Ulster Unionist rebel expelled from party

Rebel Ulster Unionist assembly member Peter Weir has been expelled from the party.

The party has thrown out Mr Weir for defying instructions to back David Trimble's re-election as Northern Ireland First Minister.

A disciplinary hearing in Belfast has suspended another dissident UUP assembly member Pauline Armitage after she too failed to toe the party line.

The pair had resisted efforts to back Mr Trimble's return to the top post in the Stormont power-sharing executive after expressing scepticism at the IRA's recent disarmament move.