More Mortgages granted

The number of mortgages granted in the UK was the highest it has been for 22 months in October, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

55,300 mortgages were granted in the month, the highest number since December 2007 and a 9% rise compared to September. The figure was 43% higher than in October 2008 and double the lowest point in January of this year.

The reasons? Interest rates are low for those who can put down a sizeable deposit and prices are continuing to rise. On average a first-time buyer needs to find a deposit of 25% according to the same survey.

Mobile phones and cancer

title>

After conducting a study of people between the ages of 20 and 79 in Denmark and a number of Scandinavian countries, a team of Danish scientists has concluded that the use of mobile telephones may not have increased the incidence of brain cancer The use of mobile phones increased sharply in the mid 1990s but there has been no substantial increase in the number of adult brain tumours in the years since then, according to a newly-published report from The Danish Cancer Society . They add that further longer term studies are essential as brain tumours take a long time to develop.

The scientists add that it is possible that tumours cause by the use of mobile phones take longer to develop than other forms or that the number of cases is too small to be detected.

Almost 60,000 cases of brain tumours that were diagnosed between 1974 and 2003 were studied. Some slight increases in the rate of cancers were discovered, especially amongst women between the ages of 60 and 79