  We summarize recent work on the evaluation of the scale invariant
next-to-leading order Lipatov kernel, constructed via transverse momentum
diagrams. At zero momentum transfer the square of the leading-order kernel
appears together with an additional component, now identified as a new
partial-wave amplitude, having a separate, holomorphically factorizable,
spectrum. We present a simplified expression for the full kernel at non-zero
momentum transfer and give a complete analysis of its infrared properties. We
also construct a non-forward extension of the new amplitude which is infra-red
finite and satifies Ward identity constraints. We conjecture that this new
kernel has the conformal invariance properties corresponding to the holomorphic
factorization of the forward spectrum.
