British hostage in Baghdad ‘killed himself’, kidnappers claim
One of the five British contractors kidnapped in Iraq more than a year ago has killed himself, according to the Shia group that is claiming to hold the men. The man, named only as Jason, is said to have died on May 25, days before the first aniversary of the group's capture at the finance ministry in Baghdad. The men, an IT consultant and four bodyguards, are being ransomed against the release of nine prisoners being held by the Americans. Their captors claim the Government's delay caused the man's psychological degradation prior to his suicide. (Sunday Times)
Mystery surrounds Britons' kidnapping 
Brown sets out withdrawal plan
Gordon Brown has comes as close as politically possible to confirming the pull-out of British troops from Iraq when he set out a four-step road-map that will eventually see the end of the country's involvement in the troubled Middle Eastern state. Speaking on a day-long visit to Basra, he outlined improvements in Iraqi military readiness, political stability, intensified reconstruction work and security at Basra airport - where 4,100 UK troops are based - which would allow the Britain to withdraw its force. (Observer)
The Mole on Brown's Iraq visit
Met chief in £3m sleaze probe
The Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair is to be investigated by the body that employs him after lucrative contracts from Scotland Yard were awarded to a company run by a close personal friend of Blair's. The technology deals related to consultancy work by Impact Plus, a company owned by entrepreneur Andrew Miller, and were granted by a panel on which Blair, who has been on skiing holidays with Miller, was a member. In all, more than £3m of deals were awarded to Impact Plus over a six-year period from 2002. Sir Ian had declared his friendship with Mr Miller before he joined the panel. (Mail on Sunday)
No 10 aide in ‘honeytrap sting’
A senior Downing Street aide appears to have been caught out in a honeytrap operation when his BlackBerry went missing after he spent a night in his Shanghai hotel room with a girl who approached him a disco. The incident, which occurred during Gordon Brown's visit to China earlier this year, has all the signs of a classic Chinese intelligence agency sting and is similar to other intelligence gathering operations that have occurred in the recent years. The theft was immediately reported by the aide to the PM's security detail, but could have allowed anyone who came into possession of the Blackberry to gain access to the No 10 email system. (Sunday Times)
Surgeons to get PRP for lives saved
NHS surgeons could soon receive performance-related bonus pay based on how many lives they save. The proposals, which would also see rates of infection from superbugs such as MRSA and rehabilitation statistics linked to doctors' merit payments, are being piloted on a scheme at the Imperial College Healthcare Trust. Surgeons' groups have said that the measures could lead to their members refusing to take on higher-risk patients, while patients' organisations have reacted with horror, and said that these should be basic prerequisites of medical staff carrying out their jobs properly. (Sunday Telegraph)
Goncalo Amaral, the police inspector who headed up the Madeleine McCann search until he was removed by Portuguese authorities, has written a book about the investigation in which he attacks the role of British police in the case and states that he thinks Madeleine is dead. Amaral is currently facing perjury charges relating to another case. (Observer)
The Tories are to suggest this week that bringing more disaffected young men into the labour market will lead to stronger marriages and family life. Findings in America show that the 'marriage pool' of lawful men is so low in some towns because of drugs and crime that family life has fallen apart. (Observer)
Despite polls showing them on course to win the Glasgow East by-election, Labour ministers and MPs are continuing to agitate for Gordon Brown's removal over the summer. Graham Stringer, MP for Manchester Blackley, said that eight out of ten Labour MPs wanted the PM to resign before party conference. (Mail on Sunday)
The Mole: Darling in charge but Glasgow East to come first
The American company responsible for the Sats fiasco this week that has seen millions of 11-year-olds missing or receiving wrong results for their exams is to be removed from its role. Education officials are looking to strip Educational Training Service of their five-year, £156m contract after shambolic delivery of the tests for 1.2m pupils this year. (Sunday Telegraph)
Gordon Brown's grand project to build 10 eco-towns, already under attack from the faltering housing market, has taken another blow after civil servants recommended that the Government build just two or three of the projects. The fear is that many of the projects are not as green as they have been billed. (Sunday Telegraph)
A Conservative parliamentary candidate in a key marginal constituency has been arrested over claims that he has been conducting a sustained hate campaign against his Lib Dem opponent. Ian Oakley, who resigned as Tory candidate last night after his arrest, was standing in Watford, a three-way marginal currently held by Labour. (Sunday Telegraph)
Rebel attacks against foreign oil workers and companies have reached a level of such intensity in the the Niger Delta that firms are threatening to pull out of Nigeria. The latest attacks began a fortnight ago when announcements were posted in towns across the delta giving firms a week's notice to leave the area and since then rebels have clashed with armed forces. (Observer)
An Irish millionaire is planning to bank-roll more than 400 candidates to stand in next June's European elections across the EU on a platform against handing over more powers to the EU. Declan Ganley, a businessman credited with running the successful vote against the Lisbon treaty in Ireland in June, will put up £75m for the campaign. (Sunday Telegraph)
Efforts by the US to persuade Iran to freeze its controversial nuclear enrichment programme came to nothing yesterday when a highly publicised meeting in Geneva, attended by William Burns, US under-secretary of state, ended in deadlock after six hours of talks. Unless Iran responds positively within two weeks to the demand to halt all work on nuclear enrichment, economic sanctions will be imposed. (Sunday Times)
HBOS' rights issue to raise more than £4bn will be one of the largest flops in recent corporate history, with less than 19 per cent of the shares on offer being taken up. Last week Barclays' rights offer slumped to under a fifth of the shares on offer being taken up, and had to be rescued by the underwriters including sovereign wealth fund the Qatar Investment Authority. (Observer)
The European frozen food market could be consolidated if the owner of Captain Birdseye, Permira, is successful in its bid for major rival Findus. Permira are at the head of a group of companies interested in buying Findus from CapVest, its parent group which is a private equity firm, for more than £500m. (Sunday Telegraph)
Boots, Next and Carphone Warehouse are among retailers who are uniting against high street landlords in an unprecedented effort to change the way they pay rent. The retailers want to pay monthly in advance instead of quarterly, arguing that the current large upfront payments have a huge impact on cash flow. The landlords, who include pensions funds as well as several property giants, will strongly resist the rebellion. (Sunday Times)
A man accused of stealing a £15m Shakespeare manuscript has written to his local newspaper demanding that the book be sold on the open market and the money ploughed back into the arts. Raymond Scott was arrested a week ago after asking a US library to validate a First Folio from the collection at Durham University. (Mail on Sunday)
Letters between a reclusive Portuguese poet and Aleister Crowley, the self-styled 'wickedest man in the world' could sell for millions of pounds if the Portuguese government releases them for auction. Fernando Pessoa wrote to Crowley in the 1920s and 30s, and 800 pages of correspondence between them could go under the hammer in October. (Observer)
John Howard Davies, former BBC head of comedy, has revealed that the late Paul Eddington initially turned down the role of Jim Hacker in the long-running comedy classic, Yes Minister. "He said it would never work, that politics wasn't funny and that politicians were horrible," Davies tells this week's Comedy Connections on BBC1. (Sunday Times)
