A Romanian airliner “bounced” off the runway while landing at Rome’s main airport during heavy winds on Saturday night, injuring a flight attendant and four passengers.

Italy’s civil aviation authority Enac stated that the flight attendant aboard the Carpatair airliner and one of the passengers were taken to hospital. Italian news agency Ansa said the injuries consisted of fractures or bruises.

Ansa said the ATR 72 ended up in the grass about 50 yards beside the runway at Leonardo da Vinci airport on a flight from Pisa, with 46 passengers and a crew of four aboard.

It quoted unidentified passengers as saying the aircraft landed hard on the runway, then appeared to have bounced, ending up off the tarmac and tilted to one side.

The cause of the incident was being investigated but heavy winds that whipped the airport much of the day might have played a role.

Drive-through funeral

Mourners at a US fast-food fan’s funeral wanted a war veteran to have it his way, so they arranged for his hearse – and the procession – to make one last drive-through visit before reaching the cemetery.

David Kime “lived by his own rules,” his daughter Linda said – he considered the lettuce on a burger his version of healthy eating.

To give him a whopper of a send-off, the funeral procession stopped at a Burger King outlet in York, Pennsylvania, where each mourner got a sandwich for the road. Mr Kime got one last burger too, which was placed on top of his flag-draped coffin.

His daughter said the display was a happy way of honouring her father and the things that brought him joy. Mr Kime, a World War II veteran, died aged 88.

Junk food linked to asthma

Eating junk food could increase the severity of asthma and eczema in youngsters, research has suggested.

Consuming more than three portions of fast food a week has been linked with severe asthma in children and teenagers.

The findings, from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood, prompted the authors to suggest fast food may be contributing to the rise in the conditions.

Teenagers have a 39 per cent increased risk of severe asthma if they eat more than three helpings of burgers, chips and pizza each week, researchers said.

And children and teens who consume three or more portions of fast food have an increased risk of severe eczema and severe rhinitis - a condition characterised by a runny or blocked nose and itchy and watery eyes, according to the study.

Minister smacked children

British Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has defended parents’ right to smack their children and admitted he did it to his own, it emerged yesterday.

The Tory Cabinet Minister said he was not opposed to smacking youngsters, claiming sometimes it “sends a message”.

Mr Grayling has two children, aged 20 and 16, with his wife Susan and told the Mail on Sunday he occasionally smacked them when they were younger.

“You chastise children when they are bad, as my parents did me,” he said.

He also said he would not tolerate gay couples in prison sharing a cell. “It is not acceptable to allow same-sex couples to effectively move in together and live a domestic life,” he said.