Stormont approves four-year budget plan

The Stormont Executive has approved a four-year budget plan aimed at absorbing €4bn of spending cuts in Northern Ireland.

The move comes after marathon late-night talks at Stormont Castle between the main parties in the region's power-sharing coalition government.

While the Democratic Unionists, Sinn Féin and the Alliance Party all approved the budget, the SDLP and Ulster Unionists abstained.