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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

How Erling Haaland's goal record through three Premier League games compares between his 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons.

Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny are official, Simone Biles won the U.S. championship, California won the Little League World Series and more in the Roundup.

Israel’s latest attempt to forge fresh alliances in the Arab world hit a stumbling block in Libya, sparking

An overview of the media in Germany, including links to broadcasters and newspapers.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis was heckled at a vigil held for the three victims of a racially motivated mass shooting in Jacksonville. Two men and one woman were killed on Saturday afternoon at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville by a white gunman carrying a weapon decorated with swastikas. The gunman, identified as 21-year-old Christopher Palmeter, shot and killed himself at the scene. Mr DeSantis, who is running for the GOP nomination for president, has been criticised for easing gun laws in Florida and initially staying silent on the shooting. In April this year, the governor signed a bill into law that allows people to carry concealed weapons without a government permit. As the governor began speaking at the vigil on Sunday, many members of a crowd of over a hundred people booed Mr DeSantis, forcing him to step back from the microphone. Ju'Coby Pittman, a Jacksonville city councilperson who represents the neighbourhood where the shooting took place, stepped in and asked the crowd to listen. "We are going to put parties aside because it ain’t about parties today," she said, adding: "A bullet don’t know a party." Mr DeSantis shared a video on social media condemning the violence, while calling the gunman a "deranged scumbag". "Casey DeSantis and I stand with the families impacted by the tragic shooting in Jacksonville," the governor wrote on X, previously known as Twitter. "The people of Florida stand united in condemning the horrific, racially-motivated murders." Mr DeSantis said that on Monday the state would be announcing financial support for security at Edward Waters University, the historically Black college near where the shooting occurred, and to help the affected families. Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters identified those killed as Angela Michelle Carr, 52, who was shot in her car; store employee AJ Laguerre, 19, who was shot as he tried to flee; and customer Jerrald Gallion, 29, who was shot as he entered the store in a predominantly Black neighbourhood. The gunman entered the store armed with an AR-style rifle, Glock handgun and “outfitted with a tactical vest" shortly after 1pm on Sunday. He first went to the campus of Edward Waters University, where he refused to identify himself to a security guard and was told to leave the campus. The gunman’s father then received a text from his son, telling him to check his computer. His parents then found “several manifestoes” written by the gunman, intended for his parents, law enforcement, and the media. The sheriff called the writing “the diary of a madman”. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has opened a civil rights investigation and says it will pursue the incident as a hate crime. "Hate crimes are always and will always remain a top priority for the FBI because they are not only an attack on a victim, they're also meant to threaten and intimidate an entire community," said Sherri Onks, special agent in charge of the Jacksonville FBI office. Read More DeSantis is silent on whether he will visit Jacksonville after racially-motivated mass shooting Biden demands US do better on racism amid Jacksonville shooting: ‘Hate must have no safe harbor’ Jacksonville shooter in racist attack is named as it’s revealed he bought weapons legally - latest

Florida governor Ron DeSantis was heckled by mourners at a vigil held in Jacksonville for the three victims killed in a racially motivated attack. Two men and a woman were killed on Saturday by a 21-year-old white man named Ryan Palmeter, who “hated Black people”. The victims were identified as Angela Michelle Carr, 52, Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr, 19, and Jarrald De’Shaun Gallion, 29. As the governor began speaking at the vigil on Sunday, many members of a crowd of over a hundred people booed Mr DeSantis, forcing him to step back from the microphone. Ju'Coby Pittman, a Jacksonville city councilperson who represents the neighbourhood where the shooting took place, stepped in and asked the crowd to listen. The shooting took place at a Dollar General store just blocks from the historically-Black Edward Waters University. Shortly before the gunman went on a killing spree, his parents called law enforcement to say they had found a manifesto. The gunman had reportedly called his parents ahead of the attack and told them to look at his computer. Sheriff TK Waters described those writings as a “disgusting ideology of hate”. Read More Florida shooting victim planned to spend Saturday with his daughter. He was killed before he could. Biden demands US do better on racism amid Jacksonville shooting: ‘Hate must have no safe harbor’ Chilling CCTV shows Jacksonville shooter entering Florida store during deadly rampage Everything we know about the Florida Dollar General Shooting

Jerrald Gallion planned to spend the weekend with his 4-year-old daughter but the devoted father was instead one of three Black people gunned down Saturday afternoon at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida. Gallion, 29, was shot as he entered the store's front door with his girlfriend in a predominantly Black neighborhood. The killing marked him as another victim in the latest racist attack in the US. “My brother shouldn’t have lost his life,” his sister, Latiffany Gallion, said Sunday. “A simple day of going to the store, and he’s taken away from us forever.” The gunman, 21-year-old Ryan Palmeter, opened fire Saturday using guns he bought legally despite a past involuntary commitment for a mental health exam. Authorities say he left behind white supremacist ramblings that read like “the diary of a madman.” The other two people slain were identified as Angela Michelle Carr, 52, who was shot in her car, and store employee Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre, Jr., 19, who was shot as he tried to flee. On Sunday, family members recalled Gallion's sense of humor and work ethic. He saw his job as a restaurant manager as a way to provide for his daughter, Je Asia. Although his relationship with the child’s mother didn’t last, they worked together to raise Je Asia. That earned him lasting affection from Sabrina Rozier, the child’s maternal grandmother. “He never missed a beat,” Rozier told reporters Sunday evening after a prayer vigil near the shooting scene. “He got her every weekend. As a matter of fact, he was supposed to have her (Saturday).” Gallion attended St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Bishop John Guns told a crowd during the prayer vigil. “In two weeks I have to preach a funeral of a man who should still be alive,” Guns said. “He was not a gangster, he was not a thug — he was a father who gave his life to Jesus and was trying to get it together." As the child sat nearby in a pink dress with long braids in her hair, Rozier said the girl last spoke to her father at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday when she was having trouble falling asleep. “We’re trying to decide how to tell his one and only daughter that he’s not coming back,” Rozier said. “I’m her grandmother and I don’t know how to tell her. I don’t have the words.” Read More Ron DeSantis booed at Jacksonville vigil as police say racist Florida shooter bought weapons legally – live Everything we know about the Florida Dollar General Shooting Ron DeSantis is booed by mourners as he attends Jacksonville vigil after racist shooting

Provides an overview of Luxembourg, including key dates and facts about this west European country.

Western hopes for Ukraine’s counteroffensive to achieve a dramatic breakthrough have been significantly pared back, with US officials now reportedly forecasting that Kyiv will fall short of its key aim of severing Russia’s land bridge with occupied Crimea. One of the significant challenges confounding Kyiv’s efforts to redraw the frontline is the millions of mines Russia has laid in their path, to the extent that Ukraine is now being described as the most heavily mined country in the world. “What we are seeing is an industrial level of mine-laying, particularly anti-tank mines,” said Paul McCann, of the Halo Trust, the world's largest humanitarian landmine clearance organisation. “Nothing like it [has been] seen in Europe since the Second World War.” In one part of the liberated Mykolaiv region, close to lands flooded by the Khakovka Dam attack, clearance workers found “incredibly dense” fields of powerful anti-tank mines, with one explosive for every square metre, Mr McCann said. But Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksii Reznikov has warned that the minefields on Russian-held territory – spanning the length of the 1,000km frontline – are up to five times as dense as those found in Mykolaiv. They also deep – with reports of as many as five anti-tank mines being stacked one on top of the other – capable of destroying even tanks equipped with mine ploughs. The painstaking efforts by Ukrainian troops to clear paths towards the enemy through the fields of explosives – often under heavy shelling and other fire – mean that, at one key hospital in Dnipro, the number of wounded troops arriving with mine-related injuries is now said to be second only to victims of artillery fire. Experts have told The Independent that Western hesitance to supply Kyiv with the necessary weapons for its counteroffensive this summer had allowed Russia time to create formidable defences, and lay millions of mines – meaning hopes of a “Hollywood”-style breakthrough are likely “unrealistic”. The minefields are “a serious problem”, warned Mark Galeotti, of the Mayak Intelligence consultancy. “If you’re facing a heavily mined battlefield, you have to move slowly ... at the speed of anti-mining tanks or engineers moving through marking mines, so you are therefore vulnerable to being caught under artillery fire. “Mines fix you slowly or they channel you – often into a ‘kill zone’ where they’re waiting to drop volleys of artillery shells on you. They deny the Ukrainians that kind of fluidity and speed of movement [seen during last year’s lightning counteroffensive].” Meanwhile, as Ukrainians risk their lives to clear the minefields, “the Russians can replenish them if nothing else just by using rocket launchers that scatter mines”, Mr Galeotti added. Mines can even be laid in this fashion to trap Ukrainian troops who have just cleared a path through, often by hand. The mines “would be vastly less formidable”, however, were they not “part of a very complex defensive setup”, said the author and honorary professor at University College London. He was alluding to the array of trenches, anti-tank ditches, “dragon’s teeth” barricades and other obstacles Russia has constructed. “It’s always a danger to underestimate Russians in the defence, they can be very dogged,” Mr Galeotti said. Following initial attempts to punch through Russia’s defences which likely proved costly in both manpower and Western-supplied equipment, including tanks, Ukraine now appears to have broadened its focus to target supply lines, decimate key artillery systems and exhaust the Russian military with drone strikes on targets such as Moscow, Belgorod and the Black Sea fleet. “The change in tactics at the line of contact on the battlefield has been towards using lighter footprints, small units on foot, but in the grander scheme of things we’re seeing a lot of these asymmetric cheap attacks being conducted,” said Dr Marina Miron, of King’s College University’s war studies department. “They don’t want to waste the Nato-trained brigades to run against a concrete wall, which is basically those minefields and the Russian defences,” Dr Miron added. Mr Galeotti estimates that Ukraine has already committed half of its new 10th Corps, comprising troops trained and equipped by Nato – a tens of thousands-strong grouping initially intended to hold back and capitalise on any breakthroughs rather than toil at creating them. The minefields and resulting casualties have been “leading to a degree of fatigue even within the [rest of the] country”, Mr Galeotti believes – pointing to recent reports suggesting that the days of “lines of volunteers eager to sign up” to Ukraine’s war effort are “long gone”. However, Ukraine has been buoyed this week by successes in breaking through the first line of Russian defences near the Zaporizhzia village of Robotyne – a first step on the path to severing Russia’s land bridge with Crimea. This breakthrough is “tactically significant” in that it may allow Kyiv’s forces to start operating beyond Russia’s densest minefields, according to the Institute of the Study for War. The gains have prompted some suggestions that further advances could finally allow Kyiv’s troops to pour through paper-thin gaps in the minefields to establish some control over a vast area between Russian lines. “If the Ukrainians are going to break through, it’s going to be like bankruptcy – it’s gradually then all at once,” said Dr Patrick Bury, a senior lecturer at Bath University and former Nato analyst. “That’s what you’re looking for – you get through the defences and suddenly you’re out in the open,” said the former British Army infantry captain. “Basically, you tell tanks and armoured infantry to drive hell for leather and you’re trying to get to undefended towns and cities because they’re your logistics and transport hubs. “They’ll be trying to drive [as] fast as they can towards the Sea of Azov. It’s not as if they want to cut the Russians off completely but they want to force them to withdraw ... Once you break out and you’re inside, it’s about momentum, decision-making, and you’re the one imposing your tempo on the enemy. You move and they have to react.” But while the gains near Tokmak show “progress”, with Dr Bury also pointing to fighting near the village of Urozhaine as “the one to watch”, he believes the chances of a sudden breakthrough are “50/50 at the moment”. “It’s hanging in the balance, and I think the next few weeks are going to be pretty decisive, one way or the other.” Read More Ukraine-Russia war live: Kyiv claims five Moscow fighter jets hit by drones, as Prigozhin ‘confirmed dead’ Experts warn Ukraine’s frontline push is being damaged by West On the ground in Ukraine, the desperate fight to protect a key city from 100,000 of ‘Putin’s thugs’ Wagner Group: Timeline of Yevgeny Progozhin’s private army as leader ‘killed in plane crash’ Yevgeny Prigozhin ‘Ask Me Anything’ - expert Tim White answers your questions Wagner chief ‘killed’ in crash

Ukraine‘s military have liberated the southeastern village of Robotyne amid fierce fighting, and are trying to advance further south in their counteroffensive against Russian forces. This comes after hitting five of Moscow’s fighter jets with a night-time drone strike on Russian soil, a source in Kyiv’s security service told Ukrainian outlets yesterday. The Kyiv Post and Ukrainska Pravda both cited sources in Ukraine’s SBU security service as claiming successful strikes were carried out on four Russian Su-30 fighter jets and one MiG-29 at an airfield in Kursk. This morning, Russia’s defence ministry claimed to have shot down two more drones in the Bryansk and Kursk regions, which both border Ukraine, without providing further information about possible damage or casualties. It comes as Russia’s Investigative Committee’s said Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was confirmed to have died in a plane crash near Moscow on Wednesday, citing the results of genetic tests of the 10 bodies found in the wreckage. Western politicians and commentators have speculated that Mr Putin ordered Prigozhin to be killed as punishment for Wagner’s brief mutiny in June, claims the Kremlin has denied as an “absolute lie”. Read More Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin confirmed dead by Russian investigators after plane crash Who is ‘Juice’? The ‘mega talent’ Ukrainian pilot killed in mid-air plane crash Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? Wagner Group chief killed in plane crash Ukraine investigates incident that killed 3 pilots while Russia attacks with cruise missiles

Robbie Williams reunited with Mark Owen at his royal concert at Sandringham at the weekend.