For the second straight evening, Belfast was hit by sectarian riots and violent clashes with police, further destabilizing Northern Ireland and threatening the already shaky 1998 peace accord. The trouble started on Tuesday, when a Protestant mob began throwing rocks and prevented Catholic school girls from leaving Holy Cross Girls' Primary School. The school is located on one of the few remaining...

Secretary John Reid announced today that Northern Ireland's devolved government would be suspended, effective midnight tonight, to allow more time to resolve disputes, most centrally over the decommissioning of the IRA. The suspension comes in the wake of John Trimble's July 1 resignation as first minister of the Northern Ireland Assembly because the IRA had not yet disarmed. Reid said he hoped...