Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, 84, was recorded visibly struggling to speak during a Wednesday meeting on Capitol Hill.

McConnell, who returned to Capitol Hill Monday after an absence of more than 90 days, appears to have been brought to earth by two colleagues, who told him that it was time to cast a vote, or even what vote to cast during a markup of the Farm Bill.

The Kentucky Republican, who served for nearly two decades as the GOP leader in the US Senate, has been plagued by health complications during his final term in office.

He suffered a fall on June 14, was briefly hospitalized, and had not been seen in public while recovering at his home in Washington DC for nearly three months.

In a post on X, McConnell noted Monday, that he was ‘really looking forward to being back on the Senate floor and seeing … colleagues.’

‘My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process, and the lingering effects of childhood polio haven’t made it any easier. I’m still not quite back to 100%, but I’ve assured Leader Thune that, as I continue with physical therapy on the advice of my doctors, I will do my best to be present for tough votes when our Conference needs me,’ the former longtime Senate Leader continued.

‘Elaine and I are very grateful for all the continued well wishes from our fellow Kentuckians, and I’m glad to get back to more of business as usual on their behalf this month,’ McConnell’s X post concluded. 

Capitol Police were seen gathering at McConnell’s home on Monday, and he emerged from the property that had elevated security measures to vote in the 5:30 vote series just before 6:00 PM on Monday. Minutes later he was on the Senate floor casting his ballot, and huddling with colleagues while in a wheelchair. 

Senator Mitch McConnell talks to his Chief of Staff Terry Carmack during a Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday in Washington, DC

McConnell spoke with reporters outside of the US Senate chamber on Monday, but due to Congressional rules, there is no recording allowed in the hallway where he gave remarks. Wednesday’s committee meeting was the first time McConnell was widely heard. 

Weeks after his hospitalization, he spoke with some of his congressional colleagues by phone and indicated that he was on the mend and looking forward to returning to work soon.

However, both Democrats and Republicans alike were not satisfied with his explanations.

After further pressure mounted to provide ‘proof of life,’ evidence McConnell released a photo of himself and his wife from the hospital, with a newspaper that was dated July 12, which some initially suspected was AI generated.

He disappeared for weeks after providing the photo, until his office put out a second picture on July 27.

Weeks later, it was revealed that he was discharged from the hospital and would continue his recovery at home.

‘Senator McConnell continues his recovery from a fall at home in June,’ a comment from his doctor attached to the photograph said.

‘Since his discharge from hospital care, he has maintained a strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation.’ 

Another statement from his office revealed that he had also had a mild case of pneumonia.

McConnell, who is not seeking re-election in this year’s midterms, has been dogged by health scares throughout his final term. 

Even before his fall earlier this summer, he frighteningly froze in a May hearing on Capitol Hill, raising alarms about his health and even prompting an attack on his staff by President Donald Trump.

Robert Karem, a staffer on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee, interrupted McConnell to tell him that Democratic Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, as well as Louisiana Republican John Kennedy, all still had questions. The hearing went on for 30 minutes after Karem’s interjection.

Karem was attacked by Trump as a ‘bum’ in a Truth Social post after a clip of the staffer’s interaction with the senator made the rounds online. 

The Houthis have been accused of launching a drone towards the holy city of Mecca, while the militant group claims to have shot down a Saudi fighter jet amid escalating conflict across the region. 

The developments come as fears are growing of a new global oil supply crisis after  Houthi rebels seized the strategic islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish in the southern Red Sea after attacking a Saudi pipeline.

The Iran-backed group have been fighting a civil war in Yemen against a Saudi-led coalition since 2014.

The Iran war has forced Saudi Arabia to shift its exports away from the Persian Gulf, since Iranian attacks have stifled shipping through the gulf’s sole exit, the Strait of Hormuz.

And on Tuesday morning, Brent crude rose 1.17 per cent to $106.92 a barrel, while the average US diesel price last week surpassed $6 a gallon for the first time as the war, compounded by Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, further squeezed global supplies.

Meanwhile in the UK, rises in petrol, diesel and airfares has pushed UK inflation up to its highest level in five months due to disruptions from the war in Iran.

Inflation rose to 3.1 per cent from 2.9 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree was quick to dismiss Saudi claims that the group had targeted Mecca, after widespread condemnation.

‘Our operations target its oil facilities and military bases, which are far removed from the sacred sites,’ he said.      

Mecca is regarded as the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and is the holiest city in Islam. 

Muslims who are physically and financially able are required to make the pilgrimage to the city at least once in their lifetime, with millions travelling there each year. 

Major General Turki al-Maliki, the spokesman for the Saudi-led Coalition Forces, condemned the attempted attack on X, writing: ‘This hostile attempt will also remain a black mark in the record of violations by the extremist terrorist Houthi militia, as a deliberate act intended to provoke the feelings of millions of Muslims.’

He vowed to take any ‘necessary and deterrent measures’ against the group.

And the Houthis on Wednesday said they shot down a Saudi fighter jet, claiming a locally made munition was used to target the warplane.

‘The Yemeni Armed Forces, with Allah’s aid and grace, succeeded in shooting down a Saudi F15 fighter jet while it was carrying out hostile operations in support of its military mobilisations in the airspace of Marib province,’ Saree said on social media, while accusing Saudi Arabia of launching 450 strikes.

He said the jet had been targeted ‘using a locally made air-to-air missile’.

Saudi Arabia has relied on the East-West Pipeline, which runs 1,200km (124 miles) across the breadth of the country, to move its crude production from Gulf ports to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. From there it can be put on tankers for export. 

But authorities were forced to shut down the pipeline after an attack on Thursday that Saudi Arabia blamed on drones from Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.

Repairing the damage, including at a major pumping facility, could take three to five weeks, officials have said. 

The pipeline may work partially during the repairs, one of the officials said, but they could not say how much oil might get through.

The pipeline has been moving an average of 2.6 million to four million barrels per day since late August – a quantity that will be lost to the market if the pipeline’s flow stops completely, according to an analysis issued Monday by Rystad Energy, a Norway-based research firm. 

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels continued to expand their threat to Saudi shipping routes out of the Red Sea by capturing the strategic islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish, government and Houthi officials said Monday.

The islands lie 160km (99 miles) north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The strait is a choke point that connects the Red Sea to the open ocean and Saudi Arabia’s key Asian markets.

The Houthis’ advance also puts them just 20 miles from the US military base in the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, on the other side of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

For more than a month, the Houthis have been striking Saudi oil infrastructure and shipping in the Red Sea, stepping up pressure on global oil prices and boosting Iran’s leverage in its war with the US.

Houthi threats have kept the Kingdom on high alert, with air raid warnings sounding across the country daily, while a series of ballistic missile and drone attacks by the group wounded 13 civilians on Monday. 

The rebels deployed on the Hanish islands after hundreds of government-allied forces withdrew from the archipelago, according to two government officials and a Houthi official.

Last week, the rebels seized the port city of Mokha and the island of Mayun, inside the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Government forces are now attempting to rally and fight back. On Sunday, the military said it launched airstrikes on Houthi positions in Mokha, the coastal town of Dhubab and elsewhere in Taiz province.

A combination of satellite images shows the Saudi Arabia East-West pipeline before (top) and after (bottom) attacks

Supporters of Yemen’s Houthi rebels chant and raise rifles during a rally organized to celebrate the group’s capture of Mayun Island on September 11

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A rebel spokesman said the Houthis fired dozens of missiles and drones at the King Khalid Airbase in the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait, targeting hangars, radar installations and ammunition depots. 

The statement on Monday by Saree did not specify when the strikes took place but the Houthis often take hours or days to claim responsibility for attacks.

General al-Maliki said the attacks struck civilian areas in Khamis Mushait and other nearby cities, injuring 13 civilians and damaging several houses and vehicles. He did not say whether the airbase had been hit.

The Iran war has gouged Saudi oil production, which was down to six million barrels per day in August from nearly ten million in September the previous year, according to the International Energy Agency.

The fighting has also displaced nearly 94,000 people in Yemen who have since fled their homes.

‘Many of them don’t have enough food or water as they had to flee with whatever they could carry. In some areas, whole villages have reportedly emptied,’ said Khanzad Shah, acting head of Islamic Relief, a charity that operates in the area.

Around 200 schools have been converted to shelters in southwestern Yemen to absorb an influx of families, said Basma Alloush, deputy director of communications at the International Rescue Committee, an aid group.

A furious Prince Charles told Earl Spencer days after Princess Diana‘s death, ‘rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough’, according to a devastating memoir.

In allegations that will send shockwaves through the Royal Family, Charles Spencer‘s bombshell book – to be exclusively serialised in the Daily Mail from tomorrow – lifts the lid on an incendiary row with the now King over funeral arrangements.

The argument followed the decision, opposed by Diana’s brother the Earl, that Prince William and Prince Harry, then aged 15 and 12, would walk in their mother’s funeral procession.

The Earl says he insisted to the then Prince of Wales that Diana would not have wanted her young sons to endure such a public ordeal. It is claimed Charles then questioned the Spencer family’s sense of duty before saying his ex-wife, whose death sparked a global outpouring of grief, would soon be forgotten.

Earl Spencer says the comments ‘unleashed’ by the King almost 30 years ago reflected ‘his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death’.

The astonishing account of the King’s alleged outburst is included in Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which Earl Spencer, 62, says he has written to correct ‘untruths’ told about his older sister.

The Daily Mail can disclose that it includes a string of further extraordinary claims about Diana’s failed marriage to King Charles and the tumultuous aftermath of her tragic death in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

Revelations from the book are set to plunge Buckingham Palace into a fresh storm just weeks after the dramatic return of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their children to the UK from California.

Charles Spencer, the ninth Earl Spencer, delivers his famously defiant eulogy at his sister’s funeral

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On September 6, 1997, six days after Diana’s death, Earl Spencer famously delivered a defiant eulogy at her funeral that was later named one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century.

His raw oration in Westminster Abbey was delivered after he walked alongside William and Harry, as well as Prince Charles and Prince Philip, behind Diana’s coffin in a funeral procession through central London broadcast to 2.5billion people worldwide.

In his book, Earl Spencer writes that when one of Queen Elizabeth’s most senior aides told him in the days before the funeral that William and Harry would take part in the procession, he responded: ‘That’s not going to happen.’

But minutes later he received a phone call from Prince Charles who insisted that 18 years earlier he had walked in the funeral procession of Lord Mountbatten, his great-uncle, who he affectionately called ‘uncle Dickie’.

The memoir describes how Charles ‘went nuts’ after Earl Spencer pointed out that the Prince had been 30 at the time of Lord Mountbatten’s funeral in 1979.

In one of the book’s most extraordinary passages, Earl Spencer writes: ‘Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting. Then he stopped.

‘I assumed the pause signalled an effort to bring himself under control, but then he unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death. ‘Rest assured,’ he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough!’

From left, the Earl, Prince William, Prince Harry and Charles at Diana’s funeral on September 6, 1997

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The Earl, Diana and Charles at the Earl’s 21st birthday party in 1985 at the Mirabelle restaurant in London

Earl Spencer said that he was ‘so stunned’ by the alleged remarks that he took a few seconds to reply.

‘I can’t believe you just said that,’ I said flatly, before hanging up,’ he writes.

Earl Spencer’s description of the shocking outburst threatens to reopen the wounds of the so-called War of the Waleses and Prince Charles’s bitter split and eventual divorce from Diana.

A Palace spokesman said: ‘While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.’ 

Described as ‘historic’ and ‘extraordinarily moving’, Swan Song is due to be published worldwide next Tuesday – in the UK by Penguin Michael Joseph, a division of Penguin Random House – with the Daily Mail’s exclusive serialisation starting tomorrow.

It comes as police in the Netherlands investigate what publishing sources say is the ‘extremely suspicious’ theft of four copies of the memoir from a lorry earlier this week.

The Daily Mail revealed how a lorry packed with thousands of copies of the book, which were wrapped in black plastic to hide their contents, was broken into after it was parked overnight in a car park while the driver slept in the cab.

Read more: 

Extracted from Swan Song: Diana, My Sister by Charles Spencer, to be published by Michael Joseph on September 22, £28. © Charles Spencer 2026. To order a copy for £23.80 (offer valid to 10/10/26; UK P&P free on orders over £25) go to www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. 

Buckingham Palace has responded after a claim by Earl Spencer, the brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, that King Charles said “we’ll forget her soon enough” days after her death.

Earl Spencer alleged the then-Prince of Wales subjected him to a “stream of anger” after he insisted Diana would not have wanted Princes William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, to walk in her funeral procession.

A Palace spokesperson said: “While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”

The claim was made in an extract from his upcoming memoir, published by the Daily Mail.

Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is due to be published next week and is expected to be highly critical of the Royal Family. BBC News has not seen the book in full.

In the first extract, external from it to be made public, Earl Spencer claims to have been informed by a senior Palace aide that the young princes would walk alongside Princess Diana’s coffin, which he objected to.

He claims to have received a phone call from Charles shortly after.

Earl Spencer wrote in the book: “He [Charles] unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death. ‘Rest assured,’ he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough’.”

Earl Spencer’s book about his sister seems set to open a very difficult time in the recent history of the Royal Family.

The death of Diana, a hugely popular figure, in a car crash in 1997, had created a volatile atmosphere, in which the royals were accused of failing to show feeling and empathy, and had seemed out of touch with the public mood.

Earl Spencer’s emotional and defiant speech at her funeral added to that cloud of grievance hanging over Diana’s untimely death.

Prince Harry has previously said that walking behind his mother’s coffin aged 12 was something no child “should be asked to do”.

In 2017, he told the BBC he didn’t “have an opinion whether that was right or wrong”, but “looking back on it”, he was glad to have been part of the day.

Earlier on Wednesday, it emerged that copies of Earl Spencer’s unreleased book had been stolen from a truck in the Netherlands.

BBC News understands four copies of the Dutch language edition were taken from a truck while it was en route from the Dutch publisher’s printers to their warehouse.

Parents have compared their children’s school to ‘a military base’ after 25 pupils were suspended during the first week of term following the arrival of a new headteacher. 

Dan Jeffries, the new Interim Principal at Frome Community College, Somerset, said he stands by all 25 suspensions, which he said were for ‘persistent disruption’.

But parents have said they are ‘outraged’ after their children were suspended for reasons including ‘zipping their bag too loudly’ and ‘looking out of a window’. 

One parent, Natalie Morris, said her daughter was suspended during her first week for ‘nervously laughing’. 

She said: ‘She has SEND [special educational needs and disabilities], additional needs and sensory needs. So that was a massive setback for her when she did get suspended.

‘She was just nervously laughing because of her surroundings, strange faces. She gets overwhelmed – it’s a new school with new people.’ 

Ms Morris also claimed other pupils had been suspended for reasons including ‘being a minute late’, adding that the environment had also affected students’ mental health, with one feeling the need to ‘hide in the toilets’. 

She said: ‘You want your child to feel safe, you want them to learn. You want the same opportunities as every other child, like everyone else’s kids that come here.

Parents of children attending Frome Community College in Somerset have compared the school to a ‘military base’ 

‘That’s all we want, we want the kids’ needs to be met and not be treated like it’s a military base.’ 

Ann-Marie Ramsey, who also has a child with SEND needs at the school, described the discipline as ‘crazy’.

She said: ‘If she was a bit fidgety or not concentrating, she would be sent to the reset room where they get disciplined if they’re not doing what the school wants them to do.’ 

Ms Ramsey said her child does not get the ‘movement breaks’ she needs when sent to the room. 

She also claimed students were being policed on ‘hair and nail colour’ and that parents were ‘not being listened to’. 

But the new headteacher said all suspensions involved cases of ‘defiance leading to the disruption of the running of the school’ and not reasons of ‘uniform or lateness’. 

Ex-rugby union player and coach Mr Jeffries said: ‘For someone to be suspended for disruptive behaviour, they’d have to be completely defiant and disrupting us four times, in our policy, before we’d consider it.’ 

He added: ‘I am there to ensure we are inclusive and that we maintain really high standards.’ But not all parents have taken issue with his approach. 

Liz Halliwell said: ‘He has come in and he is making sure that the rules are being followed.’ 

She added that ‘as long as it’s fair and consistent for everybody involved’ she was pleased there would be a ‘more consistent education’ for her child.

Film and media teacher Seth Lavington said: ‘The idea is that these are clear and consistent routines which are going to enable the best learning.

‘Overall, the messages are still positive. We want disruption-free learning, we want the best possible outcomes, you need to try your hardest – none of that has changed.’

But sixth-form student Liam Backhurst criticised the approach, saying the reasons behind some suspensions were ‘outrageous’.

‘The most upsetting thing about it is that it has affected them mentally. These are new year nines which are coming up, excited to start a new chapter with school, and they now feel really unmotivated to carry on learning,’ he said.

Another student, Sam Shearman, added: ‘It sounded like teachers are stepping in expecting to give punishments, and I definitely don’t agree with that.’

Mr Jeffries said the number of suspensions should be considered in the context of the school’s overall pupil population.

He said: ‘We have 1400 children at the college, we had a total of 20 days’ worth of suspensions last week – that’s with some children receiving more than one day.

‘It wasn’t a wide-scale number, it wasn’t a particularly large-scale event. It is safe to say a number of children did find returning to school more complicated, and that does happen some Septembers.’

Mr Jeffries added that upholding school rules allows teachers to be ‘more consistent with behaviour’ so students feel ‘safe to learn’ – something he said was requested by parents in a recent survey.

He concluded: ‘All children deserve to have interruption-free education and where we have a very small minority of pupils who are disrupting the learning of others, it’s important that we support as much as we can, but we don’t allow that to affect everyone else’s education.’

• Is YOUR child a pupil at Frome Community College, or do you know “Jaff” from his rugby days? Email eleanor.mann@dailymail.co.uk 

A woman accused of causing a bus crash that killed two people has been charged with murder, after an NBC reporter and pilot died while covering the collision. 

Gage Weida, 31, and Daniel Castillo, 46, died when the Los Angeles metro bus they were riding was hit by a speeding SUV about 5pm on Tuesday.

An NBC helicopter that arrived to film the wreckage went down in a nearby parking lot about two hours later and burst into flames.

Eliana Moreno, 38, and pilot George Marciniw, 70, were killed in the chopper crash, along with a third person on the ground who is yet to be identified.

Their colleague, Robert Kovacik, raced from the scene of the bus crash, only to discover it was his own station’s aircraft that had gone down.

The SUV driver, Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, was charged with murder Wednesday morning. She was held on $4.03 million bail.

The Los Angeles Police Department said it would soon present the charges to the district attorney and was continuing to investigate the crash.

Witnesses claimed the SUV was traveling at ‘freeway speed’ when it plowed into the side of the Metro Line 166 bus.

The SUV was wedged into the bus after T-boning it and it had to be extracted to free the driver

Gage Weida, 31, died when the Los Angeles metro bus he was riding was hit by a speeding SUV about 5pm on Tuesday

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The SUV driver, Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, was charged with murder on Wednesday morning. She was held on $4.03 million bail

Police said Rios was suspected of reckless driving, running a red light, and a possible DUI that is still being tested.

Kovacik’s dash from one crash site to the other was broadcast on NBC 4, along with his frantic efforts to reach his colleagues.

‘Trust me, I am putting my own life in my own hands,’ he pleaded with firefighters and police blocking his path as black smoke billowed in front of him.

‘Dude, that’s my crew in there, that is my own crew.’

A police officer responded: ‘We are gonna get them evacuated. This isn’t safe.’

The helicopter appeared to have suddenly lost altitude and fallen straight down to the ground.

Audio from inside the helicopter caught Marciniw saying ‘uh oh’ before Moreno asked, ‘You can’t pull up?’

Kovacik was on air covering the bus crash when his colleagues in the NBC 4 studio interrupted his report, instructing him to move towards the billowing smoke. 

‘Robert, we need you to move,’ an anchor said, interrupting his report. ‘Robert, we’re going to need you to move towards that smoke and get closer to that scene immediately.

‘We’re still working to get information on exactly what happened but we’re going to ask right now, as best you can, that you and your crew move in that direction immediately.’ 

NBC4 reporter Robert Kovacik was at the scene when a helicopter carrying his colleagues went down in Los Angeles’s Chatsworth neighborhood Tuesday night

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Eliana Moreno, 38, and pilot George Marciniw, 70, were on board the aircraft when it went down while covering the fatal bus collision

Fox 11 reporter Ed Laskos put his arms around Kovacik and said, ‘It’s a chopper, a media chopper’

The broadcast cut back to the studio as Kovacik made his way to the scene. 

‘We understand there may be an aircraft down. We don’t have any more specific information than that,’ anchor Colleen Williams said.

‘Robert is driving in the direction. We did see a huge plume of black smoke in the area.’

When Kovacik’s crew resumed their feed, NBC4 viewers saw the reporter begging law enforcement to let him on the scene. 

‘We know it’s something bad judging from the smoke,’ Williams said.

Kovacik turned back toward the camera to resume his report, telling his colleagues that the LAPD would soon be evacuating them from the area.

Describing the scene, he shared how there was a ‘fire that is spreading.’

That’s when he spotted Fox 11 reporter Ed Laskos and asked, ‘What are you hearing?’

A blaze began after the chopper crashed at the Northoff Street and DeSoto Avenue intersection

Rios with her young daughter. Police said she was suspected of reckless driving, running a red light and a possible DUI that is still being tested

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Weida (left) with his father. He was identified by the medical examiner on Wednesday morning

Laskos put his arms around Kovacik and said: ‘It’s a chopper, a media chopper.’

‘It’s a chopper?’ Kovacik repeated back to him.

‘Yes, it’s a media chopper,’ Laskos said.

‘Are you ok? It’s not you guys, is it?’ Kovacik questioned, as a burst of flames exploded behind him.

A female reporter ran past the cameras in tears.

Kovacik turned back to the cameras and said: ‘We don’t know where the chopper is from, we don’t know if it even is a chopper. If it’s a news chopper, we are just looking right now.’

He spoke to police and witnesses at the scene who confirmed the helicopter went down, but could not confirm which news outlet it had been affiliated with.

At this point, NBC 4 did not know that the helicopter belonged to their station. 

LA Mayor Karen Bass was seen consoling Kovacik later that night when she and other elected officials spoke about the tragedy. 

A person on the ground was also killed when the helicopter went down on Tuesday night

The NewsChopper4 was flying over the area between two warehouses at the intersection of Nordhoff Street and DeSoto Avenue, near where an SUV crashed into a bus earlier in the night, when it suddenly lost altitude and plunged to the ground. 

Two people were killed in the bus crash, while six others were injured, some of whom were in critical condition.

The chopper appeared to have crashed next to two shipping containers and several vehicles that were parked in the area, causing a massive blaze that threatened four vehicles nearby.

Moreno, 38, was a veteran aerial reporter for NBC4 Los Angeles and Telemundo, who had been flying in news choppers since 2010 – covering police pursuits, wildfires, traffic and major local events. 

She began her career in the air after graduating from Chapman University in 2010, where she studied broadcast journalism and political science. 

Moreno had worked at KCAL 9 and KCBS 2 before joining NBC and flying aboard NewsChopper4 around 2018 or 2019.

She was passionate about her role and frequently posted pictures of herself out in the field on her Instagram account, Eli in the Heli.

One was captioned: ‘After working 76 hours since Sunday, I’m almost done! I can’t complain though because I have the best job in the world.’

Moreno was a veteran aerial reporter for NBC and had been flying in news choppers since 2010

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The journalist and her longtime boyfriend, Robert Barrientos, 47, announced their engagement in October last year

She was due to soon marry her boyfriend Robert Barrientos, 47, after the couple announced their engagement on Facebook last October.

Moreno and Barrientos have been together for at least three years, according to posts on her public Instagram account.

Although the reporter never publicly announced the start of their relationship, she did start subtly tagging the father of two in reels with her dogs in 2023.

She made a post in May praising him for running a half-marathon with her. 

Moreno, who has had ‘bad asthma’ throughout her life, completed the race in under two hours, she revealed. 

‘I did something I never thought I would ever do,’ she captioned a photo of her and her partner with their race medals. ‘I surpassed everything I thought I could ever do, so let’s see what I do next!’

Marciniw, 70, was an experienced pilot who had logged more than 14,000 hours in the helicopter. He and Moreno had been flying together since 2023.

NBC4 and Telemundo said in a statement on Tuesday night: ‘We are deeply saddened to share that a helicopter providing aerial news coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 was involved in a fatal accident in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening. 

‘We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives.’

The scene of the bus crash with the car embedded into the bus

The confirmation of the deaths came after a longtime NBC 4 Los Angeles news anchor confirmed to viewers live on air that the chopper was a ‘television news helicopter.’  

‘We are not in contact with our television news helicopter,’ Colleen Williams said through tears, while other reporters on the scene choked up.

‘We have lost contact with our people.’ 

Williams also confirmed that the news helicopter was from NBC Los Angeles, before the news station took a break to process the information. 

LA Fire Department Captain Branden Silverman earlier told reporters on the scene that the helicopter is ‘pretty well destroyed.’ 

A friend of the two helicopter victims also told Fox Los Angeles he was ‘hurt,’ as he suggested the helicopter suffered from engine failure.

‘I’m lost for words, I don’t know what to say,’ he said, describing the pilot as experienced and noting that the NBC reporter had recently been married.

‘It’s heartbreaking to see the engine quit,’ the friend said. 

The crash came as local media outlets rushed to get aerial footage of the fatal bus collision as people ran away from the scene and police cruisers sped toward the fiery explosion.

One of those killed was reportedly ejected from the bus, while the other was said to have been on board. 

Although Moreno rarely publicized her romantic life online, she did make a post in May praising Barrientos for running the Hoag OC half-marathon with her

The intersection where the two fatal crashes occurred is set to be closed for ‘quite some time’

An LA Urban Search and Rescue Team was also seen extricating multiple people from the vehicle, with at least one person found stuck underneath it.

She was eventually freed and quickly loaded into an ambulance in unknown condition with what crews on the scene described as ‘crushing’ injuries.

Soon after the bus crash, images emerged showing the front half of the Ford SUV embedded in the side of the Metro bus.

At the height of the response, more than 70 fire department personnel were at the scene, a spokesman said at a news conference.

The intersection where the two fatal crashes occurred will now be closed for ‘quite some time,’ she noted. 

In a brief statement, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she was ‘absolutely devastated by the loss of life in Chatsworth tonight.’

‘My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we lost in the tragic bus collision and helicopter crash,’ she posted on social media. 

‘I’m grateful to the city teams who responded so quickly,’ she added, as she urged the public to ‘please stay clear of the area as public safety officials remain on scene.’ 

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said her heart was with those who lost loved ones on Tuesday

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Bass also embraced NBC’s Kovacik following the fatal crash

California Governor Gavin Newsom also shared his condolences.

‘Our hearts are with the victims and families of tonight’s devastating Metro bus and helicopter crashes in Chatsworth, and with the entire NBC4 family,’ he said.

‘Thank you to the first responders working tirelessly tonight.’ 

Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, added that it was ‘very sad news.’ 

Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the helicopter crash. 

The crash happened at around 6.05pm on Tuesday, September 15, and involved a black Volvo XC40 and a black and white Triumph Daytona motorcycle.

Both vehicles were travelling towards Scarborough when the collision occurred near Helwath Beck.

The motorcyclist, who was from the Whitby area, was pronounced dead at the scene.

North Yorkshire Police are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage.

An officer said: “We are appealing to witnesses who have not yet spoken to the police who saw either of the vehicles travelling along the A171 prior to the collision, or who witnessed the collision to come forward along with anyone who may have caught either vehicle on their dashcam before or during the collision.”

The driver of the Volvo, a woman in her 40s, sustained slight injuries but did not need hospital treatment.

She has been interviewed under caution in connection with the incident.

The road was closed to allow emergency services to respond and for collision investigators to examine the scene and recover the vehicles.

It reopened at 2am on Wednesday, September 16.

Officers have thanked members of the public who stopped to help at the scene.

Anyone with information is asked to email the Serious Collision Investigation Unit at SCIU@norhtyorkshire.police.uk.

Alternatively, information can be submitted via the North Yorkshire Police website by selecting ‘Tell us about’ and then ‘An existing case or report.’

The live chat service is also available on the website from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Those unable to use these options can call 101.

Please quote reference number 12260181610.

Brussels was hit with a furious backlash today after announcing unprecedented plans for Canada to become an ‘associate member’ of the bloc – without asking EU capitals to sign off on the proposal.

EU diplomats told the Mail they were kept in the dark and first learnt of the proposal when Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commission boss, unveiled it during a keynote speech.

During the top Eurocrat’s annual State of the Union speech to the European Parliament, she repeatedly love-bombed Canadian premier Mark Carney – who was in the chamber – saying Brussels wanted ‘to bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible.’

But to the surprise of diplomats from the EU’s 27 member nations, who would have to sign off the move, she gushed: ‘Dear Mark, I said we must urgently reimagine our partnerships. So, I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU.

‘We share one ocean, one set of values, one way of seeing the world. And we will now build our shared future as well – thank you for being here.’

But the attempt to flatter the former Governor of the Bank of England backfired, with diplomats saying they were never briefed about the proposal and that, in effect, ‘associate membership’ doesn’t even exist.

EU diplomats accused Brussels of ‘over-reach’, an accusation often levelled against Eurocrats by UK Brexiteers before Britain left the bloc. 

One EU diplomat told the Mail: ‘This bombastic announcement is just not right.

Mark Carney looked on as Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commission boss, love-bombed him and his nation 

Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commission boss, said she wanted Canada to become an ‘associate member’ – but EU diplomats pointed out the category in effect doesn’t exist 

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‘There will be a summit at the end of October, so logically they will talk about deepening the relations.

‘But no one has ever seen an associate membership and no idea what it means in practice. Canada is a valuable partner for the EU, one of the few currently in the world where we share the values, so it is nothing against Canada.

‘But first and foremost the member states should be the ones to express what kind of relationship the EU wants to have with any third country.’

Another added: ‘She kept this bit of associate membership out of the text until the last moment. She also did not mention it up front to EU member states.

‘It seems like she is a bit too far out in floating this. Everyone is positive about Canada, and wants to strengthen the relationship.

‘But there is a lot of uncertainty about what von der Leyen envisages by coining this label.’

They added that, in reality, the most that can likely be hoped for is a deeper trading relationship rather than ‘associate membership’, which implies Canada taking part in EU programmes that it would be forced to pay into, becoming more politically integrated and potentially even having a say over the bloc’s rules.

But there would be huge barriers to overcome to establish closer ties, as swathes of Canada’s regulations are at present incompatible with EU single market rules, with high taxes on the bloc’s alcohol exports another thorny issue. 

Under EU law, any granting of membership would have to be approved by the 27 member states, which is another reason they were wrong-footed.

By contrast, Brussels has always rebuffed Britain for past attempts to ‘cherry pick’ the areas where it wants to align with the bloc while also diverging in other ways after Brexit.

In her speech, Ms von der Leyen added: ‘Mark, your presence here is a symbol of the enduring friendship between our people.

‘Our cultural, historical and personal links run deep within the fabric of our societies.

‘And thanks to CETA (a trade pact), our trade in goods has grown by 75 per cent in less than a decade…But above all, dear Mark, Europe and Canada believe in democracy.’

She said the areas in which both sides could work together more closely included ‘a tech alliance’, adding: ‘We will integrate defence industrial bases.

‘We will make the Arctic a flagship joint project. We will work on energy, critical minerals and batteries. On AI, quantum, cyber and economic security.

‘This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common strength.’

But the move threatens to further sour relations between Brussels and Washington, with US President Donald Trump’s administration locked in an escalating trade war with Canada.

The speech may even ruffle feathers in Downing Street, as the UK by contrast has faced resistance to greater co-operation in areas such as defence procurement despite repeated attempts by former premier Sir Keir Starmer to cosy up to Brussels.

An EU Commission spokesman said: ‘Working in close coordination with our member states and the European Parliament, we will aim to create a new form of partnership that has not existed until now – building the closest imaginable form of association with a partner outside Europe.’

They added that this would ‘span a wide range of areas’, but did not list any beyond what was in Ms von der Leyen’s speech.

Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud has been at the helm of the Channel 4 show since it began 27 years ago in 1999 and admits watching back early episodes is ‘painful to watch’

Grand Designs host Kevin McCloud has admitted there are segments from the Channel 4 programme that make him want to fast-forward.

The 67-year-old designer and broadcaster returns to screens on Wednesday (September 16) fronting a fresh series of the popular renovation show.

He has presented Grand Designs since its debut 27 years ago in 1999 and appeared on BBC’s The One Show this evening to speak with Alex Jones and JB Gill about the upcoming episodes, which will see him return to a project from the inaugural series.

Discussing watching back old clips, Kevin joked: “Yeah that’s painful to watch for me! I have to skip through the fast forward button a lot through these early episodes but the house has not changed, everything is as it was, and when you make the stuff and you record a moment in time, you don’t know whether that idea, that style and approach, whether it will last and have value, and remarkably that house has remained the same and is almost a fantastic example of a mid-1990s building so sometimes it comes back to surprise you.”

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Channel 4 revealed earlier this month that Grand Designs and Grand Designs: House of the Year will return this autumn. The celebrated house construction and design programme comes back with four remarkable new projects and two long-awaited follow-ups, spanning locations across the United Kingdom, reports the Mirror.

Programme bosses say the new series champions innovative thinking and creativity, highlighting groundbreaking building techniques and visionary design while maintaining focus on the individuals at their heart.

Kevin previously commented: “It is always a joy to get a series of Grand Designs complete and ready for broadcast – especially when it can run alongside its sister series, House of the Year.

“Together they celebrate the very best in British architecture and remind me of the extraordinary imaginative and resilient potential of human beings. This year is no exception: there are some astonishing stories and homes to discover.”

When questioned about Grand Designs’ enduring appeal, Kevin said: “I think it is the unpredictability of it all. If we were restoring people’s homes for them, then we might have slipped into a predictable format but we haven’t.

“Some of the projects on this series are fascinatingly unpredictable. For example, we see Seb in North-West London, building a house which was completed in 13 months and I was so shocked because O am used to things taking forever.

“We also have a project in Edinburgh, which has been going for over 10 years, and when you look at the date stamps as we go through the programme, you sort of appreciate how some people dedicate a lot of their lives to a building.”

He added: “I thought in series one we might run out of projects. We thought that we had done an eco-project, a modern white block, a glass house, we did the eccentric thing. We thought, will people still tune in if we do another glass box? But the answer is yes, because from the beginning we set ourselves the challenge that in every episode there has to be something new – there has to be some story, some angles, something, a hook.

“Luckily, since architecture is so much about place and response to a place and so much about people and response to people and because places are so infinitely diverse, people are infinitely diverse, this is what makes every project and what keeps me on my toes every time.

“If you look at this coming series, every single project has something unique about it and i find that so fascinating, all of the individual narratives are so different. The houses are all so unique architecturally and in the way they are built.”

The One Show airs weekdays on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 7pm and Grand Designs returns to Channel 4 at 9pm on Wednesday, September 16

Looking pale, with dark sunglasses covering his eyes, Huw Edwards cut a grim and solitary figure as he arrived at court to plead guilty to child pornography charges.

It was 2024 and the nation was still reeling from the allegations that the BBC’s lead newsreader and trusted figurehead had paid for horrific child abuse images.

Handed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, the broadcaster swiftly disappeared from public view to live an isolated existence with his elderly mother in Wales.

But things took a turn in June this year, when he sensationally re-emerged on the blogging platform Substack. Defiant and self-pitying, Edwards believed his voice must be heard.

In the three months since starting his blog, the 65-year-old has amassed 1,000 subscribers and published 32 posts – some reflecting on his own life, others exploring Welsh topics.

He’s even dabbled in poetry, writing in Welsh in a poem called ‘Knowing’, a tribute to his late father: ‘Defenceless son, in the throes of pain, staring in darkness for signs of truth.’

Now, with his two-year suspended prison sentence being spent today, Edwards has published his most controversial post yet.

Hoping for a swell of sympathy, perhaps, and keen to lay the groundwork for a larger-scale comeback, Edwards argued that public responses to his crimes had not been ‘proportionate’.

The BBC’s former lead newsreader was given a six-month suspended sentence, suspended for two years

Accompanied by a picture of himself outside court in September 2024, Edwards wrote: ‘Two years have gone by since my sentencing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court… The period of rehabilitation – involving regular meetings with police and probation officers, with therapists and psychiatrists – is officially over.’

‘On paper, then, my sentence is now spent. But thanks to my public profile — and the virulent media coverage, much of it false or misleading — it is a sentence for life. Is that proportionate? I will let you decide.’

Edwards’s tone-deaf post comes after sources close to him told me he’s developed a startling ‘arrogance’ and ‘lack of self-awareness’ since finding his new audience online.

Not only that, but he truly believes he’ll be able to ‘rebuild his career’.

‘Huw is a loose cannon,’ said my insider. ‘He has been drip-feeding information through his Substack, and things will only get worse now that his sentence is spent.

‘Reaching 1,000 subscribers has fed his ego. He has no self-awareness.

‘He has told those closest to him he is writing a book “telling his story”. He is enjoying putting his thoughts down on paper and would have full control if he self-published.

‘It doesn’t help that his close friends want to see him back out in public and are supporting his decision to rebuild his career.

‘Like him, they probably think all is forgiven now his sentence is spent.’

Although Edwards and his supporters are apparently ready for his attempt to return to the public stage, child-abuse campaigners have called it ‘sickening’, while several of his old BBC colleagues have severed ties with him.

Readers will remember how the scandal unfolded in July 2023, when a red-top newspaper published a story in which a mother claimed an unnamed BBC presenter had paid their child for explicit photos.

Days later, Edwards’s TV-producer wife of 30 years, Vicky Flind, mother to his five children, issued a statement identifying her husband as the presenter, claiming he was suffering ‘serious mental health issues’.

He was arrested in November that year, although the public weren’t informed, and he stayed at the BBC until April 2024 when he claimed he resigned over his ‘mental health’.

Edwards’s fate was sealed in July 2024 when he appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine, from paedophile Alex Williams.

Edwards refused to hand back the £200,000 salary he was paid by the BBC between his arrest in November 2023 and his resignation in April 2024.

His career and marriage – his wife filed for divorce in October 2024 – were destroyed by the fallout from the scandal. Today, the Daily Mail can reveal that Edwards has been unable to sell his former family home despite it being listed for two years.

The six-bed property in Dulwich, south-east London, which was being marketed by estate agents Pedder (which didn’t respond to requests for comment), has barely had any interest since going on the market two years ago. Now Edwards has withdrawn it from sale.

Leading estate agent David Votta – an ex-president of the industry’s top watchdog Propertymark – warned that the house has a ‘stigma’ and is a ‘seriously hard sell’ because of Edwards’s conviction.

‘You’d have an easier time selling a haunted house right now than one owned by someone like Edwards,’ he said.

As for his comeback, Edwards wrote on Substack on September 11: ‘This project [blogging] has given me hope when I believed there was none to be had. I am grateful for the encouragement to write and express opinions on a broad range of issues, as I am for the kindness and support which have formed a true lifeline.’

‘When I clicked “publish” on that very first post, I was scared. I spent weeks fighting the inner voice telling me that no one would be interested; even worse, that no one would think I had the right to speak.

‘What has struck me these past weeks is how different it feels to build something from nothing, alone, and to watch thoughtful people choose it deliberately. You have done so despite the horrible circumstances in which my broadcasting career ended, and despite the hostile response in some quarters to the very existence of my voice.’

Surprisingly, the vast majority of comments on Edwards’s Substack are positive.

One particularly gushing fan called Cath commented: ‘It was so difficult watching TV news footage of you during those days at court. The Press hounding you. I hope you now find a peace and that at least some of the awful pressure you have been under for so long is lifting. God bless.’

Now those loyal subscribers will be eagerly anticipating how Edwards will return to the public eye.

Vicky Flind, Huw’s wife of 30 years, said in July 2023 that her husband was dealing with ‘serious mental health issues’

Huw pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine, from paedophile Alex Williams (pictured)

Huw was working with publicist Barry Tomes (right), who stopped working with him as he claimed the presenter would not listen to him and was ‘getting it all wrong’

In March, Edwards hired publicist Barry Tomes, who has decades of experience in the industry representing the likes of The Beach Boys, to help him navigate the public backlash following a Channel 5 drama starring Martin Clunes about the disgraced presenter.

Although Tomes and Edwards parted ways – after Tomes claimed the presenter would not listen to him and was ‘getting it all wrong’ – this week Tomes told me about the range of opportunities he believes will resurface for Edwards in the coming weeks.

‘I am confident that he will be given the opportunity to speak out on national television,’ Tomes said.

‘All of the major TV channels, including Good Morning Britain and BBC production companies offered interviews following the Channel 5 series.

‘They will no doubt come knocking again when his sentence is spent. The channels would make money from such a big interview, so they will all want it.

‘One company ridiculously offered him a TV series with him visiting areas in Wales, either camping or staying in different bed and breakfasts. I thought that was ridiculous.’

Tomes did not approve of Edwards launching his Substack. 

Edwards previously told the Daily Mail that he plans to tell his side of the story when the time is right, including his mental health struggles.

He has since explained on Substack: ‘The criminal justice system — whatever police or prosecutors say — tends not to make meaningful allowances for people whose crimes were committed when they were mentally impaired.

‘I will explain in a future post — after my conviction becomes spent on 16 September — my reasons for pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity, and the searing experience of dealing with the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

‘I had never given too much thought to the concept of hatred until my life fell apart with catastrophic results.’

Edwards is clearly yearning to tell his side of the story. Only time will tell if anyone actually wants to hear it.