THE HEADLINES AT 0800 ON FRIDAY 24TH NOVEMBER

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It's eight o'clock on Friday the 24th of November.

The former Russian agent being treated in London for suspected poisoning died last night.

Doctors say that offering the breast cancer drug, Herceptin, on the NHS may mean other cancer patients losing out.

A yachtsman whose boat capsized a thousand miles from land has been rescued.

RUSSIAN 1

The Russian dissident at the centre of a suspected plot to poison him, has died in hospital in London. Alexander Litvinenko's death was announced late last night -- with doctors still not clear about the cause of his illness. Here's our Security Correspondent, Gordon Corera:

CORERA: In a statement, University College Hospital said that Alexander Litvinenko died at 9.21 on Thursday evening. A spokesman for the hospital, Jim Down, said he was seriously ill when he'd been admitted the previous Friday, and the hospital team had done everything possible to save his life:

DOWN: Every avenue was explored to establish the cause of his condition, and the matter is now an ongoing investigation being dealt with by detectives from New Scotland Yard. Because of this, we will not be commenting any further.

CORERA: The Metropolitan Police said that it was now investigating an unexplained death, and that inquiries were continuing. The former Russian intelligence officer - a critic of the current Russian government - fell ill on November the 1st, after a series of meetings in central London. Police had previously indicated that they believed he had been poisoned. Speculation that thallium or radioactive thallium may have been involved have been discounted, and on Thursday, doctors said they had not been able to determine the exact cause of his illness.

RUSSIAN 2

A senior Russian politician said this morning that accusations the Russian security services had poisoned Mr Litvinenko were completely unfounded. The head of the Russian Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee, Konstantin Kosachyov, said they didn't do these sort of things. The intelligence analyst, Glenmore Trenear Harvey -- who was a friend of Mr Litvinenko -- told us that President Putin and the Russian authorities would not have considered him to be any more than a "pest":

HARVEY: I cannot conceive, quite frankly, that Putin or the Soviet services would target someone like this. The threat of disturbing bilateral relationships between Russia and the United Kingdom would be far too great - it would be out of balance for the supposed benefits from his death.

RUSSIAN 3

Alexander Litvinenko was a former agent in the Russian secret service, the FSB. He fled his country in 2000 after falling out with his masters, and was granted political asylum in Britain. During his years in exile here, he became an outspoken critic of President Putin. Our correspondent, Allan Little, examines the cause of his dispute with the Russian authorities:

LITTLE: Alexander Litvinenko came to Britain seeking refuge from his former colleagues and bosses in the FSB. He broke ranks with them in the late Nineties, claiming they'd ordered him to murder the tycoon, Boris Berezovsky. He was then briefly jailed on what he claimed were trumped-up charges of corruption. When a Russian court ordered him released, he sought and was granted asylum here. From London, he continued his campaign to expose what he believed were serious human rights abuses in Russia. In 2002, he published a book accusing the FBS of planting the bombs that destroyed several Russian apartment blocks in 1999; hundreds died. Russia blamed Chechen separatists, and enjoyed huge public support for its subsequent war to retake control of the breakaway southern republic of Chechnya. He'd been investigating the death of the Russian journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot dead in Moscow earlier this year. On the day he fell ill, Alexander Litvinenko had had lunch with an Italian contact with whom he discussed the danger he believed himself to be in.

AFGHAN

There are fresh claims that British troops in Afghanistan are facing shortages. A Royal Marine sergeant in Helmand province has complained that his men don't have enough of certain types of ammunition and specialist equipment, and are using inappropriate vehicles. Senior officers insist that there are enough to do the job. Our correspondent, Peter Grant, is with the Marines in Helmand:

GRANT: The claims are made by Sergeant Stephen Brown. He commands the small Royal Marines unit which used to include Marine Gary Wright. He was killed last month by a suicide bomber whilst on patrol in a Land Rover, and a sergeant with him was injured. Sergeant Brown says a heavier vehicle might have prevented those injuries. He says his men don't have enough thermal imaging sights, which register body heat and which would show a bomber's explosives against his body. And he says they are short of grenades launched from rifles. But Colonel Andy Price says there are enough grenades available, and heavy vehicles are inappropriate to patrols in narrow streets in built-up areas. He agrees there is a shortage of thermal sights in Sergeant Brown's area, but not in others, and says more have been requested. He says there is enough equipment to do the job, but also says that if they had more, the troops could do more.

CAMERON

David Cameron is taking another step away from the Conservatives' policies of the past. He'll confirm this morning that the party has shifted its position on tackling poverty. He'll argue that it isn't absolute, but relative, with the poorest struggling to keep up as the rest of society prospers. And Mr Cameron will say that the Conservatives will take action to tackle it.

HERCEPTIN

A team of cancer specialists have issued a stark warning about the knock-on effects of the decision by the NHS to offer the breast cancer drug, Herceptin, to women in the early stages of the disease. In an article in the British Medical Journal, they say the cost of the treatment means other cancer patients may lose out. On the Today programme, Dr Tom Roques, who's the Consultant Clinical Oncologist at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, said the NHS was getting no extra funding for the drug:

ROQUES: What I see, as an oncologist practising every day, is that our budgets in our department are going down, and we're having to make some difficult decisions about which patients we can treat realistically. And our concern is that the media pressure, the pressure from individual patients and from the drug industry is telling us what we should and shouldn't be giving to patients, rather than an informed, reasoned debate.

BLAIR

The prime minister is to argue that independence for Scotland would put at risk prosperity and jobs. Tony Blair's comments -- in a speech to the Scottish Labour Party conference in Oban -- follow a series of polls suggesting the Scottish National Party is edging ahead of Labour.

LABOUR

The Labour Party has defended the policy of obliging councillors to pay a levy to local Labour groups -- after a former council leader in Sunderland quit the party in protest. Bryn Sidaway has said he believes a request from Labour that he should pay it a percentage of his allowances as a councillor is unlawful. He's refused to pay. In response, Labour said the levy had been approved by the last party conference. It said local branches collected it for the benefit of the whole group, so it would be wrong for some councillors not to contribute.

YACHT

A British yachtsman was rescued this morning after his boat capsized during the round-the-world race. Alex Thomson was stranded for twenty-four hours after his yacht overturned about a thousand miles south-east of the Cape of Good Hope. Another British competitor, Mike Golding, turned back to pick him up. Alex Thomson spoke by satellite link shortly before the rescue:

THOMSON: This is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. This boat has been my life for the last three years, and it really doesn't feel right to be leaving her behind.

DRINKING

The new licensing laws which let some pubs and clubs in England and Wales serve drinks for twenty-four hours are a year old. Research has suggested that fears that late-night drinking could cause a big increase in anti-social behaviour may have been unfounded. Tim Muffett reports:

MUFFETT: According to a YouGov poll, the impact of new licensing laws hasn't been as bad as many predicted. It says eighty-five per cent of pub-goers felt the changes had made no difference to the number of occasions they went out, or the times at which they did so. Some police forces, though, have noticed a change. Northamptonshire Police say the new laws are putting a strain on resources, as officers now have to work later. Brighton and Hove Police say less serious crimes in public places have gone up by more than thirty-six per cent. Serious violent crime there has dropped, though, and generally they say they welcome the new laws. Licensing minister, Shaun Woodward, has said it's early days, but that there are encouraging signs the overall effect has been positive.

MATERNITY

A survey has found that many businesses are concerned about extra administration and costs involved in new legal rights for working parents. Nearly fifteen-hundred firms were questioned for the study. Here's our Labour Affairs Correspondent, Stephen Cape:

CAPE: The legislation will, from next April, extend maternity and adoption pay from six to nine months, give carers the right to request flexible working, and fathers could get up to twenty-six weeks additional paternity leave. But the survey found that only around one-in-ten employers think that the new rights will benefit their organisations. Smaller firms could have greater problems. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, which carried out the research, said that employers recognise the importance of work-life balance, but there was scepticism about some of the provisions outlined in the legislation.

ASHES

Cricket: with three days of the first Ashes Test in Brisbane left to play, it looks like a draw is the best England can hope for. They finished the second day on 53 for three, having seen Australia declare their first innings on 602 for nine. The Australian captain, Ricky Ponting, made 196. Glenn McGrath took the wickets of both England's openers - Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook - in successive deliveries when the score was on 28. At the close, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen were the not-out batsmen.