THE HEADLINES AT 0800 ON MONDAY 11TH DECEMBER

It's eight o'clock on Monday the 11th of December.

Police are now investigating the deaths of three prostitutes whose bodies have been found over the past nine days.

The Conservatives have published a report blaming family breakdown for many of Britain's social problems.

The NHS in England is to be ordered to make a financial surplus by 2008.

General Pinochet has been denied a state funeral by the government of Chile - although he will be buried with military honours.

PROSTITUTES

A major murder inquiry is under way in Suffolk, where three prostitutes have been found dead over the past nine days. Police believe the two women whose bodies were discovered first were murdered by the same killer, or killers. They're trying to find out if there's a link with the death of the third woman, who was in her twenties. Jannat Jalil reports:

JALIL: The dead woman was found in woodland by a member of the public at the village of Nacton, near Ipswich, just a few miles from where the naked bodies of twenty-five-year-old Gemma Adams and nineteen-year-old Tania Nicol were discovered within a week of each other in a stream. Suffolk Police have cordoned off the area, while officers search for more clues. They say it's too early to know whether this latest death is connected to the two others, but they've already linked the killings of Gemma Adams and Tanya Nichol, saying there are striking similarities in their cases. Further tests need to be carried out to establish how they died, after initial post mortem examinations proved inconclusive. The body of a fourth woman has also been found in a river in Lincolnshire this weekend. While no connection has been established to the deaths in Ipswich, police aren't ruling this out - although they say the only link appears to be the fact that the dead woman was also found in water.

TORIES

The Conservatives will warn today that the breakdown of the traditional family lies at the heart of many of Britain's most pressing problems. A report from a policy group on social justice, led by the party's former leader, Iain Duncan Smith, will also sound the alarm about a growing underclass in British society. Here's our Political Correspondent, Norman Smith:

SMITH: The core of Mr Duncan Smith's report is that social breakdown is largely driven by family breakdown. It's stated that children who come from broken homes are much more likely to fail at school, become involved in drugs, debt and criminality, and that seventy-five per cent of young offenders come from broken homes. What adds edge to Mr Duncan Smith's report, however, is his suggestion that the break-up of families is linked to the collapse of marriage - half of co-habiting couples, he argues, split up before a child is five, whereas the comparable figure for married couples is one in twelve. Speaking on this programme, Mr Duncan Smith said politicians could not ignore the issue:

DUNCAN SMITH: We have to look at why kids from broken homes are failing so badly at education, what the culture is that's causing these levels of breakdown, and why so many parents don't recognise that stability for their kids - two parents - is necessary if they want to give their kids a life chance. What can we do to help them find that better way forward?

SMITH: Labour have attacked the report as a return to John Major's "Back to Basics" policy, but it's been enthusiastically welcomed by David Cameron, who said it was important to support marriage. One option he's understood to be considering is a transferable tax allowance for married couples with children under five.

YOUNG PEOPLE

The Conservatives have seized on official figures which show that almost one-and-a-quarter-million people aged between fifteen and twenty-four are neither in education, work, or on a training scheme. The shadow education secretary, David Willetts, said the statistics were evidence of an "extraordinary failure" of government policy.

NHS

The National Health Service in England will be told today that it must clear its deficit, and make a surplus within two years. Ministers are publishing a new plan for the NHS which will also set targets for reducing infections within hospitals. The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, told the Today programme that some trusts were so deep in debt that they couldn't possibly reach a surplus. But she said other hospitals could, by cutting costs:

HEWITT: Already we've got hospitals - some hospitals - doing seventy-five or even eighty per cent of their operations on a day case basis. It is much better for patients, but other hospitals are lagging behind, and, as they catch up, it means they do need fewer beds and, in some cases, fewer staff, so they're using the resources more effectively; they're looking after the patients better; they're also freeing up money that can then be used to improve other services.

PINOCHET

There's been rioting on the streets of the Chilean capital, Santiago, after the death of the former military dictator, General Augusto Pinochet. The Chilean government has said he'll be buried tomorrow with military honours, but won't receive a state funeral. Steve Kingstone sent this report from Santiago:

SOUND: CROWD CHANTING

KINGSTONE: Supporters and opponents of Augusto Pinochet were on the streets of Santiago long into the night. The former gathered first at the hospital where he died, and later at the military academy, where a funeral service and cremation will take place tomorrow. Meanwhile, in the city centre, thousands of anti-Pinochet demonstrators celebrated news of his death with champagne and confetti, but the party mood soured as a minority of the crowd lit fires and scuffled with the police, who responded with tear gas and water cannon. The Chilean government has issued an appeal for peace. A spokesman said Mr Pinochet would be honoured as a former head of the army, but not as a former head of state. Nor will there be an official period of mourning. This country's president, Michelle Bachelet, who was herself jailed and later exiled during the Pinochet regime, will not attend the funeral. Instead, the government will be represented by Chile's defence minister.

IRAQ

A roadside bomb in Baghdad has killed three American soldiers and wounded two others. The explosion happened late last night as the soldiers were conducting a combat patrol in the north of the city.

GAZA

Palestinian gunmen in Gaza City have shot dead three young children of a senior Palestinian intelligence officer - raising fears of a new bout of factional violence. The officer is a supporter of the Fatah movement, and ten years ago took part in a crackdown on Hamas - which now dominates the Palestinian government.

IRAN

A two-day international conference has begun in Iran to discuss whether the Nazi Holocaust really happened. Germany has condemned the event as shocking, while the United States has called it disgraceful. Our Teheran Correspondent, Frances Harrison, reports:

HARRISON: This conference is the brainchild of the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who's become the hero of Holocaust deniers around the world. He's repeatedly called the holocaust a myth that's been used to justify the oppression of the Palestinians. He's even suggested Israelis be resettled in Alaska. Manouchehr Mohammadi, of the Iranian foreign ministry, explained the aim of the conference:

SOUND: MOHAMMADI SPEAKING

TRANSLATION VOICEOVER: The first question to be posed is: did the Holocaust actually happen or not? If it did, what was the scale of it? The allegation that six-million Jews were killed -- is it true or not?

HARRISON: Iran knows this conference is going to cause outrage abroad, but it says it wants to test the limits of the West's commitment to freedom of speech by questioning the Holocaust. The conference is Iran's answer to the cartoons published in Europe that insulted the Prophet Mohammed. And it's an attempt to argue that the very basis for the creation of Israel is a lie.

RED TAPE

Tony Blair will set out plans today to cut the red tape facing business by up to twenty-five per cent. The Cabinet Office says the changes will save around two-billion pounds.

BRITONS

New research suggests that almost one in ten British citizens is living abroad. The study has found that at least five-and-a-half-million Britons are living overseas, and that the number is likely to grow. Dominic Casciani has more details:

CASCIANI: This project is the first attempt to put a figure on the number of ex-pat Britons. The Institute for Public Policy Research says that while there's been a fierce debate over immigration, up until now it hasn't been widely understood how many British people are leaving the country. Its research found Australia and Spain are the the most popular destinations, with two-million ex-pats between them. Growing economic opportunities in Asian countries like India and China are also attracting tens of thousands of Britons. But the report also warns that ex-pats don't always enjoy their life overseas. It says some Britons struggle to integrate, because they don't learn the language - meaning they find it hard to make friends. Other Britons say they want to come home - but can't get back on the property ladder in the UK.

BUNCEFIELD

A series of events will take place in Hertfordshire today, to commemorate the first anniversary of the massive explosion at the Buncefield oil depot. People whose homes were damaged by the blast say they're deeply disappointed that the depot's owners haven't settled claims for compensation more quickly. The company, Hertfordshire Oil and Storage, says it's dealt with each claim sensitively. Our Environment Correspondent, Sarah Mukherjee, reports:

MUKHERJEE: Those investigating the Buncefield explosion say in the early hours of the morning of the blast, a gauge - measuring petrol which was filling one of the storage tanks - stuck. The cold, still frosty night allowed a vapour cloud of petrol to form, and it's thought a spark from machinery caused the explosion. The final report from the Heath and Safety Executive is expected next year, and many insurance and compensation claims remain unresolved - it's believed Hertfordshire Oil and Storage is dealing with more than three-thousand claims totalling more than six-hundred-million pounds. Many victims say while they never cease to be thankful for the fact that nobody lost their lives, the psychological scars will remain for many years to come, and they feel the lack of a body count, as one put it, has allowed them to become the forgotten victims of the explosion.

VOLES

The Environment Agency has called for water voles to be given full legal protection to prevent them from becoming extinct. A new study suggests their numbers have fallen by ninety-five per cent over the past two decades - mainly because they're hunted by mink.