A young mother has been raped while out walking near Bessbrook, Co Armagh, with her two children.

The threat to police from dissident republicans is extremely high following a bomb attack in Armagh, a senior officer warned today.

Police in the North have described yesterday's bomb attack in Armagh as a "totally reckless" act that was designed to kill or wound police officers.

Police are investigating the cause of an explosion in the North tonight.

Three people including a four-year-old child escaped injury after a gun attack on their home.

Police in the North faced growing anger tonight after being accused of abandoning an area prior to a car bomb attack.

Police faced heavy criticism today for the time taken to respond to a car bomb attack outside one of their stations in the North.

Dissident republicans were blamed for a car bomb attack at a court in the North last night.

A huge bomb planted close to the border was intended to murder police officers, a security chief said tonight.

A viable bomb has been discovered on a pavement in Armagh, police said today.

The reappearance of paramilitary checkpoints on the streets of Northern Ireland was tonight branded sinister and unwelcome.

Differing messages have been delivered at Easter commemorations around the North today.

The North's Department of Education faces a potential £2.4m (€2.69m) bill for a legal challenge to its school-building programme, it was revealed today.

POLICE in the North confirmed they are treating the death of a pensioner whose body was found in her home on Christmas morning as suspicious.

Police in the North are treating the death of an 81-year-old woman in Newry as suspicious.

Defendants in court cases in the North would have the right to give evidence in Irish under new proposals to protect the rights of Irish speakers launched today.

The SDLP today proposed its own legislative proposals to protect the rights of Irish speakers in the North.

An end to a teaching strike which has left hundreds of Northern Ireland school pupils out of class may be in sight, the Stormont education committee claimed today.

A DUP councillor returned home to find smoke billowing from the roof of his house in a suspected sectarian attack in south Armagh, it was revealed today.

Footballers from the North who want to play for the Republic will have to meet tough restrictions, it was confirmed today.

The North's police force will not be accepted in border areas for generations unless the murder of a man by IRA members is solved, his family warned today.

The Northern Ireland Assembly is to debate claims that current and former Provisional IRA members murdered Paul Quinn.

The parents of murdered Co Armagh man Paul Quinn met with Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny tonight as part of their ongoing campaign for justice.

THE family of a man murdered in the North two months ago yesterday insisted Sinn Féin must withdraw allegations he was a victim of a dispute between criminals before they will talk to the party.

THE parents of Paul Quinn, the 21-year-old who was murdered in a shed in Co Monaghan, were yesterday given assurances by the Taoiseach that his killing would be vigorously investigated.

FOREIGN Minister Dermot Ahern has said the Government “have no evidence Paul Quinn was a criminal”.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has assured the family of murder victim Paul Quinn that the Irish Government does not believe their son was a criminal.

The family of a man murdered along the Border two months ago are to raise directly with the Irish Government allegations that IRA members were involved.

IRA MEN last night stood accused of carrying out the murder of Paul Quinn last month.

A drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre on the border has been forced to close its doors because it could not address health and fire safety concerns, it emerged tonight.

Catholic schools in the North could lose out under the government’s shake-up of education because of bias from the new central authority, it was claimed today.

An Assembly committee is to hear of alleged failing in the further education sector in the North today.

The DUP and Sinn Féin were making significant gains in the Northern Ireland Assembly Elections.

A major policy document on a proposed all-Ireland economy will be launched today by the nationalist SDLP in Dublin.

FOUR brothers who turned up at Louth Hospital, Dundalk, suffering from severe burns, are to be interviewed by gardaí in connection with the arson attack on an Armagh couple in their home.

REPUBLICANS must do more to end the suffering of families whose loved ones mysteriously vanished during Northern Ireland’s Troubles, the SDLP said yesterday.

Dissident republicans have been blamed for a series of arson attacks which destroyed major retail premises near the border today.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain will hold crisis talks with Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams today following the unmasking of a trusted aide to the West Belfast MP as a British spy.

A SDLP delegation will discuss all-Ireland transport issues with Transport Minister Martin Cullen in Dublin today.

The Irish Government today pledged support to the SDLP on sporting and tourism proposals like an Olympics-standard athletics arena in Derry and a 400th anniversary commemoration of the Flight of the Earls next year.

Tourism infrastructure must be developed on an all-Ireland basis to ensure the entire country reaps the economic benefits, it was claimed today.

Bertie Ahern will face calls today to stand up to Ian Paisley in talks to restore devolution in Northern Ireland.

THE British Government faced new demands yesterday to free a republican jailed for refusing to testify to an inquiry into the Bloody Sunday killings.

In the North, prayers have been said for Annetta Flanigan, the Armagh-born woman who is being held hostage in Afghanistan along with two other UN workers.