McConnell largely ignores freeze-ups in Senate return
US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell sidestepped questions about his health in his return to the Capitol on Tuesday, six days after freezing up for a second time while speaking in public.
The 81-year-old lawmaker addressed the Senate hours after the doctor of Congress said in a statement that the two episodes did not appear to be the result of a stroke or seizure, but offered no explanation of what caused Mr McConnell to stand speechless and wide-eyed during a press conference last Wednesday.
“Now, one particular moment of my time back home received its fair share of attention in the press over the past week. But I assure you, August was a busy and productive month for me and my staff,” Mr McConnell said.
He appeared thin and wan on the Senate floor, and spoke in a baritone that wavered from time to time.
Attacks on Ukraine ‘very close’ to border, says president
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday that attacks in neighbouring Ukraine happened “very, very close” to its border, with Russia repeatedly launching drone strikes on Danube infrastructure in southern Ukraine.
“We had attacks... which were verified at 800m from our border. So very, very close,” Mr Iohannis told a joint press conference with Luxembourg’s Prime Minister, Mr Xavier Bettel.
On Monday, the Nato member country had denied claims by Kyiv that Iranian-made Russian drones fell and detonated on Romanian territory during a strike on the Ukrainian port of Izmail.
US says 52 million air bag inflators should be recalled
US auto safety regulators said on Tuesday that 52 million air bag inflators produced by auto suppliers ARC Automotive and Delphi Automotive need to be recalled because they may rupture and send dangerous metal fragments flying.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration first demanded a voluntary recall in May, but ARC rejected it. The agency issued an initial decision on Tuesday and set a public meeting for Oct 5 in a rare move to compel a recall.
If successful in forcing a recall, the callback would be one of the largest on record.
U-turn after passenger has diarrhoea ‘all through plane’
A Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Barcelona was forced to turn around over what one of the pilots described as “passenger diarrhoea... all the way through the plane”.
Flight 194 was two hours into its 8-½-hour-long journey on Friday evening when the pilots told air traffic controllers they were turning back.
“Divert to ATL – passenger diarrhoea all over aircraft – biohazard,” the captain said in a text message.
Pilot cleared over 2018 Leicester City helicopter crash
A “catastrophic” mechanical failure, not pilot error, was the cause of a horrific helicopter crash that killed Leicester City’s Thai owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others in 2018, investigators said on Wednesday.
As the aircraft turned out of control, a shout of “Hey, hey, hey!” came from the rear cabin, where the football club boss and two of his employees were seated, according to the official report into the crash.
“I’ve got no idea what’s going on,” pilot Eric Swaffer, 53, shouted back before the Leonardo AW169 helicopter plummeted to the ground from a height of around 130m and burst into flames.
