Ministers mull £20bn loan scheme
Ministers are considering plans to guarantee up to £20bn of loans to small businesses to help them survive the downturn, the BBC has learned.
The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said the scheme, which could be announced on Wednesday, was designed to address the severe lack of credit.
In return for a fee, the state would effectively insure banks against firms defaulting on their loan payments.
The Conservatives have urged ministers to underwrite £50bn of loans to firms.
Debt concerns
In recent days, Gordon Brown has suggested that further measures to help businesses struggling to get by in the current economic climate were imminent.
The BBC understands that ministers have met to draw up plans to provide loan guarantees to firms amid concerns that the banking crisis is threatening the survival of thousands of businesses.
The plans being looked at would represent a huge extension of a loan guarantee scheme announced in last year's pre-Budget report.
Under the plans being discussed, the taxpayer would foot the cost of the bill if the loans could not be repaid, with potential implications for the government's already rising debt levels.
However, since the banks will share the risks of these loans with the taxpayer, the cost will be less than the total sum guaranteed.
The Conservatives want a much larger £50bn national loans guarantee scheme to get credit flowing again and help firms being affected by the unwillingness of banks to lend due to the impact of the credit crunch.
They have said that their scheme would not expose the taxpayer to any risk but Labour says that is totally unrealistic.
The development comes after another day of substantial job losses and Conservative claims that Labour's economic mismanagement will saddle every child born in the future with £17,000 of debt.
BBC
Anti-gang banning orders planned
Young people who join gangs could face banning orders to control their movements and prevent gun and knife crime, the BBC has learned.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith wants anti- gang injunctions, following a legal battle over a similar move last year.
Birmingham City Council sought to help the police with civil injunctions - but judges ruled them illegal.
The plan emerges as a think tank report says ministers could do more to combat gun and knife violence.
In 2007, Birmingham City Council sought injunctions against alleged members of the self-styled "Birmingham's Most Wanted" gang, in an attempt to curtail violence in the city.
Two men, Marnie Shafi and Tyrone Ellis, were banned from meeting gang members or entering parts of the city. They were told they could no longer wear the colour green, used to distinguish the group from rivals.
The council sought the injunctions in the civil courts because it had proved too difficult to gather hard evidence pinning anti-social or criminal behaviour to gang membership.
The case against the men was based on police intelligence, rather than the higher standard of proof required for an Anti-social Behaviour Order (Asbo) or conviction by a jury.
But the Court of Appeal overruled the city, saying the council had misused its powers. Judges said the council should have sought Asbos based on proper proof of wrongdoing.
A Home Office spokesman said then home secretary had "long supported local injunctions" and would soon introduce legislation giving police and councils powers to seek them against gang members.
The BBC understands the proposals will be included in the forthcoming policing bill.
Dedicated police
The legislation is expected to allow councils to seek banning orders on a lower standard of evidence than required for Anti-social Behaviour Orders.
Ayoub Khan, of Birmingham City Council, said it had pioneered civil injunctions because officials could not gather evidence to a criminal standard of proof needed for an Asbo.
"Through these injunctions, we were able to prevent certain individuals from going in to particular areas or from wearing certain items of clothing which linked them to particular gangs," said Mr Khan.
"We were able to reduce that and restore some order and reduce gang-related activity in Birmingham."
The announcement comes as Policy Exchange, a think tank, said the UK should learn from successful moves to combat gang-related activity in the US, Canada and the Netherlands.
The right-of-centre body said parts of some cities had become virtual "no-go" zones because of gang crime - and that the UK was lacking the joined-up approach seen abroad.
Policy Exchange called for dedicated police to be deployed to schools and further education colleges to reduce the chances of gang activity.
It also called for more data sharing between hospitals and the police to ensure that officers knew more quickly when someone had been stabbed - and so the Home Office was able to collect more accurate figures on victims.
BBC
Cowen denies tension over cuts
The Taoiseach has denied suggestions of tensions between himself and Finance Minister Brian Lenihan over the pace and urgency of spending cuts.
He said the Government was in discussion with the social partners but in the final analysis ministers would be the ones making the decisions.
Brian Cowen was speaking as he began an official visit to Japan.
The country is slipping back into recession against a background of political paralysis.
But there are business opportunities in Japan, which is well placed to service the huge Chinese market.
Many Irish businessmen and women are there on the Enterprise Ireland mission to see if they can tap into that.
RTE
Taoiseach begins Japanese trade mission
he Taoiseach is travelling to Japan for a week-long trade mission.
Brian Cowen will meet the Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and pay a courtesy call on Emperor Akihito during the visit.
The Taoiseach is accompanied by Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith and junior minister for trade John McGuinness.
As well as strengthening business links between the two countries, the mission will also seek the reopening of the Japanese market - closed since the dioxin scare - to our pork products.
During the six-day visit, Mr Cowen and representatives of 70 Irish companies and organisations will visit Tokyo and Osaka.
The trade mission is the largest yet - businesses on both sides of the border are represented - but officials do not expect any dramatic announcements or orders this week.
Instead the message will be one of reassurance that Ireland values the Japanese market and is committed to it for the long term.
Mr Cowen will also meet Prime Minister Aso for talks, and in a country where protocol is all important, an invitation to pay a courtesy call on Emperor Akihito is seen as a significant honour.
RTE
Man stable after Finglas shooting
A man in his early 50s is recovering in hospital after he was shot in north Dublin last night.
The incident is believed to be connected to another shooting which took place in Finglas on Sunday.
Gardaí say a man was shot at a house in Casement Park in Finglas shortly after 8pm last night.
The victim was hit twice in the lower body after at least five shots were fired into the house.
He was taken to Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown with injuries that are described as not life-threatening.
The incident is believed to be connected to a shooting which took place at the Cappagh House pub on Barry Road in Finglas on Sunday.
It is understood the victim of last night's shooting is the father of the 24-year-old man who was shot two days ago.
No arrests have been made in connection with the latest incident.
RTE
Fierce fighting continues in Gaza
Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters fought fierce battles in the streets of Gaza City early today.
Israeli special forces backed by tanks and air strikes moved deeper into Gaza's main city overnight, advancing several hundred metres into several neighbourhoods in the south.
Palestinian fighters fought back with roadside bombs and mortar and gunfire.
The clashes came as the Israeli media widely speculated that the country's leadership may approve an expansion of offensive in Gaza despite ongoing talks in Egypt on how to end the fighting.
The tanks retreated shortly after dawn from the neighbourhoods of Tal al-Hawa and Sheikh Ajlin.
RTE
