20/07/2016 BBC Newsline

at some of those. Join me now on BBC Two. That's Newsnight

There are reports of widespread power cuts in counties Antrim

NIE say approxiamately 45,000 homes were left without electricity

stretching from Belfast through to Antrim, Ballymena,

the Glens of Antrim and across into Maghera.

It seems that many have been reconnected within

A woman remains in a critical condition tonight after she was

struck by a scrambler motorbike on the outskirts of West Belfast.

The incident happened at tea-time yesterday in Colin Glen Forest Park.

Two teenagers arrested shortly afterwards

Colin Glen Forest Park on the outskirts of West Belfast

is popular with walkers, runners and dog owners.

The woman is a mother of three young children and is understood

She was struck by a scrambler bike just before 6pm last night

and rushed to hospital before undergoing surgery.

The parish community will very much keep that family,

that young mother, that wife, in their prayers in a genuine,

real way in the hope that she recovers from this incident

and that her husband and children are comforted

Two boys aged 15 and 17 were arrested last night

A local MLA for the area says the woman's family are devastated.

We have had a lot of people contacting us wanting their prayers

and thoughts to be passed on for the woman and for her wider

family, particularly her husband and young children.

Community workers say this is not the first major incident involving

motorcycles and quad bikes in Colin Glen.

Today, a regular user of the park agreed.

There are quite a few scramblers around here.

Staff around the park try their best to keep them out but the perimeter

here is enormous, so there's not much they can do.

It was only a matter of time before this happened.

It's an amazing resource for dog walkers, families.

The Gruffalo Trail is very popular with young families.

The officer leading the investigation says

using machines like scramblers is often illegal.

If you intend to use them on a road or public place,

they need the same things as any other vehicle,

a driving licence which allows you to drive that class of vehicle,

a valid insurance certificate, a test certificate and number plates

and lights and all those things that would apply

The exception to this is using such a vehicle on private land

with the permission of the landowner.

There is a woman who remains in a critical condition

and I would appeal to anybody who saw any off-road bikes

being used in that park around 6pm last night to please come forward

Friends say that this evening the women is fighting for her life.

There were angry outbursts in court today after a man was charged

It followed an alleged assault on the teenager beside a park

It was here, on a pathway through waste ground

near the Falls Park in West Belfast, that the boy was raped

The details, too graphic to broadcast, were read out

39-year-old Gerard Scannell, from Ballymurphy Road

in West Belfast, was today charged with three counts of rape

As he was being led from the dock after being remanded in custody,

relatives of the boy yelled abuse at the accused.

Earlier a defence barrister said the 39-year-old had consistently

denied the allegations when put to him during police interviews.

There was no application for bail, but the prosecution said that

if an attempt for bail is made, it will oppose it.

CCTV cameras are to be installed in the City Cemetery in Londonderry

Relatives who've lost loved ones say they're appalled

at the anti-social behaviour, which has included

Here's our North-West reporter, Keiron Tourish.

Pearse Coyle tending to the grave of his late wife Maire.

He's one of many people shocked at the recent spate of vandalism

and anti-social behaviour taking place in the City Cemetery.

People and their family who passed away, they've had

a loss and for anybody to come and add to that loss,

They believe the council move to install CCTV cameras,

and enlist a private security firm to carry out patrols,

reflects the lack of respect a small minority have for the cemetery.

You don't like it but at the same time it has to be done.

This cemetery is a sacred place, it should be left.

It's not the first time the City Cemetery has been

In January a controlled explosion was carried out on a car

after two semi-automatic handguns were found inside.

That incident provoked revulsion across the city.

The Bishop of Derry says he hopes the installation of CCTV will act

as a deterrent to those intent on disrupting a sacred place.

It's got to be a community response, so the message goes out that

We want to look after the graves of our loved ones

and allow those who are grieving to go there and not

be afraid of what might happen to them or their graves,

so it is a sad situation, but as a community we can

rise to the occasion and make sure our graves

The council said it wanted to reassure the public that

all appropriate steps are being taken to combat

anti-social behaviour, and it says the security measures

are being renewed on an ongoing basis.

The Bank of Ireland has announced that it's to close

eight branches here - over 20% of its Northern Ireland network.

The towns and villages affected include Antrim,

There's particular anger in Belleek - the Bank of Ireland there

Our South-West reporter Julian Fowler has been getting reaction.

Belleek is busy with business, but soon people here will have to go

There used to be three banks in the town.

Now one is a pub and another a beauticians.

The bank had already cut the number of hours

with a counter service only available three days a week.

Business owners say they were given assurances when the service

was reduced and have accused the Bank of Ireland of breaking

We saw them reduce their days for cash a few years ago and we thought

that might have reduced any chance of it happening,

but it's now clear that was just the test-bed, in hindsight,

to see if there was any need for the branch to be there.

When the bank was contacted today, businesses were told that even

the future of the hole-in-the-wall machine could not be guaranteed.

This branch is believed to have around 5000 customers,

who will have to travel to Enniskillen to if they want to do

It raises issues from security to getting change to making lodgements

People with personal accounts, elderly people,

this means a two-hour, two-and-a-half-hour round trip

That is not acceptable and that people of Belleek

will not sit back and take this lying down, we will

The eight closures represent 20% of Bank of Ireland's branch network

The bank says it's responding to more customers using online

and mobile banking, but many in this rural community will miss the more

personal way of doing their banking with someone they know.

A drug to treat a particular form of muscular dystrophy is to be made

available to patients in Northern Ireland.

A seven-year-old boy from Limavady is one of those who'll benefit.

His parents say they are "over the moon," having campaigned

for years for the drug to be offered here.

It'll be given to patients suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

More from our health correspondent Marie-Louise Connolly.

It's been a good day for superheroes,

especially for Calum, who lives with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

His family learnt today he will be able to access a specialist drug

on the Health Service after years of lobbying politicians.

It was a very good surprise and hopefully it won't take long

to filter through so Calum can receive the drug.

Around 70 people here suffer from the strain of muscular

dystrophy, a genetic condition which causes the muscles

As Calum's parents tell me, taking the drug before the age

of ten can prevent a life in a wheelchair.

On a bad day he's tired, he can't walk.

If he's in the living room and wants to go to the toilet

He takes steroids every day, he takes a tablet every day

to counteract the steroids, he takes heart medication.

Now the science bit - hhow the drug will benefit the lives

of just seven local boys who are eligible.

Your muscles form a honeycomb structure that lets you walk easily,

but with Duchenne muscular dystrophy that fades away and

This drug provides protein to give strength to your muscles.

The move could cost the Health Service around

Now there will be decided on that clinicians can take.

If these drugs benefit people they will be provided to them,

so that is something I could quickly turn around.

With a so-called wonder drug on its way, hopefully it is a bright

Now footballer, and Celtic have bounced back from their embarrassing

defeat in Gibraltar last week. Tonight they won 3-0 at home.

The weather forecast now with Angie Philips.

There was a different look and feel to the air today, temperatures well

done from yesterday but are more or less back to normal. It will be a

more comfortable night for sleeping, not as warm as last night, clear

spells and lows around 12 referred them. Tomorrow the weather heads

back to normal, we have a weather system off the Atlantic that will

bring unsettled conditions through the day but it should be a mainly

dry start and some bright spells, especially towards the north and

east before the clouds gather. Across the Republic many places have

a dry start and a brighter day for Scotland, England and Wales,

especially for Scotland and northern England. Some showers around, Sharp

or across Wales and the South West, mainly drive for the east and

south-east of England. Not as hot as the last couple of days but still

pretty warm and humid. That weather system moves in for the app name,

bringing spells of rain, lingering into the evening and some of those

could be heavy downpours, not very pleasant for the evening rush-hour.

That moves away tomorrow night. Friday not looking too bad apart

from the odd shower, mainly bright and right, the weekend has variable

amounts of cloud, some showers but dry weather as well.

You can keep updated with News Online.