Riot police have withdrawn from a republican area of north Belfast following clashes today over their efforts to prevent a bonfire constructed by local youths from being lit.

An attempt by hundreds of PSNI police to remove a bonfire in a deprived republican area of north Belfast has erupted in a riot this morning. Amid a standoff, one riot policeman has fallen to the ground after being struck by stone-throwing youths.

New British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has appointed an over-the-top cabinet of Brexiteer ultras and right-wing extremists. In the process, he has also replaced Karen Bradley as Direct Ruler in the north of Ireland with the former Tory Chief Whip, Julian Smith.

Boris Johnson has won a final Tory leadership runoff, defeating his opponent Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt with the support of more than two in three of the Conservative Party membership.