Twenty people are facing charges of fraud following a garda investigation into car accidents that were allegedly staged to claim insurance payouts.

Children playing in the street found a sawn-off shotgun and passed it around “as if it was a toy”, police said.

Two men were being questioned today about suspected loyalist paramilitary blackmail and extortion.

Police have seized £1.75m (€2.55m) worth of drugs in a major operation across Greater Belfast, they revealed today.

Russian sports officials today derided allegations against a reputed mobster charged with conspiring to fix figure skating results at the Salt Lake City Olympics.