Get recent posts from Wordpress

recentposts.php

// include in functions.php
function get_recent_posts($num=3){
	$postsQuery = new WP_Query();
	$args=array(
 	'showposts='=> $num,
	'orderby'=>'posted',
	'post_type'=>'post',
	//'taxonomy'=>'category', uncomment to filter posts within a category
	//	'term'=>'news',  e.g.: news - could be anything
	);
	$posts=$postsQuery->query($args);
	$html="<ul class='recent-posts'>";
	foreach($posts as $post){
		$html.="<li><a href='".get_permalink($post->ID)."'>".$post->post_title."</a></li>";

	}
	$html.="</ul>";
	return $html;
}

// usage in template
echo get_recent_posts(1);