The teenager was superb again on the biggest stage on All-Ireland final day as Mayo ended a 75-year wait for the Sam Maguire Cup, alongside his half brother Jordan Flynn

Kobe McDonald may be a newcomer to GAA circles, but the 18 year old has quickly made a name for himself as a truly special talent.

The teenager was superb again on the biggest stage on All-Ireland final day as Mayo ended a 75-year wait for the Sam Maguire Cup, alongside his half brother Jordan Flynn.

When asked about how he took to that stage like he hadn’t a care in the world, McDonald told RTE ‘sure every pitch is the same, a set of goalposts at either end’.

Weeks removed from sitting his Leaving Cert, McDonald showed immense resilience to keep going even when things weren’t coming off for him at Croke Park, ultimately getting his moment late on with a fabulous point that sent the Mayo fans wild.

With his family ties and talent, all eyes were always going to be on the youngster this year, and that scrutiny increased when it was announced that he would be joining AFL giants St Kilda’s in 2026.

And while he is Australia-bound, his heart belonged to Mayo on Sunday.

“I’m not thinking about Australia right now, I just want to soak every single bit of this in. This is where I come from, and to give these people of Mayo something to cheer about, it’s special.”

McDonald has lit up the summer with sheer reckless abandon and credits the Mayo backroom team for allowing him to play so freely

“It’s very easy when every single player and every single one of the coaching staff gives you the license to go out and express yourself and enjoy yourself. And when you’re playing in front of 80,000 it’s hard not to have a bit of fun.

Written off from the get-go, Mayo have had to hang tough at times this year, and McDonald credits the bond in the dressing room for turning things around.

“it’s impossible to put into words. We had a tough year. I suppose a lot of the country probably wrote us off after that tough day against Roscommon.

“But Andy is so big on trusting our process. We said at the start of the year that our goal was to climb the Hogan Steps, to be honest it’s still surreal that we are after doing that.

“Every team probably says it, but we’re like a family. When we come into training three nights a week, it’s like 40 brothers. We know every single person in there has each other’s backs, and whatever anyone is saying outside of the group doesn’t affect us.”

Having made his senior debut for Mayo GAA in February, he put in a standout performance, playing a pivotal role in securing a hard-fought victory over Monaghan. At club level with Crossmolina Deel Rovers, he helped claim a Mayo Minor A championship in 2025 – the club’s first Minor A title in 32 years.

Off the pitch, the teenager has just completed his Leaving Certificate and has an exciting future ahead of him – one that takes him to the other side of the world.

Last November, he signed with St. Kilda Football Club in Australia as a Category B rookie. His move was delayed until his school exams were finished, meaning he will likely make the trip shortly after the Mayo All-Ireland celebrations wind down.

The well-regarded club has a strong track record of nurturing rookie-listed players into top performers, and fans are hopeful that Kobe will one day return to Irish shores.

Kobe is the son of former Mayo Gaelic footballer and All-Star Ciarán McDonald, which may go some way to explaining his innate ability. The now 51 year old led Crossmolina Deel Rovers to their first ever All-Ireland Senior Club title in 2001 and represented Mayo’s senior side in three All-Ireland Senior Football Championship finals in 1997, 2004 and 2006.

Since retiring from playing, he has transitioned into coaching, beginning with a two-year stint at the Mayo GAA academy between 2017 and 2019. He subsequently served as both coach and selector for the Mayo Senior team through to 2022, before stepping up to take charge as head coach of the Mayo Under-17 squad, a position he still holds to this day.

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LIMA, Peru (AP) — The Popular Force party, led by Peru’s President-elect Keiko Fujimori, won the Senate presidency on Sunday in an alliance with another conservative party, paving the way for the incoming government.

Miguel Torres was elected president of the Senate with 30 votes — out of a total of 60 senators— in alliance with the right-wing Popular Renewal party, whose member, Alejandro Muñante, won the first vice presidency.

After reinstating the bicameral system for the first time in more than three decades, Peru’s Congress is defining its leadership two days before Fujimori’s July 28 presidential inauguration for the 2026-2031 term.

The leadership of the lower house, composed of 130 deputies, will be elected in the upcoming hours.

Torres said during his swearing-in ceremony that the goal is to have a “more prudent” state and to regain the trust of its citizens.

The new bicameral Congress faces the challenge of overcoming the governance crisis that has prevailed in the Andean nation and has seen eight presidents come and go in the last decade. None of the political forces hold a majority.

Torres, a lawyer and politician with a legislative career from 2016 to 2020, will preside over the Senate for one year. He is also Peru’s second vice president-elect, having been elected in the recent elections alongside Fujimori and first vice president Luis Galarreta.

Peru’s Congress will officially begin its annual legislative session on Monday.

The fire service, police and ambulance service were all in attendance, with the area around the crash cordoned off.

Pictures and videos from the scene show two cars on the pavement outside the Haribhai Travel Service shop.

One car was heavily damaged on the passenger side, while the other sustained front-end damage.

Crash on Deane Road (Image: Supplied)

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service confirmed crews attended the scene but were not required.

Greater Manchester Police have also been contacted for comment.

Following the crash, Rumworth ward councillor Ismail Ibrahim issued a statement thanking the emergency services for the swift response.

He has also highlighted the wider issues of dangerous driving in the area following a string of similar accidents.

Cllr Ibrahim told the Bolton News: “It’s just a very busy area. It’s very congested, it’s got a lot of footfall, a lot of businesses, wedding venues, colleges, university and we’ve got big stores, you have got stores everywhere.

Crash on Deane Road (Image: Supplied)

“I just feel we need to do something. We need to do more. Do we reduce the speed? Do we have more CCTV cameras?!

In his statement, he added: “We cannot afford to wait until another serious collision or tragedy occurs before taking action. Where residents and road users are consistently raising concerns and there is a pattern of serious incidents, we have a responsibility to review what more can be done to make our roads safer for everyone.”

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — John Anderson, the former University of Minnesota baseball coach and Big Ten career victories leader, died Sunday. He was 71.

Anderson’s family announced his death through the university, where he first arrived as a pitcher for a failed tryout in 1974 and spent 43 years as head coach of the Gophers until retiring after the 2024 season.

Anderson was hospitalized Wednesday after going into cardiac arrest, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the university did not announce the cause of death.

Anderson is survived by wife Jan and daughter Erin, who were with him when he died. His body was returned to the university for organ donation.

After a arm injury ended his playing career, Anderson became a student manager and was honored as the most valuable player of the 1977 College World Series team by his peers, a squad that featured future Hall of Famer Paul Molitor.

He became the head coach at age 26 entering the 1982 season and amassed 1,390 wins to lead the Big Ten and rank 20th in NCAA Division I. Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson and major league All-Stars Terry Steinbach and Greg Olson and Miami Marlins pitcher Max Meyer are among the many standouts he coached.

The Gophers had winning records in 38 of 43 seasons under Anderson, who won the Big Ten Coach of the Year award eight times and took them to the NCAA tournament 19 times, including the Super Regional round in 2018.

Anderson was recently named the annual winner of the Wilson Lefty Gomez Award by the American Baseball Coaches Association for contributions to the sport at local, national and international levels.

Anderson had his No. 14 uniform retired in 2024.

“He leaves behind a legacy that will never be matched, and our entire Gopher baseball family is heartbroken by this loss,” current head coach Ty McDevitt said in a statement distributed by the university. “Coach Anderson always reminded us to appreciate the people around us and to take care of one another. That’s how he lived his life, and it’s how we’ll honor his memory.”

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Andy Burnham has pledged to continue the UK’s “unwavering” support for Ukraine ahead of a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday.

Zelensky will become the prime minister’s first international visitor since he took office a week ago, which No 10 said “illustrates the strength of the relationship between the two nations”.

They will visit a naval base, where Burnham will announce the sharing of the intellectual property behind the UK’s new “Stone Cloak” electronic warfare system, enabling Ukraine to produce the technology at scale.

The prime minister said: “Britain stands with Ukrain, shoulder to shoulder, and our support remains unwavering. Russia should be in no doubt of our resolve, and we will not back down until we achieve long lasting and just peace for Ukraine.”

He added: “Stone Cloak is the best of homegrown British innovation and proven on the frontline, and it will be vital to protecting our security in both our countries.”

The electronic jammers are the size of a tablet computer, and are designed to block the detection of any drones it is fitted to.

The Ministry of Defence has already given thousands of the devices to Ukrainian forces to bolster their drone operations.

Downing Street said that following its deployment in Ukraine, the technology will be built into the UK’s next generation of long-range weapons.

It said this would include Project Brakestop, a government programme to develop low-cost cruise missiles – self-propelled guided weapons which fly like normal aircraft for much of their flight.

During Monday’s visit, the two leaders will also meet more than 200 Ukrainian military personnel who have spent the last three weeks taking part in a maritime exercise in the UK.

Exercise Sea Breeze is aimed at strengthening warfighting capabilities and counter-mine measures in the Black Sea.

Here is what we can expect for the last week of July

After a wetter weekend than we’ve been used to this summer, the weather forecast for the week ahead shows the rain isn’t going away just yet.

According to the Met Office, we are in for some changeable weather as we head into the final week of July.

The forecaster has said that despite a dry start to the day on Monday, some light rain could creep in as we move into the afternoon.

The Met office said: “Toward the end of July and into early August, Southern areas are likely to remain relatively settled and very warm, while northern parts of the UK could still see some periods of rain or showers.

“Early August could see a change to more widely unsettled conditions, but details of this are very uncertain at this stage.”

This is what the Met Office has forecast for Northern Ireland:

Monday:

A mostly dry start with variable cloud and some bright spells. Clouding over from the west with some patchy light rain in the afternoon. Maximum temperature 21C.

Outlook for Tuesday to Thursday:

A changeable and often cloudy period with occasional showers or longer spells of rain, the rain possibly heavy at times.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Arsenal, meanwhile, need to strengthen on the left flank. Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli split the burden of that position last season, but neither quite hit the level desired by Arteta. Trossard has since left the club to join Besiktas, while Martinelli remains in situ. Tzolis can play across the front three, and it remains unclear where he will be utilised this season.

Ruinous rises for a spendthrift Ministry of Defence are a bullet Andy Burnham and John Healey either dodge or Labour’s fresh commanders will shoot a revitalised UK government in the foot.

Because the blunt choice is between prioritising higher living standards, social care and council houses or throwing away good money after bad without any proof Britain would be better protected militarily. The new Prime Minister signalled he’s spotted the trap in refusing to commit to predecessor Keir Starmer’s £80billion annual target of 3% GDP by 2030, up £10bn a year, in his BBC interview.

For Healey, now charged with finding money after quitting as Starmer’s Defence Secretary with an incendiary claim the country wasn’t safe, the dilemma is deeply personal as well as highly political. Stick to Starmer’s destructive Nato 3.5% guns and that would soar to £140bn by 2035, requiring a £40bn increase in today’s prices. The respected Institute for Government think-tank warned that is the equivalent to two-thirds of the schools budget or the combined budgets of the Home Office and Ministry of Justice.

Welfare vs warfare may over-simplify options but unless the PM and Chancellor find a giant pot of gold there would be trade-offs. And unless a political-industrial-military consensus (all major national parties save the Greens are locked in a ludicrous game of Play Your Cards Right shouting “higher”) is challenged an MoD damned for “unbelievable” waste by decorated Colonel Al Carns who resigned alongside Healey will be a disastrous drain.

We need Burnham to state Britain is already the world’s sixth biggest defence spender and towards the head of the Nato pack in share of national wealth. The basic idea of Nato is Britain never stands alone which is a double relief given the MoD’s record of paying more for late and worse armoured vehicles and warships.

My hunch is the PM will duck and dive rather than disown Starmer’s legacy of unrealistic, unnecessary international targets as he tries to fill a £5bn black hole. For Healey, it’s much tricker, though he could drop into conversations the 500,000 men GCHQ spy centre’s chiefs believes Russia has lost in Ukraine means Putin’s bled his country dry.

One of Burnham’s new ministers told me the percentage targets were madness. The PM might agree.

The future of his mission to transform Britain for everybody rests on missing them.

Farage’s pop-up prison hypocrisy

Had to laugh when flailing Farage proposed pop-up “Nightingale” prisons on MoD land to ease overcrowding when kneejerk Nigel and Reform routinely back locals campaigning against holding asylum seekers in redundant army camps.

I don’t imagine villagers and townies would welcome thousands of criminals plopped on their doorsteps in makeshift, insecure huts and I bet hypocritical Farage would join the outrage.

Burnham, who is reviewing who might be let out early to free cells for fresh convicts, inherited a poisonous Sophie’s Choice from the Con-servatives which bedevilled Starmer but this is an issue exposing Reform’s vacuous gimmickry.

Running away from debating a bin in his Clacton farce, Farage wants to talk about everything except his £5million secret bung, aristo “Posh George” Cottrell paying his bills and now London private bank Arbuthnot Latham freezing Reform’s account for two weeks during the general election over potentially illegal donations.

Fleet is the real deal

Burnham enjoyed a sure-footed first week but one misstep was not finding a new job for Natalie Fleet, the Bolsover MP whose own rape traumas prevented her from continuing as Safeguarding Minister.

Groomed, raped and made pregnant aged 15 by an older man and revealing she was raped in her sleep by another, the strength she finds to speak publicly is heroic.

That Fleet doesn’t consider herself brave or courageous is another reason this working class marvel who speaks for and inspires millions of other women feeling ignored should’ve been shuffled into another post. Be it making welfare work, sorting social care or building houses, the point is we need people not robots in power – and fighter Fleet is the real deal.

Inciting the dross

No great surprise most thugs arrested during last month’s mindless violence after the jailing of student Henry Nowak’s cynical murderer had previously been reported to police for domestic abuse.

I say no great surprise because two in five arrested after summer 2024 disturbances in parts of the country following the Southport murders had similarly been reported for domestic abuse.

Hard Right and Far Right politicians incite the dross to riot. Entirely separately, have you heard their deafening silence since the arrest of influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate on 59 charges of rape, violent assault, trafficking girls and the indecent images of a child? Bet it would be a different story if they were Muslims.

Going Up

Brickie turned Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram is the most important building block in Andy Burnham’s team.

As long as these Scousers stay friends the new PM’s feet are on the ground. Fall out and it’ll be like the ravens leaving the Tower of London.

Going Down

Blocked standing again for the Cons by Kemi Badenoch because she doesn’t think him extreme enough, ex-party chair Grant Shapps should reapply under his get-rich-quick pseudonym Michael Green. The Tories always love a scammer.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Quarterback Jacoby Brissett and the Arizona Cardinals agreed to a reworked one-year deal Sunday and first-year coach Mike LaFleur confirmed that the veteran is the team’s likely starter for Week 1.

Brissett, 33, was unhappy with his previous contract, which included just $1.5 million of guaranteed money for the upcoming season. His new deal is worth a reported $15.5 million.

“It hasn’t been a distraction by any means — I think we’ve got some very mature and professional players,” LaFleur said. “But it’s just one more thing that we don’t have to talk about.”

Brissett was the team’s starter for the final 12 games last year after Kyler Murray suffered a season-ending foot injury. He did well individually with 3,366 yards passing, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions, but the Cardinals had a 1-11 record in those games.

LaFleur confirmed that Brissett’s deal was done before Sunday’s practice and said that the veteran would begin working with the starters soon. The team’s other main options at quarterback are veteran Gardner Minshew and rookie Carson Beck.

Brissett is a popular presence in the Cardinals’ locker room and some players — most notably eight-time Pro Bowl safety Budda Baker — were publicly supportive of a new deal for the quarterback.

LaFleur said he wasn’t worried about Brissett’s lost practice time.

“He’s got a level head about himself,” LaFleur said. “He’s been in a lot of different systems and heard a lot of different things and seen a lot of different things. He’s had the ups and downs with teams. He’s in a good spot and I’m excited to really start working with him.”

The Cardinals open the preseason Aug. 6 against the Carolina Panthers in the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio.

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