The RUC is treating as murder the death of a young woman whose body was found in Belfast yesterday, bringing to five the number of killings in the North over the holiday period.
The body of the 22-year-old was discovered at 4 p.m in a house at Shankill Terrace in west Belfast.
The death follows four fatal stabbings in Northern Ireland since Christmas Eve. An RUC spokesman said bad weather hampered investigation of the crime scene and said it was not possible to say if the young woman had also been stabbed.
Ulster Unionist Party councillor Chris McGimpsey said the house where her body was found was in the Lower Shankill area where the Loyalist feud was centred.
"This location and the upset particularly caused by the feud is still feeding increases in violence," he said.
A man died from a stab wound in a Belfast hospital yesterday morning. An RUC spokesman said the separate incidents in Belfast and Derry were not being treated as sectarian or paramilitary-related.
Mr Edward Robinson (35), of Mayo Park off the Shankill Road in west Belfast, was admitted to the Mater Hospital with a single stab wound to the chest. He died later of his injuries.
A man and a woman, understood to be local, have been arrested in connection with the incident.
A man appeared in court in Belfast yesterday in connection with the death of Mr William Morrison (38) in east Belfast on Christmas Eve.
Mr James Kemp (31), of Ogilvie Street, also in east Belfast, was remanded in custody for four weeks. He is understood to have been a friend of the deceased man Meanwhile, two more people have been remanded in custody after they appeared in court in Derry on Tuesday charged with murder following separate stabbing incidents.
Ms Charmaine Collette McElwee (21), of Rathbeg Crescent, Limavady, in east Co Derry, was charged in connection with the death of Mr Eric Connor (37) on Christmas Eve.
Mr Thomas Francis Stokes (17), of Springfield Road, Stamford Hill, London, was charged in connection with the death of Mr Martin Mongan (23) on Christmas Day.
