Mortgage approvals slumped in January with the number of home loans sanctioned falling by close to a quarter on same time in 2025.. Illustration: Paul ScottThe number of mortgages approved for people moving homes hit a record low in January outside the initial three-month Covid lockdown period. Approvals for first-time buyers, who account for the largest share of the mortgage market, also slumped, hitting their lowest level in more than two years. The mortgage market tends to be seasonal, with the winter months being a relatively quieter period. Across the board, mortgages approved in January were down more than 10 per cent on the same period in 2025.

A man accused of murdering his pregnant girlfriend Natalie McNally “put on an act” to cover his tracks, Belfast Crown Court has heard. Ms McNally, 32, was 15 weeks’ pregnant when she was killed in her home in Lurgan a week before Christmas in 2022. Mr MacCreanor said Ms McNally’s cause of death was found to have involved compression of her neck, “suggestive of finger tips grasping”. “Natalie McNally is lying at the top of the stairs… which was the living area of the home,” he said. He said he saw “a large amount of blood” surrounding Ms McNally, on the walls and into the living room.

State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, CanadaZip Code

A sex abuse survivor has lost all access to safeguarding in her home - despite her dangerous former partner's impending release from prison. Gemma Willis, 41, was subjected to terrifying and degrading assaults from her partner between 2014 and 2017. She said: 'Me and my son feel trapped in our home, I daren't even walk to the shops because when I do I suffer abuse from Richard Ridley's friends. Then Ridley began posting social media messages from prison, bragging about the easy life he was having in HMP Holme House, Stockton-on-Tees. Ridley was released in February last year and within a fortnight Gemma started seeing concerning activity on social media.

United left Merseyside with a hard-fought 1-0 win on Monday night thanks to Benjamin Sesko's goal on the counter-attack and some dogged defending. ‌Sesko's sixth goal in his last seven games stole the headlines, but Lammens' solid performance in goal also caught the eye. It's a strength of mine (dealing with crosses), but today it was a bit over the top! FOLLOW OUR MAN UTD FB PAGE! So to be able to do that in such a manner was obviously pleasing for us.”Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football.

A closing date for interested parties, of February 18, came much earlier and more abruptly than the group had anticipated. Former St Columba's Parish Church deadline has passed. (Image: NQ)The church’s historic Henry Willis pipe organ, installed in the 1890s, is considered to be of very high value and, campaigners believe, could actually be worth more than the building itself. Thomas Stewart, who has been chairing the Friends of St Columba's group, told a recent meeting of Largs Community Council: "We have been articulating a vision of what the church could be and preparing some of the necessary works and mechanics involved with that. Father Willis organ (Image: NQ)The 1892 Father Willis organ at the former St Columba’s Parish Church is highly regarded in classical musical circles and is considered a Victorian masterpiece.

Married At First Sight's Julia Vogl and Grayson McIvor were pictured arriving at Wednesday night's Dinner Party separately – despite being a couple on screen. Grayson, meanwhile, arrived at a different time in a separate vehicle, keeping his head down as he made his way inside. Insiders previously described the upcoming Dinner Party as a 'make-or-break' night for multiple couples – and Julia and Grayson's decision to arrive separately suggests they may be heading into the evening on shaky ground. Alissa stunned in a hot pink evening gown while her husband David looked dapper in a crisp designer tuxedo. Finally, bride Melissa Akbay, 28, stunned in an eye-popping aqua-blue evening gown as she stepped out alongside her dashing husband Luke Fourniotis.

A great many people who should be paying serious attention to artificial intelligence have been doing something else entirely. The media’s coverage of artificial intelligence has split fairly cleanly along different lines. It is, or ought to be, the appropriate response to the accumulation of evidence now in front of anyone paying serious attention to artificial intelligence. Lewis-Kraus quotes Bender’s co-author, Alex Hanna, dismissing large language models as “mathy maths” and “a racist pile of linear algebra”. [ Our inner idiots unwittingly feed AI models for freeOpens in new window ]The institution of humanities studies – the journals, the citation networks, the career ladders built on niche contributions – is undermined.

Ireland weather: Heavy rain on the way as Met Éireann warns downpours will become more 'persistentWeather bosses forecast a 'rather cloudy and damp start' to the day and said there would be 'patchy drizzle in places'View Image Rain on umbrella background, weather forecast and environmental conceptHeavy rain is on the way as Met Éireann warns the downpours will become more "persistent" throughout the day. ‌Weather bosses forecast a "rather cloudy and damp start" to the day and said there would be "patchy drizzle in places". ‌A meteorologist said: "A rather cloudy and damp start with some patchy drizzle in places. Met Eireann said most of the country can expect rain this evening but said the east will remain dry. The rain will become more widespread later in the night however with drizzle developing in the east and south too.

Michael Carrick brought the striker on for Amad, and he scored barely 10 minutes later after finishing a Bryan Mbeumo-led counterattack by firing past Jordan Pickford. ‌Sesko has yet to start a single match since the appointment of Michael Carrick. However, the summer signing has now scored three goals in four games as a substitute. View 2 Images Benjamin Sesko scored Manchester United's winning goal against Everton (Image: Chris Brunskill/Getty Images)FOLLOW OUR MAN UTD FB PAGE! Carrick said: "I get why everyone's talking about it and making a bigger deal of it, but I've got a really good relationship with Ben, we've had some really good conversations, and he's in a really good place.

A fire officer clears the flares from the pitch after Drogheda United's goal against Dundalk at Oriel Park last Friday. Photo: Ben McShane/SportsfileDundalk manager Ciaran Kilduff says the damage sustained by the Oriel Park pitch on Friday has made it unsuitable for Premier Division football until it is repaired. And Kilduff has admitted that he isn’t sure that the game should have proceeded after examining the damage caused by the flares thrown by Drogheda United supporters ahead of the fixture.

Those with young children and living in Dublin wrote about annual childcare costs ranging from €12,000 to €16,000. Parents outside the capital fret about how much would be needed to send their children to college. A lot has happened in Ireland’s economic landscape even since insurer Laya Life published its Cradle to College Cost Index last May. Food, nappies, baby formula, pocket money and rent supports were among the biggest increases in child costs. Carmel Green, a financial services expert at David Kelleher Financial Services in Kanturk, Co Cork, doesn’t think so.

Paramount Skydance submitted a higher offer for Warner Bros Discovery, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, ratcheting up efforts to derail the HBO Max owner's deal with Netflix. Warner Bros and Paramount declined to comment, while Netflix could not immediately be reached. Variety in a report late on Monday said that Warner Bros was likely to take the Paramount offer under review while still recommending the Netflix pact to its shareholders. Warner Bros plans to spin off its cable TV assets, such as CNN and HGTV, into Discovery Global, which could fetch between $1.33 and $6.86 a share, according to Warner Bros' estimates. But its argument that it needs Warner Bros to compete with YouTube, America's most-watched TV distributor, is likely to face pushback from the Department of Justice.

“But my teachers have been pretty accommodating, apart from the fact that I have to go back and take some maths tests now.”Anabelle Zurbay carries the flag for the Irish Winter Olympians in Cortina, Italy. Photograph: David Fitzgerald/SportsfileStanding beside her was cross-country skier Maloney Westgård who had just completed his third whirl on the Olympic merry-go-round. “I’m sure the impact will be greater in the next few days, but I’m really proud and honoured to be able to say that I’m an Olympian for Ireland. Photograph: ©Inpho/Georgia SchofieldBen Lynch finished eighth in the men’s freestyle skiing halfpipe, becoming the first Irish skier to qualify for a Winter Olympics final. “I’m really, really proud of myself,” he said.

There’s no sign of a change in the weather, with more heavy rain forecast by Met Éireann for later this week. Rain will clear early on Wednesday morning and will be followed by scattered showers, some of which will turn heavy during the afternoon. Met Éireann has said temperatures will turn slightly cooler later this week and conditions will stay unsettled with spells of rain. Thursday will bring both heavy rain and strong, blustery minds during the day, with highest temperatures of 9 to 11C. Poor conditions are expected to remain for the weekend, with rain possibly turning heavy on Saturday with strong breezes.