household income, according to a survey of 10 countries by u.switch.com. Our high pay - £35,730 a year, £10,000 more than the European average - is cancelled out by high taxes, long working hours, high cost of essentials, low holiday entitlement, high retirement age - 65 against an average 62 - and less sunshine. More...TWITTER VIDEO
The social networking site is making plans to allow users to post real-time video clips as well as text messages. The site is currently valued at $1bn - even though it has yet to work out how to make money.

MPS DEFIANT
MPs return to the Commons today after the summer break to face demands that they either repay their dubious expenses claims or do more to justify them. But a new row is brewing after a spokesman, Sir Stuart Bell, said they would be justified in refusing to repay claims which had been approved by the Commons fees office, however 'dodgy' they may look to the general public. The Mole...BROWN'S EYESIGHT
Two weeks after telling Andrew Marr that there has been "absolutely no deterioration" in his eyesight, Downing Street has stated that Gordon Brown has suffered two "minor tears" in the retina of his one good eye. He is to visit Moorfields eye hospital for regular treatment.

LONDON AT RISK
The London mayor Boris Johnson has commissioned a report which states that London is at risk of losing its financial capital status  if new EU rules governing hedge funds and private equity are given the go-ahead by Brussels.

CAGE AUX FOLLESAlex Reid, the cage-fighting boyfriend of Katie Price, aka Jordan, likes to dress up in women's clothes, two Sunday tabloids claimed. Is this a trend? The news follows an incident in Swansea when a pair of drunks accosted two men dressed in women's clothes for a stag night. The men turned out to be cage-fighters - and the CCTV footage of them beating up the unfortunate drunks has become a YouTube hit. ·