A murder hunt was under way in the North today after a man was shot dead as he slept.

A senior police officer in Derry tonight branded as thugs loyalists who left a young Catholic man with life threatening injuries after assaulting him at a barbecue.

A man critically injured in a gun attack in Northern Ireland could be the victim of a loyalist feud, police chiefs warned tonight.

TWO men murdered in separate attacks in Derry may have been beaten to death after fights broke out during drinking bouts, it emerged yesterday.