The Northern Ireland health minister, Edwin Poots has said that the infection killed three babies at a Belfast hospital came from sink taps.

He said that the Pseudomonas bacteria originated in taps at the neo-natal unit in the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital. The doctors detected seventh case of as Pseudomonas on Tuesday.

"I can report that investigations so far have shown that pseudomonas bacteria have been found in a number of taps in the intensive care area of the neonatal unit in the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital," Mr Poots said.

NIE heading the broadcasting and distribution business of Viridian, Northern Ireland's main power group has entered into a provisional concord, which is expected to be concluded by 2010 and has been accomplished for ESB to obtain NIE's networks business, from Viridian. The procurement entails NIE's electrical construction and maintenance services.

Arlene Foster the Energy Minister expressed that she had already conversed about the deal with the watchdogs and the Irish Minister Eamon Ryan.

What's different in the news that making news? Well it is the Business Telegraph which has been awarded as the Supplement of the Year during the top awards ceremony.

The Business telegraph has beaten the off the competition across the Northern Ireland to win the title at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations Press & Broadcast Awards 2010.

The judging panel expressed views on Business Telegraph and voiced that the Business Telegraph is an essential reading mainline for everyone in the business domain.

London/Belfast - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Monday praised the peace process in Northern Ireland as a "model for conflict resolution" around the world and urged its politicians to make peace "whole and permanent" in the province.

In an historic address to the Northern Ireland regional assembly (parliament), Clinton pledged Washington's support for the successful completion of the process of devolution in Northern Ireland.

London  - Shots were fired Thursday over the coffin of a convicted IRA killer in Northern Ireland in what police said was the first blatant display of paramilitarism in a number of years.

Four men, wearing balaclavas and paramilitary uniforms, appeared beside the coffin of John Brady, 40, outside his sister's home in Strabane, in the southern county of Tyrone, and fired a volley of shots in the air, police said.

Brady hanged himself in a police cell last Saturday after being arrested over a domestic dispute while on weekend parole from prison.

London  - Leading Protestant politicians from Northern Ireland held a first round of talks with Libyan officials in London Tuesday over the delicate issue of compensation for victims of "Libyan-sponsored terrorism" in the troubled British province.

Jeffrey Donaldson, a member of parliament (MP) for the Protestant Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland, said the talks at the Libyan embassy in London had been "very productive."

London - Police officers from Northern Ireland have been involved in the anti-terrorism training of police forces of Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi, the authorities in Belfast said Friday.

Confirmation that serving police officers from the troubled British province took part in the training scheme comes amid growing controversy over compensation demands for victims of alleged Libyan-sponsored terrorism in Northern Ireland.

London - A 44-year-old man appeared in court in Northern Ireland Thursday in connection with the murder of two British soldiers in the province in March.

The suspect, named as Brian Patrick Shivers, is the second person to appear in court over the murders. He was arrested late Wednesday.

Soon after the attack police arrested and charged Colin Duffy, a leading anti-British republican, with the murders.

Belfast - Two men aged 17 and 18 have been arrested following a third night of trouble in the nationalist Ardoyne area of north Belfast, police in Northern Ireland said Thursday.

Around 100 youths gathered and threw stones, bottles and petrol bombs at officers and a car was also set on fire shortly after midnight, the police said. One policeman was injured.

Meanwhile, detectives investigating a shot fired at police during rioting in the area on Monday night arrested a 30-year-old man early Thursday.

A 28-year-old man was detained Wednesday in connection with the same incident. Trouble in the area began Monday after an attempt was made to disrupt a loyalist July 12 parade.

London (dpa) - Two Northern Irish paramilitary groups have announced that they have destroyed their weapons, bringing them into line with a variety of peace agreements.

The Ulster Volunteer Force and the Red Hand Commando additionally said they would respect local laws. Another group, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) said it has started destroying its weapons.

The groups are responsible for almost 1,000 murders during the region's bloody conflict between Catholics and Protestants.

London  - Two Northern Irish paramilitary groups have announced that they have destroyed their weapons, bringing them into line with a variety of peace agreements.

The Ulster Volunteer Force and the Red Hand Commando additionally said they would respect local laws. Another group, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) said it has started destroying its weapons.

The groups are responsible for almost 1,000 murders during the region's bloody conflict between Catholics and Protestants.

London - A church in Northern Ireland which offered sanctuary to more than 100 Romanians forced to flee their homes amid xenophobic attacks has been vandalized, the clergyman in charge said Tuesday.

Pastor Malcolm Morgan, who took in the scared migrants last week, said he found the windows of City Church in south Belfast smashed by stone throwers.

He said he found several windows destroyed at the front of the church and the main door windows smashed when he arrived early Tuesday.

"There were stones lying scattered on the floor inside and outside and obviously broken glass all around."

London - A group of about 20 Romanian families has sought refuge in a church in Belfast after sustained racist attacks on their homes in the Northern Ireland capital, the authorities said Wednesday.

The migrants, including many children and a five-day-old baby, slept on the church floor after being "too scared" to stay in their homes in south Belfast following the attacks, social workers said.

Belfast  - Relatives of the victims of Northern Ireland's worst-ever terrorist bombing in the town of Omagh in 1998 Monday won a landmark civil action for compensation at the High Court in Belfast.

The court ruled that the Real IRA, an off shoot of the formerly terrorist Irish Republican Army (IRA), was responsible for the attack.

It also named the IRA members found liable for the blast, in which 29 people and unborn twins died on August 15, 1998.

London/Belfast - Police in Northern Ireland Thursday charged eight men in connection with the brutal street murder of a Catholic man following a football match between rival clubs.

The men, aged between 18 and 50, are charged with murder, attempted murder and assault for the attack in which another victim was critically injured.

London/Belfast - Police in Northern Ireland were Tuesday questioning nine men in connection with the brutal murder of a Catholic man, in what is believed to have been a sectarian killing.

Kevin McDaid, a 49-year-old father of four, was attacked by a gang of about 40 men following a football match in the town of Coleraine, in the northern county of Londonderry, on Sunday.

His wife, Evelyn, who was injured in the assault, appealed for calm and said there should be no retaliation for her husband's murder.

London - Police in Northern Ireland said Thursday they found components of a "very large bomb" on farmland in the southern county of Fermanagh near the border with the Republic of Ireland.

The parts, which included 50 kilograms of fertilizer, could have caused deaths, serious injury and widespread damage, police said.

"Had these elements exploded, members of the public would have lost their lives," said chief inspector Alwyn Barton.

London - Colin Duffy, reportedly a prominent former member of the now inactive Irish Republican Army (IRA) was charged with the murder of two British soldiers in Northern Ireland three weeks ago.

The 41-year-old was also charged with five counts of attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms, police said. He is due in court on Friday.

London  - Investigations into the recent murders of two soldiers and a police officer in Northern Ireland were thrown into disarray Wednesday when six men were freed from police custody after winning a legal challenge against their detention.

However Colin Duffy, one of the suspects and a former member of the now inactive Irish Republican Army (IRA) paramilitary group, was immediately re-arrested, his lawyers said.

London - A 17-year-old boy was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday on a murder charge in the slaying of a police officer earlier this month in County Armagh, a Police Service of Northern Ireland spokeswoman said.

The youth was charged late Monday in the killing of Constable Stephen Carroll. He faces additional charges of membership in the banned Continuity IRA, possession of a firearm with intent and collecting information likely to be of use to terrorists.