The News Matrix: Monday 10 September 2012

Annan and Gates up for 'peace prize'

Former UN chief Kofi Annan and Microsoft founder Bill Gates are among those nominated for a Chinese alternative "peace prize", the Confucius Peace Prize.

Poultry suppliers to fight tax increase

Poultry suppliers sought to reopen the "pastygate" dispute yesterday by backing a supermarket's campaign to halt a rise in the tax payable on hot roast chickens. MORE

New low for X Factor viewing figures

Ratings for The X Factor have plunged to a new low with figures that are almost three million down on the same stage last year. Saturday night's show drew an average of 8.2 million viewers compared with 11.1 million viewers in 2011.

Madrid the winner for super casino

Madrid – 1, Barcelona – 0. That was the score in the gambling stakes at the weekend, after casino giant Las Vegas Sands chose Madrid over Barcelona for a multi-billion dollar gambling resort project dubbed "EuroVegas".

British soldier killed in roadside blast

A soldier from The Light Dragoons has been killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said yesterday. The vehicle in which he was travelling hit an improvised explosive device in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province. His next of kin have been told. The soldier's death brings the number of members of UK servicemen who have died in Afghanistan to 427.

Election campaign enters final stretch

The US election campaign has entered its final stretch after the party conventions, with President Barack Obama and his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, courting votes over the weekend. A poll indicated Mr Obama received a boost after the Democrats' gathering in Charlotte. MORE

University warns against easier entry

Cambridge University has dismissed the practice of lowering entry offers to students from disadvantaged backgrounds as a "cruel experiment". Dr Geoff Parks, its admissions tutor, said giving places to students with less than top A-level results could "ruin lives".  MORE

Cable reasserts his authority

Business Secretary Vince Cable put himself on a collision course with his new ministerial colleague Michael Fallon yesterday as he ruled out Tory calls to make it easier for employers to sack staff and defended Liberal Democrat plans for a "wealth tax".MORE

We'll target Harry, threaten Taliban

Taliban commanders have threatened to do all they can to target Prince Harry while he is deployed in Afghanistan. Unlike his last tour, when the Prince was the subject of media blackout, the latest deployment of the third in line to the throne has a high profile.

Stop library closures, says Gruffalo author

The Children's Laureate, Julia Donaldson, is touring libraries as part of a campaign against library closures. The Gruffalo author is urging the new Culture Secretary, Maria Miller, to "show leadership".

Girl, five, killed at Cornish steam fair

A five-year-old girl has died at a steam fair near Lostwithiel, Cornwall, after being hit by a vehicle on Saturday. She was with her foster parents. Police are not releasing details until "interested parties are aware".

Unions plan fresh wave of strikes

Britain's biggest public-sector unions, Unison and the GMB, are planning a fresh wave of co-ordinated strikes by millions of workers against job losses and the pay freeze.  MORE

Body of teenage swimmer is found

Police divers have found the body of a 16-year-old boy who went missing as he swam in a river with friends. Colin Dodds got into difficulties in the River Wear in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, on Saturday.