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[JohnCenaFan28]

Tributes have been paid to the children's TV presenter Tony Hart who has died at the age of 83.

He appeared on art programmes for nearly 50 years before retiring in 2001 because of health problems but was most famous for fronting children's art shows including Take Hart and Hartbeat.

His agent Roc Renals said he died in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Fellow artist and television presenter Rolf Harris described him as "a very gentle and talented guy".

He said: "He brought huge creativity to his TV programmes Vision On and Take Hart, particularly using unexpected sources and materials. He enthused and inspired a whole generation of kids into creating their own works of art, simple or complex."

His shows inspired generations of children to get involved in art. He was also instrumental in the early success of Aardman Animations, creators of the Oscar-winning adventures of Wallace and Gromit.

The company was set up by students David Sproxton and Peter Lord but only went full-time when they created the character of Morph for Take Hart.

A spokesman for the company said: "It's a very, very sad day. Without that programme and without Morph there would be no Aardman.

"Every animator that comes through the Aardman studio has to make a Morph and animate it. It's a tradition and if they can make it properly then they are probably good enough for Aardman.

"Even Nick Park made a Morph when he joined Aardman."

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

The Government will set out plans to pour billions of pounds more of taxpayers' money into Britain's struggling banks in a bid to restore confidence and get credit flowing again.

Officials worked throughout the weekend to finalise the second bail-out in three months which is expected to see the Government increase its stake in the banks while underwriting up to £200 billion of so-called "toxic assets".

The Treasury had been looking at the proposals for some weeks after it became clear that the initial £37 billion bail-out in October had failed to provide a sufficient platform for normal lending to resume.

However they were given added urgency by Friday's dramatic stock market falls amid fears that the banks were set to reveal further massive write-downs in the forthcoming results season.

Gordon Brown, in Egypt for an international summit on the Gaza crisis, said that the measures were intended restore lending to businesses and households amid fears that the shortage of credit is driving Britain deeper into recession.

"We know that the essential problem, that has been held back by what has been happening internationally over the last few months, is the resumption of lending and the expansion of lending," he said.

"What we want to do is see businesses get the money that they need to be able to create jobs and secure investment for the future. What I want to see is people who are mortgage holders having access to mortgages at prices they can afford. That's what tomorrow's programme is all about."

It appears that the plan has two main elements. One involves an insurance scheme for the "toxic assets" which the banks were left with after the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market in the United States. Under such a scheme, the banks would pay a fee to have their bad loans underwritten by the taxpayer up to a certain level.

This would help "ring fence" the bad assets - estimated at around £200 billion - and limit their losses, freeing-up capital which could then be used to lend to individuals and businesses.

The second element could see the Government ease the terms of its original bail-out in which it took preference shares in some of the banks. These carried an onerous 12% rate of interest, encouraging the banks to pay them back as quickly as possible at the expense of lend.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he could see a "clear path to peace" in the Middle East in the wake of the ceasefires declared by both sides in the Gaza conflict.

Mr Brown was speaking in Jerusalem as his Israeli counterpart Ehud Olmert declared that he wants to withdraw his troops from the Palestinian territory as soon as it is clear that Hamas intends to stick to its cessation of rocket attacks on the south of the country.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, announced its own ceasefire, shortly after Israel halted its 22-day air and ground offensive, which has claimed more than 1,200 Palestinian lives.

The ceasefires came after Mr Brown, together with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel wrote to Mr Olmert offering European help in stemming the flow of arms to Hamas by sea and through tunnels linking the enclave to Egypt.

Mr Brown confirmed that this could mean the involvement of Royal Navy ships intercepting smugglers in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The three leaders were among a group of European leaders who held talks with Mr Olmert at his Jerusalem residence after attending a hastily arranged international summit in Egypt to discuss the next steps forward in Gaza.

Speaking in Jerusalem, Mr Brown said: "The task before us is not just a ceasefire, and it is not just an end to arms-trafficking. It is building a permanent peace - and that means security for Israel within its borders and the viability, economically and socially, of a Palestinian state.

"Permanent peace may seem a very distant prospect at the moment, but through the anguish and through the suffering and through the tears, I can see a road towards that peace."

Mr Brown said he hoped it will now be possible for Israel to withdraw its troops from Gaza and to permit the reopening of border crossings linking the enclave with the outside world, adding: "I believe that that would constitute the next stage, following the ceasefire, that would make possible the resumption of talks that are necessary for a permanent peace."

Most people now understood the "contours" of a possible two-state solution to the Middle East conflict, said Mr Brown, adding that he believes the incoming administration of US President-elect Barack Obama - who takes office on Tuesday - will want to make the same effort to achieve a lasting peace.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Housing minister Margaret Beckett has claimed there are signs of an "upturn" in the property market, despite record price falls.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, she even expressed concern about the dangers of a new inflationary bubble in house prices once the economy picks up again and mortgage lending resumes.

Her comments risked igniting a fresh political row similar to that of business minister Baroness Vadera who made a much-ridiculed claim last week that she could see the "green shoots of recovery".

Following her remarks, Gordon Brown was forced to step in and declare that the Government was "never complacent" about the economy.

In Mrs Beckett's interview, she said there were recent "indications" that interest among homebuyers was picking up, despite the crash in property prices.

"We're hearing indications of certainly a maintenance of customer interest, possibly even a bit of a pick-up," she said

"Some people have been saying the appetite to buy has gone through the floor, but clearly we've had this anecdotal evidence of a bit of an upturn in interest."

Her comments were thought to be based on a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) survey which found that the number of new buyers registering with estate agents had risen to its highest level since 2006.

However, it also reported that the number of sales per agent had slumped to its lowest level since the survey began in 1978.

Mrs Beckett said there was now "considerable pent-up and growing demand" for houses which could lead to an "inflationary bottleneck" unless more homes are built.

-Nova