A teachers‘ strike which has closed a secondary school for a week was today branded as “corporate abuse” of children’s rights.

The decision to suspend striking teachers’ pay in Northern Ireland will be reviewed if they agree to seek mediation, the education minister said today.

Teachers expected to join industrial action at a secondary school in the North called today for independent mediators to become involved.

The North's Children's Commissioner today called on all sides involved in the classroom assistants' strike to put children first and quickly resolve the dispute.

Children in the North are being short changed on personal social service spending, it has been revealed.

A Northern Assembly motion condemning plans by the British government to introduce equality legislation for gays, lesbians and bisexuals in the New Year fell today after a dead heat.

Nearly 400 rapes were reported in the North this year, it was revealed today.

Politicians opposed to the seven new super councils planned for the North were accused today of being more concerned about their own careers than what is best for local government.

Windows were smashed and fireworks set off during a series of racist attacks last night on three homes in the North.

Two teenagers were arrested today after a Co Antrim primary school preparing to celebrate its centenary was extensively damaged in a fire being treated as arson.

DETECTIVES in Co Antrim were yesterday hunting a teenager who raped a 15-year-old girl in an alleyway.

A youth was arrested tonight in connection with the rape of a 15-year-old girl in Co Antrim.

Tensions are high in Belfast ahead of a disputed Orange parade through the city.

A Zimbabwean churchman appealed to the British government today not to forcibly send back hundreds of people who have fled from the Mugabe regime.

A gloating rapist called his teenage victim’s mother on a stolen mobile phone to tell her about the depraved attack, police revealed today.

A local government election candidate was today accused of choosing the wrong target after he called for the Northern Ireland Children’s Commissioner’s budget to be slashed to offset the education cash crisis.

A MAN was being questioned by police last night after Northern Ireland’s knife culture resulted in another murder.

The leadership of the Provisional IRA has officially denied any involvement in last month's Northern Bank heist in Belfast.

Thugs who threw a 16-month-old baby from a car and savagely beat his father when he tried to prevent them stealing a vehicle deserve to be locked up for a long time, police said today.

The Democratic Unionists’ negotiating position is blocking a return to power sharing at Stormont, it was claimed today.

Children’s rights organisations in the North have attacked new laws intended to tackle anti-social behaviour which came into force today, claiming they do not work.

Northern Ireland taxpayers could bear the brunt of a UK Treasury drive to make them pay more for public services unless devolution returns quickly, SDLP leader Mark Durkan warned today.

A new human rights chief will be appointed in Northern Ireland within months, the British government announced today.

Police in the North are investigating a suspected homophobic attack on the home of a gay man in Derry last night.

The distraught parents of a 16-year-old girl found murdered at an isolated spot today made an emotional appeal for help in finding her killer.

The murder of a teenage girl whose half naked body was found at a beauty spot was today branded as “pure evil“.

Ten members of the SDLP tonight put their names in the hat for the party’s nomination for this June’s European Parliament election.

IT is the duty of all people in Northern Ireland to unite to tackle racism, the Lord Mayor of Belfast told a rally yesterday.

It is the duty of all people in the North to tackle racism, a rally was told today.

The DUP’s Health Spokesperson, Iris Robinson, claims a midwife told her that pregnant African women were arriving in the North to give birth, to claim British citizenship for their babies.

With all 108 seats filled in the Northern Ireland Assembly the party shares are:

In Fermanagh South Tyrone, anti-Agreement UUP candidate Arlene Foster and Sinn Féin's Michelle Gildernew have been elected.

Britain's Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy was today hitting the election campaign trail in Northern Ireland in support of his sister party, Alliance.

Up to 20 children are working as prostitutes in Northern Ireland, it was claimed tonight.

A POLICEWOMAN was critically ill last night after a man who sought refuge at the station where she was working bludgeoned her with a 5ft-long steel bar.

A policewoman was critically ill tonight after a man who sought refuge at the station where she was working bludgeoned her with a 5ft-long steel bar.

The policewoman critically ill after being attacked in a PSNI station in Northern Ireland was bludgeoned with an iron bar, it has emerged.

The man who has been spearheading the fight to protect children from Internet abuse was today appointed the first Commissioner for Children and Young People in Northern Ireland.

A man shot dead by police in Northern Ireland had been at the centre of a drugs surveillance operation, it emerged tonight.

Police in the North have shot and killed a man in his 20s after the car he was travelling in allegedly struck two officers on the Crumlin Road near Lisburn, Co Antrim, last night.

MURDER inquiry detectives were yesterday questioning a man about a woman’s body found dumped in a river.

Northern Ireland murder inquiry detectives were today questioning a man about a woman’s body found dumped in a river.

A body apparently seen on security cameras being dumped in a river overnight was found by police in Northern Ireland today.

Dissident republican terrorists were tonight blamed for a failed bomb attack on the outskirts of Belfast.