Banks under the cosh as £1 tumbles towards €1

December 11, 2008 NEWS BULLETIN Dear Reader Visit Times Online today, for dynamic news and views, videos, podcasts and blogs, plus your chance to comment Today's headlines Banks under the cosh as £1 tumbles towards €1 Ministers pressure banks to increase lending while the Bank of England looks into a crisis strategy of buying-up bad debts Childcare bad for babies, working parents warned Parents and governments are taking a 'high-stakes gamble' with the long-term wellbeing of children, claims a Unicef report 5,000 US troops to help British in Afghanistan Ministers are due to examine whether British reinforcements will also be sent to boost the present force of 8,100 in Helmand Merkel turns her back on EU's green dream Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, is fighting to reverse key targets she once championed in a bid to shield German industry OTHER HEADLINES UK Brown refuses to back assisted suicides law Prime Minister criticised for breaching convention of government neutrality by expressing a view on an issue of conscience World Jesse Jackson Jr caught-up in Obama seat scandal The Congressman-son of the civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson has said he was contacted by federal prosecutors Business BBC merger plan to prevent C4 from going bust Channel 4 deal being discussed by regulators and ministers would see it joined with the the profitable BBC Worldwide Sport Feeble Arsenal crash to another defeat Porto 2 Arsenal 0: after treatment of Emmanuel Eboue on Saturday, perhaps whole team will be booed after this display BLOGS News blog: the big stories of the day from the newsdesk Inside Iraq: Deborah Haynes writing from Baghdad Charles Bremner: Paris blog from The Times France correspondent IFA Search Find specialist local IFAs E-paper Get The Times and Sunday Times printed layout on your PC or mobile Job hunting? Executive positions from The Times and Sunday Sunday Times Dating Meet like-minded individuals for love and friendship Free Credit Report Get your credit report for free Legal Advice Search for legal specialists If you no longer wish to receive the News Bulletin, please click here to unsubscribe. If you wish to speak to a Customer Services Representative, please call 020 7860 1133. You have received this e-mail from a member of the News International Group. News International Limited, 1 Virginia Street, London E98 1XY, is the holding company for the News International Group and is registered in England No 81701. VAT number GB 243 8054 69 Times Newspapers Ltd is a member of the Direct Marketing Association and registered under the Data Protection Act 1998. To see our privacy policy, click here.