Student police officers in Northern Ireland have been issued with personal protection weapons because of an increased terrorist threat, it emerged today.

A teenager is in a serious condition in hospital in the North after he was viciously attacked.

SIXTEEN soldiers were injured during overnight sectarian street clashes in flashpoint east Belfast.

Sixteen soldiers were injured during overnight sectarian street clashes in flashpoint east Belfast.

The British army has fired a number of baton rounds during disturbances in east Belfast, a spokeswoman for the Police Service for Northern Ireland said today.

David Trimble vowed not to quit as Ulster Unionist leader last night, amid a new challenge from hard-line party members over his power-sharing with Sinn Féin.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble was due to discuss the security situation in Belfast with police chiefs today as pressure mounted within his party to end power sharing with Sinn Fein.

THE British Government was under pressure last night to drop one of its police reforms in Northern Ireland to help the security forces cope with sectarian violence.

Police in Northern Ireland are over-stretched and some officers are at “breaking point”, the province’s policing chief warned today.

A second family is launching a legal action against the British government and police over claims that the Omagh bomb atrocity could have been prevented, it was confirmed tonight.

Senior police officers are today deciding how long to keep security barriers in place preventing the Portadown Orangemen from completing their traditional route back from Drumcree church.

Portadown Orangemen today pledged to remain peaceful as they set off on Northern Ireland’s volatile loyalist parade.

Republican terrorists in Northern Ireland are planning to carry out either a political assassination or a major bomb attack, it was claimed today.

Acting Chief Constable of the PSNI, Colin Cramphorn, has described the loyalist and republican paramilitary threat as ‘very real’ last year, and was reflected in the rise in shootings and bombings.

The police service of Northern Ireland is to publish it's first annual report later today.

Water cannon will be used in a bid to clear sectarian rioters off the streets of Belfast, police have said.

Water cannons are set to be used on the streets of Belfast in the next 24 hours in a bid to clear sectarian rioters off the streets.

Northern Ireland’s most senior police officer was today set to be quizzed about paramilitary involvement in the sectarian violence engulfing parts of Belfast.

Belfast erupted in sectarian violence for the fourth night in a row after loyalist and republican gunmen wounded three people.

The North’s chief of police says that the current violence in Belfast is pushing the province towards a fresh nightmare.

Northern Ireland’s new chief constable is expected to be announced today following interviews in Belfast.

Northern Ireland’s policing board was tonight preparing to shortlist for the chief constable’s job - as one of those thought to be in contention was ruled out.

The British government has agreed to install 45 new surveillance cameras at sectarian flashpoints areas in north Belfast in an effort to identify those responsible for almost nightly violence in the area.

The Northern Ireland Security Minister will decide within days whether to go ahead with a police plan to erect a mass of security cameras in strike-torn north Belfast, it was confirmed today.

The Ulster Unionist Council has pledged to take ‘‘further action’’ following the discovery of a list of senior Conservatives in IRA intelligence files.

There is no evidence that the IRA is poised to resume its terror campaign, Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid insisted today hours after it emerged that a republican hit list had been found.

Names of British Conservative politicians have been discovered on a republican hit list in Belfast.

The closing date for applications to run the new Northern Ireland Police Force was passing today, with the North's acting chief constable expected to rule himself out of the race.

Northern Ireland’s acting chief constable Colin Cramphorn is set to rule himself out of the race to become the reformed police force's next leader.

The first trainees from Northern Ireland’s new police force were today preparing to graduate at an historic ceremony in Belfast.

The Ulster Defence Association has given an undertaking it will ensure loyalists living in a sectarian flashpoint area of north Belfast behave responsibly over the coming days, it was claimed today.

The first trainees from Northern Ireland’s new police force were today preparing to graduate at an historic ceremony in Belfast.

Tensions in north Belfast were on a knife edge tonight amid fears that the bitter sectarian violence blighting the area could spiral out of control.

More than 100 high-ranking police officers from both sides of the Irish border staged a formalised meeting for the first time today - in line with a recommendation incorporated in the report on policing in Northern Ireland by European Commissioner and former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland moved today to defuse a row which threatens to overshadow the graduation of its first new recruits next week.

Resistance mounted today over plans to give outgoing chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan a key role in the graduation ceremony for the first recruits to Northern Ireland’s new police service.

Recruitment plans for Northern Ireland’s next chief constable were set to be rubber-stamped at a policing board meeting in Belfast today.

Two of the North’s most senior police officers could be out of the running to become the next chief constable, it emerged today.

Ronnie Flanagan is to stay on as Northern Ireland chief constable for an extra month.

Ronnie Flanagan is poised to delay his departure as Northern Ireland Chief Constable by one month until the end of March, it emerged today.

The North’s police board is locked in talks this afternoon over whether police chief constable Ronnie Flanagan should remain in his job until a suitable replacement is found.