01/12/2015 BBC Newsline

that parliamentary debate and vote tomorrow. Here on BBC One it's

This is BBC Newsline with Donna Traynor.

Three people were injured in a crash involving two vehicles

on the main road between Belfast and Newry at teatime this evening.

Both carriageways of the A1 between Loughbrickland and Newry are closed.

One of the injured who was taken to Royal Victoria Hospital is said

Another who was taken to Daisy Hill Hospital has been discharged.

The condition of the third person hasn't been made public.

The DUP says its MPs will be backing tomorrow's

Conservative government motion supporting UK air strikes in Syria.

But the new SDLP leader, Colum Eastwood, says it's not

the way to deal with the threat from the so-called Islamic State.

The normal Prime Minister's Question Time has

been abandoned to allow MPs to spend the whole day debating the issue.

The vast majority of Conservative MPs are set to support

the motion supporting air strikes, along with a number of Labour MPs

The victim of an overnight pipe-bombing says he

The device was left on the doorstep of the family home in Dungiven.

His partner and their two-year-old daughter were inside at the time.

With more details, here's our North-West reporter, Keiron Tourish.

It's understood that a pipe bomb was left on the doorstep of this family

home at Ard Na Smoll in Dungiven sometime yesterday evening.

The alert was raised when a neighbour noticed two wheelie

bins on fire and called the emergency services.

The victim of the attack says his partner

and their two-year-old daughter were in the house at the time.

It is terrifying, even thinking the thought of what could have happened.

I have been standing here a shell of a person at the minute.

It really hit me this morning, what could have happened.

The police say the lives of the local fire fighters were also

put at risk when they arrived to deal with the fire.

A sister of the victim says those who carried

it out could have killed a mother and her two-year-old daughter.

My family lives in that house and somebody's trying to kill them.

I think they are really terrified and scared, like anyone else would

be if someone was setting a bomb outside your house.

The police are still investigating a motive for this latest attack.

Two other incidents where devices were found in the Dungiven area this

month have been blamed on dissident republicans.

I am saying to these groups, sit down and try and analyse what they

I ask everybody in this estate do they support this type of activity?

Ask the people in these houses what they think of it,

Police have praised the patience of local people,

on what they describe as a night of disruption for them, and have

They want to hear from anyone who noticed any suspicious activity

in and around this area last night to get in touch.

The Gardai in County Monaghan have been carrying out searches relating

to dissident republicans, and have recovered assault rifles,

Officers say it was a "significant find" just outside Scotstown.

The searches follow the arrest of a 43-year-old man last week.

He was later charged with IRA membership.

It's expected the searches will resume in the morning.

Parents at four schools in Bangor have been warned that some

of the students are being sold drugs in the town centre.

Letters have been sent out by the school principals.

Here's our Education Correspondent, Robbie Meredith.

It's a place used by hundreds of pupils every day to get to

and from school, but it is also a place where children as young

In a letter sent out to parents yesterday

and published this morning in the Belfast Telegraph, the headteacher

said drug abuse was becoming a growing and serious problem.

They said the PSNI had recently received

reports that Year Eight pupils had been approached by older boys not

in school uniform looking to sell them drugs at the town's bus station

We took the decision based on the fact that this is a community issue.

We are stronger when we work together.

There's four schools, approximately 4000 pupils across these schools.

Beyond the schools, at the bus station, a lot of pupils

It is important to help the parents, the community to actually start to

work on this problem and hopefully solve it.

It was parents of pupils at Bangor Grammar School who first told

the principal there about what was happening.

What has startled us the most has been the approach

We are talking about an 11 and 12-year-old.

But that, certainly for myself and my principal colleagues,

Now she wants more action from the police.

Realistically PSNI funds have been cut and possibly this is one

I'd like to see much more visibility.

The bus station is very busy first thing in the morning,

late afternoon, servicing our four schools and the wider area.

That basic visibility would be a necessity.

PSNI officers won't have to go far to try and stop schoolchildren

being offered drugs here because it has been happening right across the

I understand the concerns that led to this letter and I ask people to

contact us and the schools to help us with our resources,

Will you be mounting more patrols in the area?

We keep all operations under constant review based

on the threat on harm and the risk to the public, and how

we can best target our resources intelligently to keep people safe.

While it is shocking that drugs are being dealt to such young children,

schools hope that by highlighting this, it will make pupils, parents,

Thirteen members of a loyalist flute band have

successfully appealed convictions for provocatively playing

a sectarian tune outside a Catholic church in North Belfast in 2012.

Charges had been brought against members of the Young Conway

Volunteers following an incident during a 12th of July parade.

This is the incident which led to the 13 men being

accused of a provocative act likely to cause public disorder.

They denied playing a rendition of the Famine Song.

Instead, they claimed to have been performing

The band leader on the day of the parade was the only one

He said they'd been forced to stop outside the church because

He said they started up the Beach Boys tune to ward off lethargy.

In April, the 13 defendants were all convicted.

Three of them receiving five-month suspended prison sentences.

A challenge to the convictions was due to be heard in court today.

Prosecutors did not oppose the band members' challenge to

That was because they agreed to keep the peace for two years.

If they don't abide by that, they could be jailed

Scams cost the Northern Ireland economy an estimated ?100 million

Tonight, Spotlight has a report on a 75-year-old pensioner scammed

That's straight after this news bulletin.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, the Good Morning Ulster radio

programme hears from Mary Robinson, the UN Secretary General's Special

That's in the morning on BBC Radio Ulster starting at 6.30pm.

Ballymena are through to the final of the County Antrim Shield.

They had a 3-2 extra time victory over Larne at Inver Park tonight.

David Cushlee scored the match winner a minute from the end.

The weather forecast with Cecilia Daly.

It's been an incredibly mild start to December.

Officially, we are now in winter but yet one of our weather watchers

spotted this rose in full bloom in a garden in South Belfast.

Still quite blustery, and we'll see more rain sweeping in from the west,

That means a damp end to the night, and a damp start to Wednesday.

Temperatures are likely to be at their highest in the morning.

The rain doesn't last too long either.

It moves away quite quickly, clearing the East Coast

The rest of the UK is looking pretty nice.

That area of rain will become slow-moving over parts of northern

England, southern Scotland, Wales and eventually the West Country.

Slowly clearing away from the South East of Ireland.

There is a weather warning in force for Wales with that rain piling up.

Ahead of it, it's dry but fairly cloudy.

Behind it, it starts to cool off, but also some brighter skies

pushing in with some sunshine for Northern Ireland.

Even though it will be a little bit cooler as the afternoon goes on,

Tomorrow night, clearing skies will mean a chilly night.

Some frost around on Thursday morning.

Temperatures on Thursday right back to single figures.

More or less close to the average for this time of year.

But again, Thursday is looking reasonably dry.

Cold on Thursday night, but then the rain gradually comes

back again during the course of Friday, especially later on.

It looks at the moment as though the rain will be on and