Petrol bombs thrown at police in Belfast riot - The Guardian

Police under attack during riots in west Belfast on Monday night. Photograph: Stephen Wilson/AFP/Getty
The first leg of the most controversial Orange parade of the Ulster loyalist marching season passed off peacefully on Tuesday morning.(router,verizon wireless,wireless network,wireless internet,i phone,i phone verizon,my verizon wireless,wireless adapter,att wireless)

After violence on Monday night, there was a heavy police presence on Belfast's Crumlin Road as officers separated loyalist marchers and nationalist demonstrators as the parade passed by the Ardoyne shops.
Amid driving rain and the drone of a police helicopter overhead the Orangemen and two loyalist bands were accompanied by two rows of protesters shortly before 8.30am on Tuesday. As marchers reached the nearby Protestant Twaddell Avenue they were given a heroes' reception by local loyalists.(router,verizon wireless,wireless network,wireless internet,i phone,i phone verizon,my verizon wireless,wireless adapter,att wireless)

Attention now turns to Tuesday evening, when the parade will return up the Crumlin Road past the nationalist area. A rally has been organised for Tuesday afternoon in Ardoyne with some demonstrators vowing to block the Crumlin Road to prevent the Orangemen's return.
Violence overnight in Belfast saw 22 police officers injured as nationalist youths attacked the security forces hours before the biggest day in the Orange Order's calendar.
Plastic bullets were fired and water cannon was deployed to deal with a mob of up to 200 youths in the Broadway area in the west of the city. The rioters attacked police lines separating the area from the loyalist Village district close to the M1 motorway.
Baton rounds were also fired during street disturbances in the Oldpark area of north Belfast close to a so-called peaceline separating nationalist and loyalist communities.
Police were also investigating reports that gunshots were fired in the area but there are no reports of any injuries.
A bus was hijacked on the Falls Road with the driver dragged from the vehicle and passengers ordered off it. It was then driven at police lines on the Donegall Road, but crashed a short distance away. A van was also set alight on the Donegall Road.
About 40 people gathered in North Queen Street near the city centre and petrol bombs have been thrown at police.
There was a minor disturbance on the Shore Road after a barricade was erected across the road at Greencastle Station.
Up to a quarter of a million people are expected to attend or watch the annual 12 July parades across Northern Ireland, the biggest of which will take place through Belfast.
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Northern Ireland rioting leaves 24 police injured - Herald Sun

Twenty-four Northern Ireland police have been injured in riots as the protestant marching season comes to a head. Source: AAP(router,verizon wireless,wireless network,wireless internet,i phone,i phone verizon,my verizon wireless,wireless adapter,att wireless)

POLICE officers in west Belfast came under attack early yesterday from crowds of rioters who threw petrol bombs, stones and bricks, as the Protestant marching season comes to a head.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said a bus was also hijacked and driven at a police cordon, but crashed nearby.(router,verizon wireless,wireless network,wireless internet,i phone,i phone verizon,my verizon wireless,wireless adapter,att wireless)

A total of 24 police officers were injured during the violence, 22 in Belfast and two in Portadown, according to Belfast Citybeat radio station. Four officers were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the PSNI said.
Authorities fired plastic bullets and used water cannon in efforts to disperse crowds of between 100 and 200 people who began throwing stones and missiles at police lines in the nationalist areas of Broadway and Old Park.
Petrol bombs were thrown at officers in North Queen Street and the bus was hijacked on the traditional flashpoint of Falls Road before being driven at police.
Other vehicles were hijacked or set on fire.
There were reports of gunshots in the Broadway area, but no injuries, police said.
On Monday PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay appealed to those with influence to "stay calm" over the next 48 hours, as the marching season - an annual time of heightened tension between Protestant and Catholic communities - reaches its climax, the Belfast Telegraph reported.
Trouble flared late Monday when Protestants began lighting bonfires, the signal for the start of a day of celebrations during which tens of thousands of "Orange Order" men are expected to march.
The annual Twelfth of July celebrations mark the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 when King William III, a Protestant, defeated the Catholic King James II, unseated by William two years earlier.
It is feared sectarian tensions could continue to boil over in areas of Belfast and Craigavon, County Armagh, and politicians and clergy on all sides have appealed for a day free of violence.
Every available police officer will be on duty at 19 separate demonstrations, with the largest expected to be in Belfast.
The Orange Order leadership said the parades showcase its history and heritage and attracts tourists.
Grand master Edward Stevenson said, "There is no other single event that can produce crowds like the Twelfth. It is such a special day of religion, culture, music and pageantry."
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