Top US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell froze up for about 21 seconds while speaking to reporters on Wednesday, walking away only to return 12 minutes later to say he was “fine”.
Mr McConnell, 81, from Kentucky, began a regular scheduled media briefing by talking about bipartisan co-operation on a massive defence funding bill.
But he then froze, standing still and staring straight ahead before his colleagues leaned in to ask if he was well.
“Are you OK, Mitch? Anything else you want to say or should we just go back to your office?” Senator John Barrasso asked Mr McConnell, the longest-serving Senate party leader in history.
He turned and walked away with the help of Mr Barrasso, who is a physician.
Mr McConnell, the minority leader, rejoined the briefing about 12 minutes later, saying, “I'm fine” and answering reporters' questions on other topics.
He evaded a question about who might succeed him in leadership. One of his aides said the senator had felt light-headed.
Mr McConnell, whose six-year term runs through to 2026, had been sidelined from the Senate earlier this year after he tripped at a Washington dinner on March 8 and was admitted to a hospital for treatment for concussion.
He suffered a minor rib fracture and was later moved to a rehabilitation centre. He returned to the Senate in April.
Many top figures in Washington are of advanced age, with President Joe Biden running for re-election at 80 and the average age in the Senate above 64.
Democratic US Senator Dianne Feinstein was sidelined for months this year after a bout of shingles that caused complications including encephalitis and Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which can cause facial paralysis.
Mr Biden, the oldest person to ever occupy the Oval Office, last month tripped and fell during a graduation ceremony at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado, but got up quickly and walked back to his seat.
About 61 per cent of Americans told a November Reuters/Ipsos poll that they were very or somewhat concerned that members of Congress were too old to represent the people.
Mr Barrasso said that he had been concerned about Mr McConnell since his fall.
“I've been concerned since he was injured a number of months ago,” he said. “I continue to be concerned.”
RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES
September 30
South Africa v Australia
Argentina v New Zealand
October 7
South Africa v New Zealand
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl
Power: 153hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 4,000rpm
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Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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76 nations
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15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
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BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Cologne v Hoffenheim (11.30pm)
Saturday
Hertha Berlin v RB Leipzig (6.30pm)
Schalke v Fortuna Dusseldof (6.30pm)
Mainz v Union Berlin (6.30pm)
Paderborn v Augsburg (6.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund (9.30pm)
Sunday
Borussia Monchengladbach v Werder Bremen (4.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Bayer Leverkusen (6.30pm)
SC Freiburg v Eintracht Frankfurt (9on)
One-off T20 International: UAE v Australia
When: Monday, October 22, 2pm start
Where: Abu Dhabi Cricket, Oval 1
Tickets: Admission is free
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Darcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle
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COMPANY PROFILE
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