Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary, Theresa Villiers, has described the recent trouble in Belfast as "simply incomprehensible".

Police have fired baton rounds and deployed water cannon on rioters as violence linked to the Union Flag row flared in east Belfast again.

Politicians and church leaders are holding talks in the North this afternoon in an attempt to stem loyalist street violence over the flying of the Union flag.

Police were attacked for a third night, with frontline officers reportedly coming under gunfire as fresh loyalist violence erupted in the North over the flying of the Union Flag.

Loyalists attacked police in east Belfast tonight in a new outbreak of street disorder linked to protests against the decision to restrict the flying of the Union Flag above the City Hall.

Loyalists blocked roads across Belfast tonight as part of a mass protest over flags.

Violence which erupted in Belfast after a controversial vote on the Union flag was unacceptable, Northern Ireland’s First Minister warned today.

An estimated 30 people were injured this afternoon after a double decker bus toppled over close to Belfast's Central Station.

Paramilitaries were not behind overnight clashes in east Belfast which left six police officers injured, a senior officer said.

Six police officers were injured and seven people were arrested during overnight clashes in east Belfast, the PSNI said today.

An off-duty PSNI officer who shot a man dead at an east Belfast petrol station in February will not be prosecuted, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has said.

The North's Police Ombudsman has launched an investigation after a suspected armed robber was shot dead by an off-duty police officer.

At least 200 suspects are being hunted by detectives investigating serious republican rioting in north Belfast, it was revealed today.

Three men are due in court in the North later today charged in connection with a riot on Monday night.

Serious rioting broke out in east Belfast last night with police firing plastic bullets during clashes between nationalist youths and loyalists.

There was renewed sectarian strife in east Belfast last night as loyalist and nationalist youths clashed.

Three PSNI vehicles were damaged last night during street clashes between rival gangs in east Belfast.

A motion was tonight passed in the Northern Ireland Assembly condemning the display of imitation weapons during a Sinn Féin sponsored rally through the centre of Belfast.

Racist thugs who chased teenage Indian cricketers through the streets of Belfast have reached a new low, it was claimed today.

Loyalist gunmen opened fire on police and soldiers for a second night running amid ferocious new rioting on the streets of the North.

Police and civilians were injured as loyalist gunmen opened fire during ferocious rioting on the streets of Belfast today.

The second phase of a multi-million pound facelift for Belfast was launched today.

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.

THIRTEEN police officers were injured after sectarian rioting erupted in a bitterly divided Belfast neighbourhood, it emerged yesterday.

An independent team of observers is needed to establish who is responsible for triggering street clashes along one of Belfast’s sectarian interfaces, it was claimed today.

A loyalist initiative to reduce tensions in Belfast has been put on hold after a fresh bout of rioting in the east of the city last night.

The launch of a loyalist initiative aimed at reducing tensions in Belfast was put on hold tonight when fresh violence broke out in the east of the city.

Tension rose in a sectarian flashpoint area of Belfast amid reports of gunfire in the north of the city.

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

Three people were shot last night as sectarian rioting erupted around the nationalist enclave of Short Strand in east Belfast last night.

Three Australian tourists were today beaten by a mob wielding iron bars in east Belfast.