Clock ticking for N.Ireland rivals after fractious vote

Northern Ireland's main political parties on Saturday were facing a three-week deadline to mend fences after snap elections aimed at sorting out the bad blood between them left them deadlocked.In a historic shake-up, unionist parties lost their absolute majority in Northern Ireland's legislature for the first time since the province's creation in 1921."The unionist majority at the assembly has been ended and the notion of a permanent or perpetual unionist majority has been demolished," said Sinn