IT seems an entirely appropriate conjunction; a neat fit in the way these things sometimes fall. Just as more than a century of American hegemony is being challenged, the death knell of the internal combustion engine is ringing ever louder.

Things are not good right now in the German motor industry and last week’s announcement by Audi that they were recalling some 850,000 cars to update the software in Euro 5 and 6 engines, was indicative of how much a mess the likes of Mercedes, Audi and VW find themselves in right now.

An Irishman will attempt to fly from Ireland to Africa on a lawnmower-powered craft this weekend.

An Air India maintenance technician has died after being sucked into an aircraft engine at Mumbai Airport.

The captain and crew of a London-bound British Airways plane have been praised for their “textbook” response to an engine fire at a Las Vegas airport.

Only good things, as it turns out.

BMW is recalling 489,000 vehicles worldwide due to a possible engine-bolt defect, widening a repair programme that was initiated in China.

A tough-as-nails Jack Russell was welcomed home in Manchester after surviving a 30-minute trip stuck in a car engine. Three-month-old Betty Boop somehow managed to climb up into the engine of a neighbour’s Audi A4 in Orsdall in Manchester before getting stuck.