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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan to travel to China demonstrates a confidence that his authority is stronger than

Irish police say the single-vehicle collision happened near Cashel, County Tipperary.

A behind-closed-doors "farewell ceremony" has been held for the Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin – a funeral avoided by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Secrecy had surrounded the funeral arrangements for Prigozhin, killed in a plane crash on 23 August, two months to the day since staging a 24-hour mutiny that was the biggest challenge to Putin's authority since he rose to power in 1999. The low-key ceremony stands in stark contrast to aggressive self-promotion, with videos from Ukraine having become a regular fixture of Prigozhin's months-long feud with Moscow's military command over the invasion Putin started. That ended with his forces marching on Moscow, only stopping 125 miles from the capital when a deal was struck with the Kremlin. "The farewell to Yevgeny Viktorovich took place in a closed format. Those who wish to say goodbye may visit Porokhovskoye cemetery," his press service said in a short post on Telegram, accompanied by a photo of Prigozhin. But the seemingly private ceremony suits the Kremlin and Putin, with Prigozhin having gone from years-long ally of the Russian president to being branded a "traitor" over his armed uprising. It meant that the event could not be turned into a large-scale show of support for the Wagner chief, who as well as collecting enemies had gained admiration among some of Moscow's elite for throwing his troops into some of the bloodiest battles of Putin's war. That included around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, control of which has gained symbolic significance for both Kyiv and Moscow. Wagner forces were at the vanguard of that fight and helped Russian forces take it – although fierce battles continue around the suburbs of the ruined city. Hence why Putin and the Kremlin have to walk a fine line in not denigrating Prigozhin, despite few observers believing the Russian president would let the embarrassment of the Wagner mutiny stand without retribution. Comments from Putin have reflected that stance. Putin's comments on Prigozhin's death reflected that careful stand. He noted last week that Wagner leaders "made a significant contribution" to the fighting in Ukraine and described Prigozhin as a "talented businessman" and "a man of difficult fate" who had "made serious mistakes in life." Pictures published on social media showed Prigozhin's dark granite tombstone surrounded by a sea of flowers, mostly red roses, in the cemetery on the northeast edge of his hometown. Other makeshift memorials have appeared in recent days in both Moscow and St Petersburg. Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political analyst, noted that Prigozhin has become a legendary figure for his supporters who are increasingly critical of the authorities. "Prigozhin's funeral raises an issue of communication between the bureaucratic Russian government system that doesn't have much political potential and politically active patriotic segment of the Russian public," Markov said. Russia's top criminal investigation agency, the Investigative Committee, officially confirmed Prigozhin's death on Sunday, but i has not given a cause for the crash. A number of leaders in the West, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, have suggested that nothing of this magnitude could occur in Russia without Putin's knowledge. The Kremlin has claimed that such accusations are an "absolute lie". The Kremlin had confirmed earlier on Tuesday that Putin would not attend Prigozhin's funeral. Also on Tuesday, prominent Russian nationalist Igor Girkin failed in an appeal against his pre-trial detention on charges of inciting extremism, a Moscow court said. Girkin, also known as Strelkov, has fiercely criticised the way that Russia has conducted the war in Ukraine and his arrest was seen as an extension of a crackdown on dissent by Putin. The Embraer Legacy 600 private jet on which Prigozhin was travelling to St Petersburg from Moscow crashed north of Moscow with the loss of all 10 people on board, including top Wagner bosses Dmitry Utkin and Valery Chekalov, and a crew of three. Earlier on Tuesday, Chekalov, the head of Wagner logistics, was buried at another St Petersburg cemetery. His family was joined by dozens of people, including Wagner mercenaries and employees from Prigozhin's business empire. On the battlefield in Ukraine, a military spokesperson said Kyiv's forces were advancing against Russian forces in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia after recapturing Robotyne, the latest of a cluster of villages it says it has taken back in recent weeks. Kyiv also said its troops had had some "success" in the direction of the village of Verbove in the Zaporizhzhia region, but gave no details. Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said fighting was heavy in the country but that Ukrainian forces were making progress around Bakhmut, while Russian shelling killed a 45-year-old man and wounded at least one other person in the northeastern Ukrainian town of Kupiansk. Russia also said it had downed two drones over the Black Sea it said were launched by Ukraine. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Russian hard-line nationalist ordered to stay in prison after accusing Putin of weakness Key questions around James Cleverly’s visit to China Putin ‘too busy’ to face world leaders at G20

By Iain Withers LONDON A majority of large European banks reported a fall in deposits over the year

A wildfire near the northeastern Greek region of Evros which has been raging for 11 days is unlikely to be brought under control, officials have said. Deputy governor Dimitris Petrovich told national broadcaster ERT wind could cause the flames to spread even further. “Unfortunately, we see that the Dadia front cannot be contained and brought under control,” he said, describing the conditions for firefighters as “difficult”. The European Commission said the blaze, which is raging near the city of Alexandroupolis, is the largest single fire in the history of the EU. Over 400 firefighters, six planes and four helicopters were working to put out the blaze in Evros, the fire department said. Evacuation orders have been issued for a village in Evros and another village in neighbouring Rodopi. The wildfire has been blamed for 20 of the 21 wildfire-related deaths in Greece last week. Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire, which has scorched more than 80,000 hectares (197,000 acres) of land, including in Dadia national park, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service. Major wildfires have also been seen on the outskirts of the capital Athens and on the Aegean island of Andros. Some 260 firefighters, one plane and three helicopters tackled the blaze on the outskirts of Athens, which burned into the Mount Parnitha national park. Meanwhile, a third fire broke out on Saturday on the island of Andros in the Cyclades archipelago, which is suspected to have been caused by a lightning strike. Greece suffers major wildfires every year and imposes wildfire prevention regulations, typically from the start of May to the end of October, limiting activities such as the burning of dried vegetation and the use of outdoor barbecues. By Friday, fire department officials had arrested 163 people on fire-related charges since the start of the fire prevention season, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said, including 118 for negligence and 24 for deliberate arson. The police had made a further 18 arrests, he said. Last month, thousands of people were evacuated from towns and villages across Greece after wildfires ravaged the country. Fires spread through Corfu, Rhodes, Evia, Crete and the northern Peloponnese region in Greece. The most serious fire in the country was on the island of Rhodes, where some 19,000 people had been evacuated from several locations. Local police said 16,000 people were evacuated by land and 3,000 by sea from 12 villages and several hotels. The region’s deputy mayor said the fires in Corfu were caused by arson. Read More Greece reinforces firefighting forces to tackle massive blaze in the country's northeast Massive wildfire in northeastern Greece persists for 11th day despite European firefighting efforts Greek fire officials arrest 2 for arson as multiple wildfires continue to burn across the country Ore Oduba and wife Portia ‘stranded’ in Greece without nappies for children Court axes lawsuit from Wyoming students trying to bar trans woman from sorority Official says the UN remains committed to helping reach a deal healing Cyprus' ethnic split

It is the first time that ex-US Marine Paul Whelan is seen on video since his conviction in Russia.

President Putin moved his £75million superyacht three weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine to avoid having it seized as part of war sanctions, a new investigation has claimed. Secret documents released by Russian investigative journalist Maria Pevchikh, who heads the anti-corruption foundation set up by Alexei Navalny, show the Russian president had his yacht ‘Graceful’ sail from from Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany to the Russian semi-exclave of Kaliningrad two weeks before the invasion. The documents show an email was sent by an employee of Russia’s largest shipping company, the SCF Group, to Blohm & Voss saying the owner of Graceful is unhappy with an on-going “refit” and wants the ship to sail out of the Hamburg port on February 1, 2022. The email does not provide any reason why the owner of the yacht was unhappy with the on-going “refit”, which added two new balconies to the vessel and extended the pool. “The owner is not happy with the retrofit. He is dissatisfied with the delays in the construction process,” the email says. “The owner wants the Graceful to be brought to the Russian Federation on February 1st (...). Please mobilise an uninterrupted crew – 2 shifts.’ The email, sent on January 19, 2022, adds: “Please accelerate all works which may interfere with Graceful sailing out on 01 February. “Please calculate the amount to be paid by Owners due to early departure. Crew and myself will provide full assistance to prepare Graceful for Towing.” According to investigators, Blohm & Voss was set to work on Graceful for another year to fix open holes in its surface. But the company was forced to cancel its work and get the ship ready to set sail in just 12 days. The yacht’s crew, based in Hamburg, were also forced to move out of their homes so they could move the vessel. Reports suggest the company did not meet the deadline of February 1, with pictures showing Graceful being towed out of Hamburg on February 7. Sanctions imposed by the UK, US, European Union and other allied nations since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have seen Putin and his allied Oligarchs have their assets seized across the world, including numerous superyachts and houses. But president Putin was preparing for this eventuality by ordering Graceful - which has since been renamed Kosatka (Russian for ‘killer whale’) - to return to a friendly port well in advance, according to investigators. Graceful is alleged to have cost the Russian president 87 million euros (£75 million) and has a 50-foot indoor swimming pool that turns into a theatre and dance floor with the press of a button, a helipad, a gym, and a wine cave that can store 400 bottles. It also features a large library, spa and plunge pools and a cocktail bar. President Putin allegedly owns three yachts, however, his officials deny this. As well as Graceful, Mr Putin is alleged to own the Olympia, gifted to him by a top oligarch almost two decades ago, and the £550 million ‘floating palace’ Scheherazade - seized by the West. Read More Scheherazade: Giant £570m superyacht ‘owned by Vladimir Putin’ is seized by Italian authorities Vladimir Putin owns £500m superyacht moored in Italy, Alexei Navalny allies claim Wealthy Russian businessman loses fight over detained superyacht The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

The world record for the most expensive cheese has been broken. The cabrales blue cheese of northern Spain earned the title of the world’s most expensive cheese after a 2.2kg wheel was sold at auction for €30,000. It also won best cabrales of the year at the principality’s 51st annual competition. “We knew we had a good cheese but also that it is very difficult to win,” Guillermo Pendás, who made it for his family’s Los Puertos factory, told EFE, Spain’s state news agency. Mr Pendás mother Rosa Vada, who owns the Los Puertos factory, said the cheese had been matured in a cave at an altitude of 1,400 metres, at a temperature of 7C, where it spent “a minimum of eight months”. The cheese was sold to restaurant owner Iván Suárez, who owns El Llagar de Colloto in Asturias. Mr Suárez said “the passion for the land” and “recognising the work of the cheesemakers” made him buy the cheese. When asked for the address of her factory, Ms Vada said: “Póo [high place] de Cabrales. The town is so small they don’t name the streets. It’s best to ask.” The usual price of cabrales is €35 to €40 a kilo. The cheese is made using raw cow’s milk or a mixture of cow’s, sheep’s and goat’s milk and matures in caves in the Cabrales area in the Picos de Europa national park. Mature cheeses are taken down the mountain from the caves on foot. The previous Guinness World Record price was set at €20,500 in 2019 for a cheese also bought by Mr Suárez. Read More Man crushed to death by thousands of cheese wheels Woman wins famous UK cheese rolling race despite being knocked unconscious Nacho cheese floods highway after scores of cans tumble from truck

She was arrested as part of an investigation into an incident in the Slieve League area in June.

Poland and the Baltic states have threatened to close their borders with Belarus, as they urged Minsk’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko to expel Wagner mercenaries from the country. There have been growing tensions on Nato’s eastern flank since Wagner fighters relocated to Belarus following the shortlived mutiny against Russia’s military leadership led by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in June, who Russian officials said died in a plane crash near Moscow last week. Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have now warned jointly that Belarus must expel the remaining mercenaries and remove migrants from their borders, following previous attempts by Minsk to “dump” migrants at their borders in a bid to destabilise them. Polish interior minister Mariusz Kaminski warned that any “critical incident” involving the military or an influx of migrants would result in the closure of all border crossings to travellers and goods. It came as Ukraine’s military declared it had liberated the Zaporizhzhia village of Robotyne, with Kyiv’s troops now reportedly advancing towards Russia’s second line of defence, as fierce fighting also rages in the east. Read More Ukraine flag flies on building after village of Robotyne captured from Russia Poland is investigating disruptions to train traffic from unauthorized radio signals How ‘industrial-scale’ Russian minefields are hampering Ukraine’s counteroffensive What next for the Wagner Group as leader presumed dead in plane crash?

The boyfriend of a teenager killed along with three others in a car crash on the way to celebrate exam results has revealed the tragic way he found out. Aaron Costin had been in a relationship with Grace McSweeney for two years and received a message from the 18-year-old on Snapchat just before she got into the car. Minutes after seeing her location on the app, Aaron’s friend sent him a text saying there had been a crash on the road Grace was on. Grace’s brother Luke McSweeney, 24, along with Zoey Coffey, 18, and Nicole Murphy, 18, died at the scene in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, after the car they were travelling in struck a wall. Mr McSweeney was driving the teenagers to a bus on Friday when the car overturned and crashed into a wall. Aaron rushed to the scene but couldn’t get to the area because it was blocked off by police, he told The Sunday Times. “There was something in me that didn’t want to believe it was their car but I could see the car and then I knew what it was. It was hard,” he said. “She was bubbly, she was friendly. She was there for anyone, whenever you wanted. Her family made the home very welcoming.” Aaron had last seen Grace the day before the crash after she’d texted him worried about her results. He picked her up and they walked around Carey’s Castle, a short drive from Clonmel. The young couple met at a party organised by Zoey Coffey, 18, who also lost her life in the crash. Aaron said Grace and Zoey were inseparable, and the day he met Grace was the happiest day of his life. “She was one of the greatest women I’ve ever met in my life,” he added. The pair had been looking forward to a trip together to Amsterdam, which they had planned in part because of Grace’s love for history. She’d wanted to visit the Anne Frank House. Laying flowers at the scene on Sunday, Aaron said: “She was the love of my life.” The funeral for siblings Grace and Luke will take place on Friday and a book of condolences will open at County Hall in Clonmel on Monday. Parish priest Fr John Treacy said the funeral for Mr and Ms McSweeney would take place at St Peter and Paul’s Church in Clonmel at 11.30am on Friday. Father Treacy said “very difficult” days lay ahead for the families. “The love of a parent for their child, it’s an unspeakable and inseparable bond of love and fidelity, and tenderness and compassion, and to lose that is just something that words cannot adequately describe,” he told RTE Radio One. Aaron’s mother, Jennifer Costin, posted a tribute to Grace on Facebook the day after the crash. She wrote: “None of it seems real today. Thank you for making my son happy and I’ll do my best to mind him for you.” Around 2,000 people gathered in Clonmel for a vigil to mourn the death of the four youngsters on Sunday evening, with the location of the crash now adorned with flowers, notes and candles. Grieving family members and classmates of the victims of Friday evening’s crash were among those who attended the emotional event at Kickham Plaza. Classmates from Presentation Secondary School wore lilac jumpers that commemorate their graduate class of 2023. Speaking after Sunday’s vigil, Bishop of Waterford Alphonsus Cullinan said there was a “strength” in the community coming together in grief. “Because there’s so many people here, it just shows the strength of community that’s here, the bond that’s here,” he said. “Everyone here has a connection with what those three families and those four youngsters, God love them all. “So, there’s a real strength in that consoling one another, helping one another, to go through the grief, praying together, as well as singing together, crying together. “It’s heartbreaking and there’s no easy solution. There’s no easy words. We just have to find the strength to struggle on.” Gardai have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the crash, and are appealing for witnesses. Their investigation is currently focusing on preparing a report for the local coroner. Adverse weather conditions at the time of the crash, including heavy downpours at the scene when first responders arrived, will be considered as part of the inquiry. Read More Hundreds gather for Clonmel vigil to four young victims of horror car crash Support for Clonmel students will be in place for as long as needed – minister Leaving Cert students had received ‘excellent’ exam results hours before fatal crash Crafty Aussie makes button versions of music stars including Sir Elton John Explorer excited to add hydrogen balloon attempt to his Atlantic crossings Pittsburgh Steelers connect with Gaelic games to grow fan base in Ireland

Gardaí (Irish police) say the woman, aged is in her 20s, was previously arrested over the incident.