As statistics reveal that one in six fire deaths last year occurred in December, the Fire Kills campaign is reminding people that some of their favourite festive traditions such as cooking Christmas dinner, decorating the home and drinking alcohol could have the potential to leave Yuletide celebrations in ruin.
1. Greece's two mainstream political parties agreed on a pact for a unity government after intense pressure from the EU, which warned the country would be left to go bankrupt if a cross-part consensus was not achieved. 2. Germany has rejected demands by France, Britain and the US to allow national gold reserves to be put as collateral for the eurozone bailout fund. 3. A two-day meeting in the south of France of the world's most powerful leaders drew to a close with few concrete agreements, leaving EU leaders no wiser on how to control their single currency crisis. 4. Italy agreed to be put under surveillance by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of a plan to restore market trust in the eurozone's third-largest economy. 5. Greek PM George Papandreou stepped down, and was replaced by a former vice-president of the ECB. A referendum on the new bail-out deal for Greece has been shelved. 6. A former EU commissioner Mario Monti (a senator for life) was installed as prime minister of Italy after right-win
Mayor Dave Hodgson has made his latest campaign priority one to reduce the number of speeding cars in the Borough.
There's new hope in the fight against the abominable plans of the waste firm Covanta to build a monstrous 600,000 tonne incinerator near Stewartby, with the final decision on its future to be considered in Parliament. The decision by the soon-to-be abolished quango the Infrastructure Planning Commission to grant permission will be subject to a 'Special Parliamentary Procedure' after Bedford Borough Council, along with Central Bedfordshire Council, refused to withdraw its objection to the plans, which involve the compulsory purchase of Council land.
