A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Chief executive of North's police ombudsman's office to resign
The chief executive of the North's police ombudsman's office is to quit, citing interference by civil servants from the Stormont department of justice, writes Dan Keenan.
Sam Pollock is standing down from his £90,000 (€101,600) position in August because of what he alleges is meddling from Stormont, which is undermining the independence of the office. Ombudsman Al Hutchinson has rejected the claims, as has the North’s Department of Justice.
Mr Hutchinson said the independence of his office was “guaranteed by law” and he told the BBC “that independence is both real and practical, as demonstrated by our reports”.
Teenager in court over security alerts
A teenager has appeared in court in connection with security alerts that caused havoc in Co Armagh.
In a separate development, a 26-year-old man has been arrested in south Down in connection with the placing last week of a 250kg bomb in a van on the outskirts of Newry near the main Dublin-Belfast road and railway line. The van was abandoned under the A1 Newry bypass and led to a protracted security alert. The man is being questioned at the PSNI serious crimes suite in Antrim.
The teenager (14) was before Lurgan magistrates in connection with the placing of four hoax devices. He was freed on bail but will be electronically tagged.