Joe Biden brings his emotional tour of Ireland to a close with a speech in his ancestral home
President Joe Biden has said “it feels like coming home” in his final address on his tour of Ireland as he spoke in his ancestral home of Ballina, Co Mayo.
He was introduced by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and stepped out on stage at St Muredach’s Cathedral to Shipping Up To Boston by Dropkick Murphys.
Addressing a roaring crowd, Mr Biden talked at length about his ancestors, one of whom supplied bricks to build the cathedral.
“As he laboured, I’m sure he would imagine that one day his family would worship here, that his children would be baptised here like his son Patrick was, and that future generations of his family would mark the milestones of their lives here in the sturdy walls, but I doubt he ever imagined his great-great-great grandson would return 200 years later as President of the United States of America,” he said.
Earlier he was presented with a 200-year-old brick recovered from the fireplace of his family’s ancestral home in Ballina.
His great-great-great grandfather Edward Blewitt sold 27,000 bricks to the cathedral in 1827, which helped him buy tickets to sail his family to America in 1851.
Mr Biden also broke down in tears during earlier engagements, after an emotional and unplanned meeting with a priest who gave his son the last rites.
The chaplain who performed the sacrament for Beau Biden, now works at the Knock shrine in Co Mayo where the president paid a visit on Friday.
Fr Frank O’Grady performed the ceremony for Beau Biden before he died of brain cancer in 2015.
He received a call requesting that he meet the president, and later told RTE that the encounter was “like a reunion”.
“We had a nice chat for about 10 minutes. He was delighted to see me and I was delighted to see him,” he said.
“He gave me a big hug, it was like a reunion. He told me he appreciated everything that was done.”
Mr Biden was given a tour of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock – a Catholic pilgrimage site – by the Parish priest of Knock, Fr Richard Gibbons.
Recounting the emotional reunion between the Mr Biden and Fr O’Grady, he said: “It was an extraordinary afternoon. I won’t forget it, I can tell you that it was quite something else.”
Joe Biden receives a brick from the fireplace from the home of the Blewitt family, his relatives in Ireland
After leaving Knock, Mr Biden travelled to Castlebar where he made a private visit to the Mayo Roscommon Hospice.
The president had a longstanding pledge to revisit the facility, having turned the sod on the development in 2017.
A plaque at the entrance to the hospice is dedicated to Beau Biden’s memory.
At the site the president, along with his son Hunter and sister Valerie, met with distant cousin Laurita Blewitt.
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Mr Biden’s visit to Co Mayo ends his four-day tour of the island after he touched down at the airport in Knock on Friday afternoon.
The trip is another return to ancestral roots for the president after his trip to Co Louth on Wednesday.
The president has repeatedly spoken with passion about his Irish heritage and described addressing the country’s parliament on Thursday as “one of the great honours of my career”.
Mr Varadkar joined Mr Biden at Ireland West Airport as Air Force One began the journey back to his home state of Delaware.
The Taoiseach said he was delighted with how the trip had gone – and declared that Irish-US relations “have never been better”.
He added: “Without any doubt we have an ally in the White House, we have an administration that is looking out for Ireland and that is a really special thing to have the biggest political power in the world, the biggest economy in the world, that has a president, an administration that is interested in a small country of five million people.”
There are no survivors from a factory explosion that ripped through a munitions plant in rural Tennessee, police have confirmed.
Eighteen people were missing after the huge blast, but Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis has now confirmed all died.
It happened on Friday morning at Accurate Energetic Systems, a company which supplies and researches explosives for the military.
Officers guard the gate at Accurate Energetic Systems military explosives plant. Pic: Reuters
It scattered debris over at least half a mile (800m) and was felt by residents more than 15 miles (24km) away, Mr Davis said.
Aerial footage showed the company’s hilltop location smouldering and obliterated by smoke for much of Friday, with just a mass of twisted metal, burned-out shells of cars, and an array of debris left behind.
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Emergency services have been unable to fully attend the site due to secondary blasts.
Mr Davis described it as one of the worst scenes he had ever seen.
“What we need right now is we need our communities to come together and understand that we’ve lost a lot of people,” he said.
The cause of the blast, which occurred about 60 miles southwest of Nashville, is not yet known but Mr Davis said it could be days, weeks or even months before foul play is ruled out.
Guy McCormick, a supervisory special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said experts need to make the area safe before specialist investigators begin combing through the remains.
He said the safety and security of the scene could change quickly because of the heat and pressure caused by the explosion.
Signs near the site on Saturday asked for prayers for the families.
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Terry Bagsby, 68, who works at a petrol station nearby, said people in the close-knit community were “very, very sad”.
“I don’t know how to explain it… Just a lot of grief,” he added.
Actress Diane Keaton, who starred in films including The Godfather and Annie Hall, has died aged 79.
Keaton’s daughter, Dexter Keaton White, confirmed her death to Sky’s US partner network NBC News.
With a long career, across a series of movies that are regarded as some of the best ever made, Keaton was widely admired.
She was awarded an Oscar, a BAFTA and two Golden Globe Awards, and was also nominated for two Emmys, and a Tony, as well as picking up a series of other Academy Award and BAFTA nominations.
Diane Keaton, with her best actress Oscar for Annie Hall in 1978. Pic: AP
Her best actress Oscar was for the Woody Allen film Annie Hall which is said to be loosely based on her life.
She appeared in several other Allen projects, including Manhattan, as well as all three Godfather movies, in which she played Kay, the wife and then ex-wife of Marlon Brando’s son Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino, opposite him as he descends into a life of crime and replaces his father in the family’s mafia empire.
With Woody Allen in 1978. Pic: Adam Scull/PHOTOlink.net/AP
Keaton was the kind of actor who helped make films iconic and timeless, from her heartbreaking turn as Kay Adams-Corleone to the “La-dee-da, la-dee-da” phrasing as Annie Hall, bedecked in the now famous necktie, bowler hat, vest and khakis.
Keaton also frequently worked with Nancy Meyers, starting with 1987’s Baby Boom.
Their other films together included 1991’s Father Of The Bride and its 1995 sequel, as well as 2003’s Something’s Gotta Give.
In 1996, she starred opposite Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler in The First Wives Club, about three women whose husbands had left them for younger women.
Keaton (centre) with Goldie Hawn (L) and Bette Midler at the premiere of The First Wives Club in 1996. Pic: AP
More recently, she collaborated with Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen and Candice Bergen on the Book Club films.
‘Brilliant, beautiful’
Diane Keaton. Pic: AP
The unexpected news was met with shock around the world.
Her First Wives Club co-star Midler wrote on Instagram: “The brilliant, beautiful, extraordinary Diane Keaton has died. I cannot tell you how unbearably sad this makes me.
“She was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star. What you saw was who she was … oh, la, lala!”
Actor Ben Stiller paid tribute on X, writing: “Diane Keaton. One of the greatest film actors ever. An icon of style, humor and comedy. Brilliant. What a person.”
Kate Hudson, whose mother is Goldie Hawn, posted simply: “We love you so much Diane.”
In her Instagram tribute, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award-winning actress and producer Viola Davis said: “No!! No!!! No!! God, not yet, NO!!! Man… you defined womanhood.
“The pathos, humor, levity, your ever-present youthfulness and vulnerability – you tattooed your SOUL into every role, making it impossible to imagine anyone else inhabiting them.
“You were undeniably, unapologetically YOU!!! Loved you. Man… rest well. God bless your family, and I know angels are flying you home.”
Keaton never married. She adopted her daughter Dexter in 1996 and a son, Duke, four years later.
Donald Trump has announced the US will impose an additional 100% tariff on China imports, accusing it of taking an “extraordinarily aggressive position” on trade.
In a post to his Truth Social platform on Friday, the US president said Beijing had sent an “extremely hostile letter to the world” and imposed “large-scale export controls on virtually every product they make”.
Mr Trump, who warned the additional tariffs would start on 1 November, said the US would also impose export controls on all critical software to China.
The president added that he was imposing the tariffs because of export controls placed on rare earths by China.
He wrote: “Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position, and speaking only for the USA, and not other nations who were similarly threatened, starting November 1st, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a tariff of 100% on China, over and above any tariff that they are currently paying.
“It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is history. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
President Trump says he sees no reason to see President Xi as part of a trip to South Korea. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump said earlier on Friday that there “seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in a scheduled meeting as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea at the end of this month.
He had posted: “I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems no reason to do so.”
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The trip was scheduled to include a stop in Malaysia, which is hosting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, a stop in Japan and then the stop to South Korea, where Mr Trump would meet Mr Xi ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Mr Trump added: “There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration.”
The move signalled the biggest rupture in relations in six months between Beijing and Washington – the world’s biggest
factory and its biggest consumer.
It also threatens to escalate tensions between the two countries, prompting fears over the stability of the global economy.
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Friday was Wall Street’s worst day since April, with the S&P 500 falling 2.7%, owing to fears about US-China relations.
China had restricted the access to rare earths ahead of the meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi.
Under the restrictions, Beijing would require foreign companies to get special approval for shipping the metallic elements abroad.
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