She was preaching to a congregation of sorts. Boxing fans, running club members, media and influencers – all hanging on her every word as she fielded questions on everything from her boxing career to a final fight in Dublin and everything in between.

Then a question from the floor, from someone looking for an inspirational message to take back to his church, to share with the congregation there.

He wanted the back-story to Katie Taylor’s journey in Christianity, and how her faith had helped her get through the tough days.

Taylor has never been shy to show her gratitude to God, or throw in a piece of scripture, into an interview.

But what was it that turned the Bray boxer, Olympic champion and world champion to a higher power?

We were at Intersport Elverys in Fonthill for the unveiling of Taylor as Brooks Running’s newest ambassador when mental health advocate Aidan Loughnane posed the question.

There was silence from the floor as she delivered her response.

“My journey in faith has been so connected to how my mam became a Christian,” started Taylor.

“My mam [Bridget], as a young woman, she won’t mind me saying this, she is here today, she was a heavy drinker, a heavy smoker.

“Her life was very, very chaotic, my father’s life was very, very chaotic as well.

“They had four little kids and they were in their early-20s, and it was a bit of a crazy, chaotic home.

“There wasn’t much structure there, there wasn’t any real vision for a good life, just two broken people trying their best to raise four young kids.”

And then she delivered the lines that – like one of her famous uppercuts – KO’d her audience.

“My mam walked into a coffee shop one day after a tragic incident happened,” Taylor explained.

“One of our neighbours, there was this house fire where basically the whole family passed away, it was a family of six and only two people survived.

“And that really deeply affected my mam, that house fire, that made her think there has to be more to life than this.

“The next day she went for a walk, she went into a coffee shop, and a couple were in there that had been very kind to her as a teenager.

“This couple had invited her to Bible studies as a young girl, and they left a deep impression on her, and that the couple just invited her to church.

“She went to church with them and that was the start of the journey for her.

“She started to follow God, she became a Christian, she gave her life to the Lord.

“And honestly it was night and day in the house after that, there was peace in our house for the first time.

“She gave up drinking, she gave up smoking, there was a sense of peace in her as well, there was a sense of life in our house.

“She’d speak of peace and hope and life to us as young kids. She started to tell us that God had a plan for us.

“She started to tell us that with God nothing is impossible, that God could turn humble things into great things.

“This became part of our normal lives. And so from then on my journey as a Christian started.

“I don’t really remember specifically when I became a Christian, it’s just that the God that rescued my mam became my God too.

“I just heard scripture in my house all the way up, I heard my mam praying with such deep conviction as well.

“It became the cornerstone of my life, really.”

Taylor spoke about the hardships, about the 2016 Olympic quarter-final defeat in Rio and the 3 Arena defeat to Chantelle Cameron in May 2023, and how her faith got her through those times.

“I fell in love with the Word of God, and the Word of God has become my cornerstone, I would say,” she said.

“It’s gotten me through so many tough, tough moments in my life as well.

“When things aren’t going well for me I walk through with peace and assurance just because I know that God is walking with me.

“And, yeah, for me living my life with Christ has been the most remarkable journey and I am so grateful for the goodness of God all my life, his faith, he is such a faithful God, he cares about every detail of my life.

“And for me I know, I’m confident that it wasn’t just my hard work or my talent that got me to where I was, but that God literally transformed my family life and he transformed my life.

“And for that I am forever grateful.”

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James Martin of Ripon-based Glawning posted on social media today (Fri): “What a rollercoaster!”

James recalled: “Peter Jones called the pitch disingenuous then offered up his number.”

“Steven Bartlett said he’s a “big fan” of the company’s driveaway awning.

RECOMMENDED READING:

And Jenna Meek said with the company appearing at so many events it may have “the start of something huge.,”

Glawning founder James Martin appeared on the show seeking £60,000 for 10% of the business. The programme broadcast on Thursday night was recorded in May.

James Martin with his invention (Image: Pic supplied)

James’ pitch was his driveaway awning invention and the vision behind what he calls “the Glawning Revolution.”

James did not get the investment, but he says he came away from the show with something just as powerful.

He explained: “Since the episode aired, we’ve seen a 6000% increase in website traffic, hundreds of comments, and an incredible wave of support from campers, adventurers, and glamping enthusiasts across the UK.

“Yes, the edit was tough in places and standing in front of the Dragons was nerve shredding. But putting our invention on national television and sharing our story with millions? That’s a win we’ll always be proud of.”

James added: “We’re especially grateful for the offer of a direct line to Peter Jones when the patent is through! Not to mention every single one of you who reached out, shared, commented, or placed an order.

“From a brand built from the ground up in North Yorkshire to national TV — this is only the beginning.”

Hannah Spencer’s parliamentary story – as the new Green MP for Gorton and Denton – has just begun.

Nevertheless, the life story that she presented in her victory speech was that of a plumber, not a politician. She identified herself – in present tense – by that trade; she had not grown up wanting to be a politician. She also celebrated qualifying as a plasterer during the “chaos” and “pressure” of the election campaign. She described campaigning jovially as “all this”, as if it were just a challenge in the broader adventure, not the adventure itself.

Despite, or perhaps because of, accusations that the Greens used “sectarian politics” to secure victory, the speech was one of solidarity, of aligning herself with the struggles and achievements of “the community that I am from”. Spencer said that she had lived there in one of the hardest times of her life, and presented the strength of the community “at holding things together” as an inspiration.

She aligned herself and her personal characteristics with those of the constituency, stressing that “I am no different to every single person here in this constituency. I work hard. That is what we do.”

Alongside all the talk of “we”, of common interests and lack of difference, Spencer singled out several audiences for her story. One such audience? Her now-plumberless “customers”, to whom she duly apologised: “I’m sorry, but I think I might have to cancel the work that you had booked in, because I’m heading to parliament”.

Spencer also addressed those who voted for her, and those who didn’t. She spoke of “my Muslim friends and neighbours”, who “are just like me: human”. She discussed the “left-behind” (“I see you, and I will fight for you”), and people doing jobs like hers: “We will finally get a seat at the table”. And she addressed “our white working class communities, the background that I have become so glad to be from”.

A personal and political journey

My research focuses on political narratives and storytelling as a means of communication: the stories that parliaments contain and project, the stories we tell about the places we’re in and the stories that politicians use to communicate themselves to voters. Spencer’s speech is an attempt to portray a compelling story to her new constituency.

She spoke about how moving away from the constituency to nearby Trafford made the qualities of Gorton and Denton’s community “even clearer”. Only realising your love for a place and the people in it when you’ve moved away is a familiar narrative device. As Joni Mitchell once sang, “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone”.

In Spencer’s speech, this tactic carried a sharper political edge. This is a constituency that people move away from to get the “nice life” that Spencer described: “good schools, a thriving high street and clean air”.

This part of the story carried a rebuke to an audience that Spencer was addressing, but not by name: the Labour Party, for whom this was a traditionally safe seat. Spencer observed that “working hard used to get you something”.

I would argue that “you”, in this context, is a reference to traditional Labour voters. The implication here is that it is voting Labour that “used to get you something”.

Being a politician now isn’t an aspect of Spencer’s story that she’s keen to claim. She may now sit at Westminster, but she appears to frame this as an extension of who she already is — a worker, a neighbour, a constituent — in a new arena.

In doing so, she attempts to recast political representation itself as continuity of identity. The challenge, of course, will be whether she can sustain that claim. It is easier to say “I am no different” on a victory stage following a byelection win than from the House of Commons. The durability of her narrative – and perhaps her political appeal – will rest on whether she can remain recognisably “from” the constituency while operating within the institution of parliament.

Far from embracing and being dependent upon technology, many people are pushing against it and ditching smart home devices.

They are turning their backs on lights that turn on automatically, robot vacuum cleaners and ovens you can turn on from your office 30 miles away.

They are living in what are being called ‘dumb homes’, where lights are turned on by proper switches, the oven needs to be manually operated with knobs, and the fridge doesn’t send photos to your phone when you’re short of milk.

Our house is and always will be a dumb house. My husband and I each have a smartphone, and we have an internet router, but other than that our house and its contents are bordering Neolithic.

When people arrive at our house they don’t get filmed by a doorbell as they dither about on the doorstep; they simply knock on the door. I know ring doorbells are supposed to be good for security, but society has managed for centuries with a door knock, and that is what we’re sticking with.

We don’t have lights that turn on automatically with the morning alarm or blinds that open themselves.

We don’t have a fridge that sends an alert to us if we accidentally leave the door open. If this happens we just curse a little and take it on the chin. And we wouldn’t dream of getting one of those high-tech fridges fitted with cameras that take pictures – ‘shelfies’ – of their contents and send them to your phone so you know what to stick on your shopping list. Basically, we have a small, no-mod-cons fridge, one step up from an old-fashioned larder.

Our oven isn’t very smart either. In fact, until I started writing this column I didn’t know there was such a thing as a smart oven – one that allows users to monitor and control cooking from their phones. They can include automated cooking programs, recipe suggestions sent directly to the oven, voice control, and built-in cameras to check on food remotely. I couldn’t think of anything worse. I find it hard enough to successfully cook a meal while standing in front of my oven never mind from several miles away. Were I to try remote cooking I’d need the fire service on standby.

This growing shift towards dumb homes – highlighted by estate agents and often referred to in newspaper property supplements – features reliable, no-fuss appliances over automated systems. Many homeowners are opting for simple buttons, switches, and knobs over voice-activated or app-controlled systems.

Our TV isn’t smart, our radio isn’t smart, our vacuum cleaner isn’t robotic and our toilet hasn’t got Bluetooth: don’t you just hate those loos that flush when they feel like it – usually when you’re still on it?

Our home is well and truly dumb, and I’m glad of that.

We also have – brace yourself – a landline, which I have to say I use more than my mobile to make calls. Speaking on it doesn’t make my tinnitus worse, which mobiles tend to do, especially after more than ten minutes.

I recently read about ‘dumb phones’ – basic models offering a digital detox from smartphone distractions. They are gaining popularity for their simplicity, long battery life, and affordability, often featuring physical keypads, small screens, and limited, or no internet connectivity.

I don’t want a fully-integrated smart home. I want a comfortable house that, if anything, harks back to the good old days when people flipped light switches, drew curtains and flushed the toilet themselves. Dependable and reliable, and far better than all this so-called smart nonsense.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced federal charges Friday against 30 more people who are accused of civil rights violations in a January protest inside a Minnesota church where a pastor works for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Bondi said on social media that 25 people were in custody and more arrests would follow. The new indictment comes a month after independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort and prominent local activist Nekima Levy Armstrong were charged for their alleged roles in a protest at Cities Church in St. Paul.

Bondi accused the group of attacking a house of worship.

“If you do so, you cannot hide from us — we will find you, arrest you, and prosecute you,” she wrote on social media.

A livestreamed video posted on Facebook shows people interrupting services at Cities Church on Jan. 18 by chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good,” a reference to the woman who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

Protesters targeted church over its pastor

Protesters descended on Cities Church after learning that one of the church’s pastors also serves as an ICE official. The protest drew swift condemnation from Trump administration officials and conservative leaders for disrupting a Sunday service.

In total, 39 people now face charges of conspiracy against religious freedom and interfering with the right of religious freedom. The new defendants had initial court appearances and were released.

Lemon and Fort said they were at the church as journalists covering news. Levy Armstrong was the subject of a doctored photo posted by the White House showing her crying during her arrest. The three have pleaded not guilty.

The indictment says the “agitators” entered the church in a “coordinated takeover-style attack” and engaged in acts of intimidation and obstruction.

“Young children were left to wonder, as one child put it, if their parents were going to die,” the indictment says.

Church welcomes more arrests

A lawyer for the church praised the Justice Department for charging more people.

“The First Amendment does not give anyone — regardless of profession, prominence, or politics — license to storm a church and intimidate, threaten, and terrorize families and children worshipping inside,” Doug Wardlow said in a statement.

The revised indictment adds new allegations when compared to the original filed in January.

It says two people “conducted reconnaissance” outside the church a day before the protest and recorded their visit on video, with one saying, “My thoughts are to be able to close up this whole alleyway right here.”

The court filing quotes one protester as chanting in the church, “This ain’t God’s house. This is the house of the devil.”

Trahern Crews, who was charged in January and is lead organizer of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, said the latest arrests were a “waste of time.”

“It’s a shame that the people who have killed Alex Pretti and Renee Good or Keith Porter have not been arrested but peaceful protesters have,” Crews said. Porter was fatally shot in Los Angeles by an off-duty ICE officer.

Minnesota was hotbed for immigration blitz

Levy Armstrong defended the protest shortly after it occurred. She said critics needed to “check their hearts” if they were more concerned about a disruption than the “atrocities that we are experiencing in our community.”

The protest came at a tense time in Minnesota, where the Trump administration sent thousands of federal officers for Operation Metro Surge after a series of public fraud cases where the majority of defendants had Somali roots. Officers frequently deployed tear gas for crowd control in neighborhood clashes with residents, often detaining them along with immigrants.

Good, 37, was shot in Minneapolis. In another fatal shooting a week after the church protest, a federal officer killed Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, in the same city.

Nationwide demonstrations erupted in response, followed by a change in Operation Metro Surge’s leadership and the eventual wind-down of the immigration enforcement operation. Roughly 400 ICE officers and Homeland Security agents were expected to remain in Minneapolis by early March, down from roughly 3,000 at the peak, according to a court filing.

Since then, the Twin Cities have grappled with the impact to communities and the local economy. Minneapolis said it suffered an impact of $203 million due to the operation, with tens of thousands of residents in need of urgent relief assistance.

Separately, a woman who was at the church service has filed a lawsuit against some people who were charged, alleging emotional trauma and an inability to exercise her religion that day.

___

Associated Press writer Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.

Hello and welcome to coverage from the Premier League of Wolves vs Aston Villa.

The two sides will start the match with very different objectives, one desperately trying to pick up points to avoid the inevitable, while the other attempts to keep the league’s big beasts behind them in the race for Champions League football next season.

Wolves welcome Villa to Molineux – the first of three home games in the space of a week. Liverpool are visitors on Tuesday, and again in the FA Cup next Friday.

And manager Rob Edwards says it is time for his players to lift themselves for the fight. Edwards said: “We’re here to fight and show how good we are. The players have always got something to fight for, these next three games in particular, and they shouldn’t be difficult to get up for at all.

“We understand the scale of the task and we know we’re not going to be favourite in any of the games, but we’ve got to make sure that we bring our best.”

In contrast, Villa boss Unai Emery sounded downbeat, claiming it is going to be “very, very difficult” for Aston Villa to maintain their top-three position in the table after picking up only five points from four league games.

Emery said: “I know it’s going to be very, very difficult to keep our position. Why? Because we have three teams behind us: United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Our position for them is their objective, their priority and their challenge, and they have the power to get us.

“Of course, our challenge is to try to keep the advantage we have now, and try to play looking forward, and tomorrow, three points, no more. We are going to fight, day by day, next week, next month, very exciting moments. Everything can happen, but exciting moments.”

Stand by for lineups and team news…

A vehicle fire has led to a major road closure

The M2 has been closed near Ballymena following a vehicle fire.

The affected area has seen the major road closed from the junction of the Raceveiw Rd in the direction of the Larne roundabout.

Authorities have been contacted for more information.

Drivers are advised to avoid the area if possible and should seek an alternative route at this time.

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Wolves delivered a significant blow to Aston Villa’s Champions League aspirations with a 2-0 victory at Molineux, a result that also saw them surpass Derby County’s record-low Premier League points tally.

Second-half goals from Joao Gomes and Rodrigo Gomes secured only Wolves’ second win in 29 games, taking their season total to 13 points and moving them beyond the meagre 11 points posted by the Rams in the 2007-08 season, thus avoiding the notoriety of being the worst-ever Premier League team.

The defeat was particularly galling for Unai Emery’s side, coming against local rivals and extending their poor record at Molineux.

Villa’s woeful display saw their top-four hopes take another hit.

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Having been in the title race as recently as January, their form has dramatically declined, with just one win from their last five games, leaving them now looking over their shoulder at the chasing pack rather than challenging at the top.

Villa had not won at Molineux since 2020, so, despite their respective positions in the table, the visitors knew this was not going to be an easy game.

The weather did not help, with rain lashing down and affecting both sides’ ability to move the ball around.

Still, it was Villa that looked the most likely initially and they fashioned several good chances in the first half.

The first came after six minutes when Morgan Rogers played a brilliant ball for Ollie Watkins to race on to, but the striker took too long to get his shot away and it was blocked by Yerson Mosquera.

From the resulting corner, Pau Torres found himself in yards of space near the penalty spot but could not make a clean connection with his header.

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Jose Sa was tested for the first time in the 17th minute as Douglas Luiz produced a rasping volley from Matty Cash’s cross, but it was straight at the goalkeeper.

Villa could not find that early goal and the level of their performance slipped alarmingly as the match went on.

They were punished just after the hour as Wolves scored with their first shot on target.

They won the ball in midfield, Jackson Tchatchoua was given too much space to send in his cross, which Adam Armstrong laid off for Gomes to power the ball into the roof of the net.

It was the only real moment of quality in a poor game.

Villa tried to get something out of it in the final 30 minutes, but the closest they came was when Ian Maatsen thrashed an effort straight at Sa.

Their best chance came in the seventh minute of stoppage time when a loose ball fell to Amadou Onana, but Sa got enough on the ball to allow Mosquera to clear off the line.

Then, with the game in the final throes, Wolves sealed the three points with a breakaway goal, Rodrigo Gomes converting from 12 yards.

This result will not change the outcome of Wolves’ season but there were wild scenes of celebration at the end while Emery stormed down the tunnel in disgust.

Neil Sedaka, the legendary songwriter behind hits including “(Is This the Way to) Amarillo”, “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” and “Love Will Keep Us Together,” has died. He was 86.

The New York-born songwriter was reportedly rushed to hospital in Los Angeles this morning.

In a statement to Variety, Sedaka’s relatives said: “Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Neil Sedaka.

“A true rock and roll legend, an inspiration to millions, but most importantly, at least to those of us who were lucky enough to know him, an incredible human being who will be deeply missed.”

More to follow…

With spring just around the corner, many people are wondering when is the best time to start cutting their lawns again.

Now we are coming to the end of February, many Brits are looking forward to longer days and hopefully some warmer and brighter weather. With quite a few regions of the UK experiencing days without sunshine, many of us are desperate for spring to begin.

However, as the weather does start to get better, many homeowners will now need to pay more attention to their gardens. While the winter months have allowed Brits to forget about their outdoor maintenance, the warmer seasons will soon have our lawns resembling a jungle if it isn’t looked after properly.

With many avid gardeners quite happy to start tackling the job, many of us are unsure of when is the best time to get the lawnmower out. In fact, many experts warn cutting the grass too early could actually be extremely harmful to your lawn and could ruin it for the year.

This is because mowing the lawn during the colder months can cause lasting damage to the grass as it struggles to thrive in freezing temperatures, reports Devon Live. Therefore, as we move into early spring, our grass will be concentrating its energy on developing a stronger root system so it can flourish throughout the warmer seasons.

By cutting your grass too early, you will be damaging this process which will result in a lackluster garden for the rest of the year. So when is the best time to start mowing the lawn in 2026 to achieve a luscious green garden?

Overall, experts generally agree the temperature will have sufficiently increased enough to make mowing safe by March 15.

Urging gardeners to not start cutting their grass too early, Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don previously explained the issue on his blog.

He wrote: “Cutting too early during the colder months can damage your lawn, as grass doesn’t thrive in low temperatures. By mid-March, the weather in most parts of the UK has warmed enough to make mowing beneficial.”

However, the gardening expert does warn Brits not to put their lawnmower on the lowest setting on this first cut. Don explained: “The grass will need mowing in March but do not cut it too short. Just give it a light trim for the rest of this month.

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“This will encourage good root growth and as a result the grass will be a lot healthier and better able to resist summer drought.”

For those wanting to get their best results out of their garden in 2026, Don also shared some handy tips and tricks for households to follow.

He said: “To get a ‘good’ lawn you have to think positively. Put your efforts into healthy grass rather than fighting perceived ‘problems’ like daisies, moss, ants, worm-casts, moles, plantains, dandelions and fairy rings. Nine times out of ten if the grass is healthy then everything else will look after itself.

“The best grass likes very well drained soil. Moss, for example, is always a symptom of poor drainage, made worse by shade. Unfortunately even the best prepared soil becomes compacted by matted roots, rain and, especially, normal family use.

“The answer is to work on it at least once a year by sticking a fork in the ground and wiggling it about and repeating the process every 6 inches or so.”

Following the fork method, Don recommends creating a mixture equal parts sieved topsoil, sharp sand and sieved leaf mould or compost.

He added: “If you do not have these things to hand then just sharp or silver sand will do the job. Spread it across the area you have pricked and brush it in with a stiff broom, filling the holes with the mixture. This will help drainage and feed the grass.

“It is also worth giving the lawn a good scratch with a wire rake. This will get at all the overwintering thatch and moss, and let light and water get to the soil and to the roots of the grass. Put the debris on the compost and then mow. It will look a little bald for a week or so but will grow back thicker than ever.”