Two Bombs 'Viable'

Residents have this morning been allowed back into their homes after they had to be evacuated in separate alerts. One was from the Mayfield Road area of Mallusk after a 'viable' pipe bomb was discovered in the garden of one of the properties. Army technical officers attended the scene at 2am on Wednesday morning following reports of the suspicious object. Residents were allowed to return to their homes shortly before 6am. Earlier, the PSNI said a device, described as "viable", was discovered at Isadore Avenue, off the Springfield Road in west Belfast at around 1.30am. Army bomb experts removed the bomb for further examination and residents who had been evacuated from their homes were allowed to return shortly before 5am.

Bangor Murder In Court

A 35-year-old man has appeared in the dock in Belfast charged with murdering a man in Bangor, Co Down last month. He is Peter Greer from Mountcollyer Avenue in Belfast and he was charged with shooting 56-year-old Duncan Morrison at a house at Hazelbrook Avenue in the seaside town and is also accused of trying to kill Stephen Ritchie in the same attack. He denies both charges and is due to appear in court again next month. Another man is already in custody charged with the killing.

Barrel Body Named

Gardai have launched a murder investigation following the discovery of a man's body in a barrel in a field in County Clare. The man has been identified as 21-year-old Eoin Ryan. He was found around 7am on Tuesday in Cappaghbeg, five miles from Ennis. Gardai confirmed Mr Ryan died from head injuries as a result of an extremely violent assault. A cement block was found about 500 metres away from his body. A man in his 30s was arrested a short time after the discovery. He was arrested following a phone call to gardaí by a member of the public. Both men are from the local area. The scene has been sealed off for a technical examination.

Frogs Spawn Cure

Scientists at Queen's University Belfast have won an award for work on frog and toad skins which could lead to treatments for over 70 major diseases. The researchers received the commendation at the Medical Futures Innovation Awards in London on Monday. Led by Professor Chris Shaw at Queen's School of Pharmacy, it has identified two proteins which can regulate how blood vessels grow and discovered that a protein from the waxy monkey frog can inhibit the growth of blood vessels and could be used to kill cancer tumours as most cancer tumours can only grow to a certain size before they need blood vessels to grow into the tumour to supply it with vital oxygen and nutrients.

LPS In Office Move

The NI Land & Property Services (LPS) rating office currently located at Londonderry House, Chichester Street, is relocating to Lincoln Building, 27 Great Victoria Street, Belfast. The rating office located at Londonderry House will then close permanently on Friday 17 June as customers will be able to access services related to rating, mapping, land registration and valuation in Lincoln Building. See: citizen information See: business information

Rural Health Focus

The NI Health Minister Edwin Poots has this week confirmed his commitment to ensuring that those living in rural areas have access to high quality health and social care services. The Minister was speaking at the launch of the Patient and Client Council's (P&CC) report 'Rural Voices Matter' in Cookstown: "I am committed to ensuring equitable access to health and social care services for all the people of Northern Ireland regardless of where they live," he said. "My underlying priority as Minister will be to drive up the quality of services and outcomes for patients and to ensure that service users are at the heart of everything we do. We will have to look at different options for the delivery of care. This will include the optimum networks and practices for treating stroke and cardiac emergencies to deliver the best possible outcomes."

UK Sports For Belfast

The NI Sports Minister Carál Ní Chuilín has welcomed sports coaches from Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales to Belfast for their annual summit. The theme of the summit, which took place in Belfast for the first time was 'National to Local; Local to National'. Speaking at a reception at the Belfast Harbour Commissioners, Sinn Fein's Carál Ní Chuilín outlined the important role of the sports coach. She said: "It is the sports coach who makes the participation experience fun, fulfilling and worthwhile. It is the sports coach who helps and encourages us to take part in and improve at our chosen sport. It is the sports coach who inspires our best athletes to success," noting that "my own sports strategy, Sport Matters, identified improving and developing coaching as a major issue to be tackled over the next 10 years."

(BMcC/GK)