Masked unionist thugs armed with crossbows, hatchets, iron bars and baseball bats attacked up to five homes in Catherine Court off the Whitewell Road in Belfast late on Sunday night 23 July. In one of the houses attacked the terrified mother of a six day old baby told of how she and her husband barricaded themselves in as they feared the mob was about to break their front door down. Plus UDA gang behind Derry sectarianism Free article

The report of the Barr Tribunal on the shooting dead of John Carthy by the Garda Emergency Response Unit at Abbeylara contains a strong indictment of the Gardaí for both their conduct of the so-called "siege", and their subsequent efforts to manipulate public perception of the case. Free article

The British government's decision to maintain MI5 at the core of policing in the Six Counties circumvents commitments to democratic accountability in the Good Friday Agreement. Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly said that it was unacceptable that an organisation that had set itself against policing reform and political change throughout the course of the peace process should be given an expanded role. Free article

The killing of four UN observers in a compound whose location had been notified to the Israelis at least 10 times and which has been described as a deliberate act by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, is yet another example of Israel's complete contempt for international law. Arising out of their equally illegal and immoral invasion of a sovereign country, Lebanon, the killings occurred on the same day that US Secretary of State, Condaleza Rice visited the region. Free article

Sinn Féin's two MEPs Mary Lou McDonald and Bairbre de Brún visited Cloverhill Prison in West Dublin on Monday and slammed the detention of asylum-seekers. Free article

The Community Restorative Justice Ireland co-ordinator Jim Auld has insisted the group will resist bullying tactics by the British government aimed at forcing the CRJ to co-operate with the PSNI. Free article