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The Derry City and Strabane District Council have voted in favor of moving to officially changing the name of Londonderry to Derry. Unionists are describing the decision, voted upon on Thursday evening, as “sectarian” and “disgusting.” The vote passed with the full support of Sinn Féin, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and the Independent councillors, despite opposition from the minority unionist block. The council will now write to Environment Minister Mark H. Durkan of the SDLP, on how to go about the change. Durkan is himself a native of Derry. According to TheJournal.ie, 28 councillors voted to seek...

Police in Belfast are investigating a photo posted to social media on Monday in which a group of masked men yielding baseball bats, axes and stakes stand before a wall of graffiti that threatens to crucify Catholics. “Taigs will be crucified,” the shocking message reads, using a derogatory term for Irish Catholics. The letters “VTOT” are written below, with a cross. They are believed to stand for “Village Team on Tour,” the name of a loyalist gang in South Belfast. The graffiti was discovered on Monday, when the photo was first shared on social media. It has been widely viewed...

A horrific spinal injury caused by a bronze arrowhead didn't immediately kill an Iron Age warrior, who survived long enough for his bone to heal around the metal point, a new study of his burial in central Kazakhstan finds. "This found individual was extremely lucky to survive," said study researcher Svetlana Svyatko, a research fellow in the school of geography, archaeology and paleoecology at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland. "It's hard to get a vertebral wound without damaging the main blood vessels, which would have resulted in an immediate death."

End austerity: it’s cheating us all; Jobs not Trident; No cuts; Defy Tory rule; Cut war not welfare; Stop fracking; a Living Wage for mothers; and, The Pope gets it, why can’t you? With the slogans emblazoned on banners, posters and flags, anti-austerity marchers shouted slogans, sang, and beat drums, as they walked through London in what is being called the biggest protest march that the city has seen. The ‘End Austerity Now’ demonstration saw participation by an estimated crowd of between 70,000 and 250,000, all coming together to protest against cuts imposed due to austerity, the threats to the...

Veteran actor and gay rights activist Patrick Stewart has defended a Christian bakery which was found guilty of discrimination for refusing to bake a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan. Last month, a judge ruled that Ashers Baking Company in Northern Ireland had discriminated against a gay customer by refusing to make a cake with the words “support gay marriage”, along with a picture of Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street. Gareth Lee commissioned the cake for an event to mark International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. The bakery initially accepted the order, but called Mr. Lee two days later...

Police in Northern Ireland said they are investigating the unauthorized flying of the Irish national flag over Northern Ireland's Parliament Buildings. A representative for the Northern Ireland Assembly confirmed the tricolor Irish flag was flown over Belfast's Parliament Buildings for about 10 minutes Wednesday. "Two flags were flown without permission from the roof," the representative told the BBC. The roof and fourth floor of the Parliament Buildings, commonly referred to as Stormont, are currently under construction, with contractors having complete access to the areas, officials said. "Whatever the motivation behind this there must be a full explanation from the Assembly...

Americans ‘overreacted’ to the 9/11 attacks, according to the newly appointed first female vice-chancellor of Oxford University. Terrorism expert Professor Louise Richardson said the 2001 atrocity provoked such a response because violent extremism was a ‘new experience’ in the US. Widespread panic ensued in America after al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger airliners and flew them into buildings, causing almost 3,000 deaths. In contrast, British citizens have shown themselves to be more ‘resilient’ in the face of terror when dealing with violence during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, she said.

George Galloway has been taken to hospital with a suspected broken jaw after he was attacked on a London street, his spokesman has said.

The Conservatives have opened up a four-point lead over Labour after the biggest surge in their support for two years, a poll has suggested. A Guardian/ ICM poll showed that the Tories are six points up to 36 per cent, only one point short of their result in the 2010 General Election. Labour support fell one point to 32 per cent, while the Liberal Democrats were also down a point to 10 per cent.

“PARA USA regrets its decision to provide firearms for use in the film "Taken 3". While the film itself is entertaining, comments made by its Irish-born star during press junkets reflect a cultural and factual ignorance that undermines support of the Second Amendment and American liberties,” the company posted on its Facebook page. “We will no longer provide firearms for use in films starring Liam Neeson

Investigation after 328-foot turbine buckles at wind farm in County Tyrone despite only light winds A 328-foot tall wind turbine worth more than £2 million pounds has buckled and collapsed on a mountainside in Northern Ireland. Unconfirmed reports suggested the blades of the turbine had spun out of control - despite only light wind speeds - before the structure came crashing to the ground on Friday. Locals claimed the sound of the turbine hitting the mountain could be heard up to seven miles away from the Screggagh wind farm, near Fintona in County Tyrone.

English taxpayers face being held to ransom by Scottish and Welsh nationalists in a 'rainbow' coalition to prop up Labour - despite having voted overwhelmingly for the Conservatives. Even though Labour and the Liberal Democrats have now entered talks over a possible deal, they will only get a Commons majority if they ally themselves with minority parties from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But these parties, such as the SNP and Plaid Cymru, have said they will demand their countries be protected from cuts as a price for keeping Labour in No 10. Although last week's election was inconclusive across...

Northern Ireland’s most prominent anti-abortion activist was convicted Wednesday of harassing the director of Belfast’s only abortion clinic in the latest chapter of a bitter two-year confrontation. Bernadette Smyth, leader of the Precious Life group, was convicted on two counts of threatening Dawn Purvis, who runs British family planning service Marie Stopes’ Belfast branch. It is the only such clinic on the island of Ireland, where abortion is legal only in extreme cases where a woman’s life is deemed at risk from her pregnancy. …

A Northern Ireland man who says he fought against the Islamic State group in Syria appeared in court Saturday charged with terrorism offenses. Eamon Bradley of Londonderry is charged with possessing a grenade and receiving training in arms and explosives. A police officer told the court that the 25-year-old convert to Islam traveled to Syria earlier this year and joined the Army of Islam, a group fighting both the Syrian government and IS. He says he took part in two battles against the regime and one against the Islamic State group. …

Sinn Féin party leader Gerry Adams denied new accusations Thursday that he concealed child-abuse crimes within his own secretive movement, this time allegedly committed by a Belfast officer of the outlawed Irish Republican Army. Mairia Cahill, a member of one of Belfast’s top IRA families, appeared alongside a former foreign minister outside Ireland’s parliament to accuse Adams of conspiring to suppress her reports of being raped by an IRA commander from Adams’ home district in 1997, when she was 16. …

Labour leader says he's open to English-only 'scrutiny' of law but not vetoes. He refused to back English votes for English laws after being asked 13 times. Mr Miliband claims move was drawn up on back of a 'fag packet' by the PM . David Cameron said if Scotland gets new powers so should England. But Mr Miliband said the proposal would mean our 'Parliament being split up'. Mr Miliband says he's 'not in favour of a Commons that becomes divided'. Labour has 41 MPs in Scotland which could help it form a majority next year . ... Why should...

Like Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own regional parliaments... However, England's lack of a similar legislative body has led to a messy situation where Scottish lawmakers can vote on issues that only affect England at the U.K.-wide Westminster parliament ... Just as Scotland will vote separately…on their issues of tax, spending and welfare, so too England, as well as Wales and Northern Ireland, should be able to vote on these issues

"I have long believed that a crucial part missing from this national discussion is England. "We have heard the voice of Scotland - and now the millions of voices of England must also be heard. "The question of English votes for English laws - the so-called West Lothian question -requires a decisive answer. "So, just as Scotland will vote separately in the Scottish Parliament on their issues of tax, spending and welfare so too England, as well as Wales and Northern Ireland, should be able to vote on these issues and all this must take place in tandem with, and...

September 12, 2014 Northern Ireland Firebrand Ian Paisley Dead At 88 DUBLIN -- The Rev. Ian Paisley, the divisive Protestant firebrand who devoted his life to thwarting compromise with Catholics in Northern Ireland only to become a pivotal peacemaker in his twilight years, died Friday in Belfast, his wife said. He was 88. Paisley was Northern Ireland's most polarizing politician throughout its three decades of civil strife, during which the evangelist's blistering oratory was often blamed for fueling the bloodshed that claimed 3,700 lives. Yet at the zenith of his peace-wrecking powers, Paisley in 2007 stunned the world by delivering...

The Rev Ian Paisley, Protestant firebrand and former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, has died at the age of 88. The Rev Paisley served as First Minister of Northern Ireland for a year when power was first devolved in 2007. His deputy, Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin, expressed sadness at the news of his death. “Over a number of decades we were political opponents and held very different views on many, many issues but the one thing we were absolutely united on was the principle that our people were better able to govern themselves than any British government,” he...