NI paper review: GP 'crisis' in Belfast
- Published
Almost 7,000 patients in Belfast have been caught up in a new GP surgery crisis.
The Belfast Telegraph reports that Ravenbank surgery in east Belfast will close, while a second practice in north Belfast may also close.
The Royal College of GPs said the closures were "terrible but not surprising", external.
The Belfast Telegraph, external also reports a 12-year jail term for a man who committed two violent burglaries.
When jailing Niall Lynch, 37, at Downpatrick Crown Court, a judge said his "cruel and utterly heartless actions" left four victims emotionally damaged.
In one of the burglaries, in Clough, County Down, a female cleaner was tied to a chair and threatened while the house was ransacked before being set alight.
Lynch, of Meadow Row, Castlewellan, has almost 140 previous convictions.
The Irish News reports that Catholic families who homes were targeted in sectarian attacks in December, external have not been awarded intimidation points on the housing waiting list.
Three houses in Tyndale Gardens in north Belfast were attacked in incidents that are being treated by police as sectarian hate crimes.
The story says at least two of those targeted have been refused so-called intimidation points, which would increase their priority for being offered a new home.
The paper, external gives further details about the jailing of "cruel and heartless burglar" Niall Lynch.
It reports that the judge said he hoped that "somewhere in the depths of his soul" Lynch had "some slight measure of genuine remorse" for the psychological damage caused to his victims.
He said he hoped "this will prey on his conscience in the dark hours in the years spent in custody".
The News Letter continues a story about a proposed pay rise of £1,000 for MLAs.
It says the main Stormont parties have been challenged not to "defer" the controversial pay rise but instead to "reject it outright", external.
People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said the parties should "divert their energies into delivering well-deserved pay rises for public sector workers".
The News Letter , external also reports the creation of a new working group to tackle mental health.
The first and deputy first ministers made the announcement just days after leading figures in sport, music and film raised the issue of suicide prevention in an open letter to new health minister Robin Swann.
Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill have announced a new working group on mental health
The Daily Mirror, external reports how a "an eagle-eyed teacher" spotted that one her her primary one pupils had diabetes.
Caoimhe Fox, of St Paul's Primary School in Londonderry, became concerned when the little boy began to go to the toilet up to nine times a day, the paper says.