A US Air Force plane flew inside Hurricane Melissa on Monday over the Caribbean, revealing a rare weather phenomenon known as the ‘stadium effect’. Forecasters say the Category 5 storm is set to be Jamaica’s most destructive on record and is expected to make landfall early on Tuesday.
Tom BatemanState department correspondent on Air Force One
Reuters
US President Donald Trump has said “the war is over” as he travels to Israel for the release of hostages from Gaza under the ceasefire deal agreed between Israel and Hamas.
Speaking on board Air Force One, he said the ceasefire would hold and a “Board of Peace” would quickly be set up for Gaza, which he said looked like a “demolition site”.
He also praised the roles of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar, one of the mediators.
The deadline for Hamas to release all the hostages it is still holding in Gaza is midday local time (10:00 BST). Later on Monday, Trump will travel to Egypt for an international summit aiming to end the war.
The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
Since then, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s military response, including more than 18,000 children, the Hamas-run health ministry says.
The ceasefire in Gaza took effect on Friday morning after Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of the 20-point peace plan brokered by Trump, with the next phases still to be negotiated.
Twenty of the Israeli hostages are believed to be alive, and Hamas is also due to hand over the remains of up to 28 deceased hostages.
Israel should also release around 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 detainees from Gaza, while increased amounts of aid should enter the Strip. An Israeli government spokesperson said they would be released once the living hostages reach Israeli territory.
When asked by the BBC whether he believed the ceasefire would hold, he said it would, adding “everybody is happy, and I think it’s going to stay that way”.
On his peace skills, Trump said: “I’m good at solving wars. I’m good at making peace.”
Asked if he would ever visit Gaza, Trump said he would. “I’d like to put my feet on it, at least.” Trump said he thought Gaza would be a “miracle” over the coming decades.
He added that the region would soon “normalise,” with a planned supervisory body – the Board of Peace – to be established “very quickly” to oversee Gaza.
On Saturday hundreds of thousands of Israelis attended a rally in Tel Aviv and chanted their gratitude to the US leader.
Many details for the later phases of the peace plan could be hard to reach agreement on – such as the governance of Gaza, the extent of Israeli troop withdrawal, and the disarming of Hamas.
Trump will land in Israel on Monday, where he will address the country’s parliament the Knesset.
He will then travel to lead a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh alongside Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Egypt’s foreign ministry said a “document ending the war in the Gaza Strip” was expected to be signed.
Leaders from more than 20 countries are expected to attend, including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
What do people in the West Bank think about the ceasefire deal?
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that once the hostages were returned, the military would destroy underground tunnels in Gaza built by Hamas.
Aid trucks began entering Gaza on Sunday and hundreds more were queuing at the border.
Palestinians crowded around the convoys arriving in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Speaking to the BBC earlier on Sunday, Unicef’s James Elder said dozens of trucks had entered the Strip but that this fell short of what was needed.
The UN estimates that at least 600 aid trucks are needed every day to start addressing Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.
In August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declared a famine in parts of the territory, including Gaza City.
Israel, however, rejects the IPC report, and its foreign ministry says the conclusions are “based on Hamas lies”. Israeli military aid body Cogat says the report ignores the “extensive humanitarian efforts undertaken in Gaza”.
EPA
Palestinians take aid supplies from a truck that arrived in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip
Palestinians returning to northern Gaza have described scenes of devastation, with many of them finding their homes reduced to rubble. Rescue workers have warned there could be unexploded ordnance and bombs in the area.
Amjad Al Shawa, who heads a Palestinian organisation coordinating with aid groups, estimated 300,000 tents were needed to temporarily house 1.5 million displaced Gazans.
Hamas has recalled about 7,000 members of its security forces to reassert control over areas of Gaza recently vacated by Israeli troops, according to local sources.
At least 27 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Hamas security forces and armed members of the Dughmush family in Gaza City, in one of the most violent internal confrontations since the end of major Israeli operations in the enclave.
Published on 22/09/2025 – 16:37 GMT+2 •Updated
16:48
ADVERTISEMENT
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič landed in Indonesia on Monday with the hope of closing a trade deal with Jakarta.
“The intention certainly is to finalise political negotiations for an EU-Indonesia trade agreement,” Commission deputy chief spokesperson Olof Gill said.
Last July, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reached a political agreement with her Indonesian counterpart President Prabowo Subianto, confident of concluding the negotiation in September this year.
By closing such a deal, the EU would secure access to a new market of around 280 million people.
Bilateral trade in goods between EU and Indonesia reached €27.3 billion in 2024, with EU exports worth €9.7 billion and EU imports worth €17.5 billion. The bloc would also strengthen its position in the region, since Indonesia was the EU’s fifth-biggest ASEAN trading partner in 2024.
India considered a ‘tough’ negotiator
Increasing trade access to new markets has become EU’s top priority following the decision of its historic trade partner the US to impose tariffs on EU imports.
Under a trade agreement reached in July by the Commission and the US administration, 15% tariffs apply to most EU goods, while 50% tariffs continue to apply to imports of EU steel and aluminium.
The EU has since stepped up efforts to strengthen economic ties with the rest of the world.
It reached a political deal with the Mercosur countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – in December, which if approved by EU member states and MEPs would create a free trade area covering 780 million people.
The Commission is also aiming to finalise a landmark agreement with India this year. The talks have accelerated at the beginning of September with the Agriculture file reaching the negotiation table. But as Šefčovič noted on 12 September, New Delhi is a “tough” negotiator, and a swift outcome is not guaranteed.
German air force says its ‘quick reaction alert force’ was ordered by NATO to investigate Russian plane in neutral airspace.
Published On 21 Sep 202521 Sep 2025
Share
Germany’s air force says it has scrambled two Eurofighter jets to track a Russian reconnaissance aircraft after it had entered neutral airspace over the Baltic Sea.
In a statement, the air force said its “quick reaction alert force” was ordered on Sunday by NATO to investigate an unidentified aircraft flying without a plan or radio contact.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
“It was a Russian IL-20M reconnaissance aircraft. After visual identification, we handed over escort duties for the aircraft to our Swedish NATO partners and returned to Rostock-Laage,” it added.
The operation was conducted as NATO prepares to convene its North Atlantic Council on Tuesday to discuss a separate incident involving Russian jets over Estonia.
According to the Reuters news agency, that meeting is to address what Tallinn called an “unprecedented and brazen” violation of its airspace on Friday when three Russian MiG-31 fighters entered without permission and remained for 12 minutes before leaving.
The claim sparked condemnation from NATO and European governments, who called the incursion a “reckless” and “dangerous provocation”.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal requested urgent “NATO Article 4 consultations” on the “totally unacceptable” incursion. Article 4 allows NATO members to hold consultations with the alliance when any state believes its territorial integrity, political independence or security is under threat.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence denied the allegation while Estonia summoned Moscow’s charge d’affaires in protest.
Tensions have been heightened in recent weeks by a series of airspace violations along NATO’s eastern flank.
Romania said last week that its radar detected a Russian drone, prompting it to scramble fighter jets. Earlier this month, Poland reported that it had shot down several drones during a Russian aerial attack on Ukraine, marking the first time NATO forces have directly engaged in that conflict.
Ukraine has said the incidents show Moscow is testing the West’s resolve as the war is in its fourth year. Military analysts note that such incursions serve as intelligence-gathering operations, tests of NATO’s responses and pressure tactics designed to unsettle NATO members bordering Russia.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
A U.K. Royal Air Force P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft was noted today flying in Polish airspace along the border with Russia and Belarus, apparently highlighting a significant, if overlooked, overland surveillance mission for the type. The unusual flight comes amid rising tensions between NATO and Russia in the region, following the Russian drone incursions into Polish airspace last week. Since then, more Russian drones have entered Romanian airspace, while NATO has begun deploying additional fighter jets to bolster Poland’s air defenses.
Evidence of today’s Royal Air Force P-8 mission appeared on publicly available flight-tracking websites, which showed the Poseidon, serial number ZP809, flying up and down the Polish side of the border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad in the north and with Belarus in the south. The P-8 was operating from its home base of RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.
The P-8 may be generally described as a maritime patrol platform, but is more accurately a multi-mission type with extensive intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. These are equally relevant for missions over land or over water. Even without any specific modifications, the P-8’s standard electronic support measures (ESM) suite allows it to act in an electronic intelligence (ELINT) collection role, specifically on enemy air defenses and electronic order of battles. This is something we will come back to later in this story.
As its main operator, the U.S. Navy has further adapted a handful of P-8s for specialized ISR, with modifications such as a secretive radar system, the AN/APS-154 Advanced Airborne Sensor, or AAS. Even without AAS, the U.S. Navy regularly uses P-8s to execute intelligence-gathering duties, specifically ELINT, outside of its sea control/anti-submarine warfare/anti-surface warfare tasks.
Aircrew onboard a Royal Air Force Poseidon. According to the service, most missions have eight onboard: two pilots, two Weapons Systems Officers (WSOs), and four Weapons Systems Operators (WSOps) — two manipulating the EO/IR camera, two manipulating the complex series of acoustic sensors onboard. Crown Copyright
As for the Royal Air Force, however, the small fleet of just nine aircraft at Lossiemouth means that these have been primarily tasked with patrolling the North Atlantic, including the strategically vital Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom Gap, better known as the GIUK Gap. This includes defending against potential Russian aggression and tracking Russian submarine activity, which has been a growing area of concern for some time now, as well as protecting the U.K. Royal Navy’s nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) when they go out on deterrence patrol.
Indeed, the small size of the Royal Air Force P-8 fleet saw the United Kingdom discuss plans to team up with Norway to cooperate on Poseidon operations, and, in the future, Germany will be added to this group. This will provide a further boost to NATO’s ability to effectively patrol the North Atlantic.
As regards using its P-8s for overland ISR, the Royal Air Force has previously been lukewarm on this.
According to Gareth Jennings, the aviation desk editor at Janes, the Royal Air Force once planned to use the P-8 for overland surveillance, but shelved the idea due to the small number of aircraft being purchased
Was told not all that long ago that, although the RAF originally intended the P-8 to have an overland surveillance capability, this would not now be the case owing to the relatively few aircraft being procured and commitment to its core-carrier protection/MPA and ASW tasks. Seems… https://t.co/8iCZ3RshAP
Whether the mission over Poland today signals some kind of change is unclear, but we have reached out to the U.K. Ministry of Defense and NATO to try and find out more about this flight.
Suffice it to say, activities in Kaliningrad and Belarus right now mean there are plenty of points of considerable interest to NATO.
Currently, the armed forces of Russia and Belarus are conducting the first iteration of their joint Zapad maneuvers since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Zapad drills — meaning ‘West’ — are widely seen as intimidation exercises directed against NATO’s eastern flank. Ahead of the exercise, Poland said it was deploying 40,000 troops along its borders with Belarus and Russia. Poland had previously closed most border crossings with Belarus, leaving only two in operation.
It’s also worth recalling that the Zapad-2021 exercise was used, in part, as cover for the westward movement of troops and equipment months before Moscow launched its all-out assault on Ukraine.
The scenario for Zapad-2025 involves an imagined Western invasion of Belarus. Although much smaller than in pre-2022 editions, the close coordination of Russian and Belarusian forces, including armor, crewed and uncrewed aircraft, air defense systems, and naval assets, provides an ideal opportunity for intelligence gathering.
Russian tanks move during the Zapad-2025 joint Russian-Belarusian military drills at a training ground near the town of Borisov, east of the capital Minsk, on September 15, 2025. Photo by Olesya KURPYAYEVA / AFP OLESYA KURPYAYEVA
🇷🇺⚡🇵🇱 Russia deployed nuclear capable SRBM “Iskander” on a highway in the Kaliningrad region near the Polish border, as part of #Zapad 2025 exercises with Belarus. pic.twitter.com/QOdODGfTaE
While we cannot know for sure at this point, today’s P-8 flight would appear to be entirely in line with that kind of intelligence-gathering mission.
Elsewhere in Poland, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski reiterated that, while the drones that entered Poland last week were capable of carrying warheads, they were not loaded with explosives.
Increasingly, NATO leaders in Europe are seeing the Russian drone incursions as a deliberate, incremental escalation directed against NATO. This kind of approach is very much in line with an escalating campaign of hostile activities short of all-out war across Europe, of which Russia has been accused. The tempo of the operations has stepped up since Moscow launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine. Even before then, Russia had a long history of so-called hybrid or gray-zone warfare operations that fit this same description.
The weekend saw another Russian drone incursion, this time in Romania and much smaller in scale than last week’s in Poland.
At least one Russian drone entered Romanian airspace at 6.05 p.m. local time on Saturday during a strike on neighboring Ukraine.
According to the Romanian Ministry of Defense, the drone was intercepted by two Romanian F-16s, which were carrying out an air patrol mission in northern Dobruja and which came close to downing it, after gaining both radar and visual contact.
Forțele Aeriene au interceptat o dronă în spațiul aerian 🇷🇴 2 aeronave F-16🇷🇴din Baza 86 Aeriană au decolat azi la ora 18:05, pentru monitorizarea situației aeriene la granița cu 🇺🇦, ca urmare a unor atacuri aeriene 🇷🇺asupra infrastructurii 🇺🇦 de la Dunărehttps://t.co/uGPjZVDt07pic.twitter.com/95XooGzfX5
The drone orbited for about 50 minutes, according to the defense ministry, before leaving Romanian airspace near the town of Pardina in northern Dobruja, heading toward Ukraine.
A library photo of a Romanian Air Force F-16. U.S. Air Force A Romanian Air Force F-16. Romania is another country that is part of the coalition of countries that have pledged to help train Ukraine’s future Viper pilots. USAF
The Romanian foreign minister summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the incident, which also drew further condemnation from European Union leaders.
In a statement, the Romanian Ministry of Defense said that the various drone incursions in recent days “represent a new challenge to regional security and stability in the Black Sea area.”
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “Russia’s incursion into Romanian airspace is once again a blatant violation of EU sovereignty and a serious threat to regional security.”
This morning, Russia attempted to deflect the blame, describing the drone incursion as “a provocation” by Kyiv, but providing no evidence to back this up.
The first additional NATO fighters have now arrived in Poland to help bolster air defenses on the alliance’s eastern flank. These are French Air and Space Force Rafales from Escadron de Chasse 2/4 “La Fayette,” which are now at Mińsk Mazowiecki Air Base in eastern Poland. While there has been some surprise in certain quarters that this is a unit with a nuclear tasking, it’s one of two units that have a nuclear mission alongside other roles, including air defense.
French Dassault Rafale fighter jet armed with MICA air-to-air missiles taking off from the Minsk Mazowiecki Air Base in eastern Poland.
A NATO spokesperson told TWZ today that the first activation of Eastern Sentry saw the alliance scramble fighters in both Poland and Romania over the weekend, including the newly arrived French Rafales, and also placed ground-based air defenses on alert. In related news, German Eurofighters are now under NATO control too, but they have, so far, not scrambled as part of this operation.
Today, the United Kingdom confirmed its plans to add Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters to Eastern Sentry, with the U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey writing on X that “Russia crossed a line with the reckless drone incursions into NATO airspace.” The deployment of Typhoons to help defend Polish airspace “is a message to Moscow: you tested NATO, we responded with strength and unity, Healey added.”
Russia crossed a line with the reckless drone incursions into @NATO airspace.
The UK will fly @RoyalAirForce Typhoons on NATO air defence missions over Poland, deterring Russian aggression.
This is a message to Moscow: you tested NATO, we responded with strength and unity.
Also now in Poland are the three Mi-17 Hip helicopters that the Czech Republic also pledged to help defend NATO’s eastern flank. The rotorcraft are assigned to the Special Operations Air Task Unit (SOATU).
“We are fulfilling the promise we made to our close ally. Our soldiers are already in Poland and are ready to participate in strengthening the protection of airspace on Poland’s eastern border,” said Czech Minister of Defense Jana Černochová.
As to what happens next in NATO’s response to the drone incursions, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has suggested that NATO should consider imposing a ‘no-fly’ zone over Ukraine to protect the alliance from Russian drones. As we have explored in the past, establishing something like this over Ukraine would be no easy task, and the alliance previously rejected such a proposal amid fears that it could lead to direct confrontation with Russian combat aircraft.
Speaking about extending such missions into Ukrainian airspace, Sikorski told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine: “We as NATO and the EU could be capable of doing this, but it is not a decision that Poland can make alone; it can only be made with its allies.” He continued: “Protection for our population — for example, from falling debris — would naturally be greater if we could combat drones and other flying objects beyond our national territory. If Ukraine were to ask us to shoot them down over its territory, that would be advantageous for us. If you ask me personally, we should consider it,” Sikorski added.
The potential risks involved in such an initiative were reinforced today by a statement from top Kremlin official Dmitry Medvedev, who warned that the establishment of a ‘no-fly’ zone in Ukraine and allowing NATO allies to shoot down Russian drones would amount to a “NATO war with Russia.”
It appears that the kind of ‘no-fly’ zone that Sikorski is proposing would only shoot down Russian drones that were understood to be heading toward NATO airspace, although determining this would also not always be straightforward, with plenty of potential for misunderstanding between the alliance, Russia, and Ukraine.
ARSENAL are close to securing the long-awaited signing of Viktor Gyokeres.
The Gunners have been desperate for a centre-forward and now appear set to get their man.
2
Arsenal are close to securing the signing of Viktor GyokeresCredit: Getty
2
Andrea Berta reportedly flew to Portugal for face-to-face talks with SportingCredit: Getty
Gunners’ sporting director Andrea Berta flew to Portugal for talks at the end of last week to push the deal through, according to CNN Portugal.
THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY..
The Sun is your go to destination for the best football, boxing and MMA news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheSunFootball and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunFootball.
Suspended in the air, dangling up to 29ft in certain parts of the journey, this upside down railway truly is an incredible feat of engineering – and has been running for more than a century
This floating train is just a couple of hours from the UK(Image: Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
This spectacular upside-down railway may look like a fairground ride – but has actually been transporting commuters and tourists for more than 100 years.
Suspended in the air, dangling up to 29ft above the ground at certain parts of the journey, the Wuppertal Schwebebahn is an incredible feat of engineering. Construction of the upside-down railway began in the summer of 1898 and the first test drive took place in the winter, but it wasn’t until 1901 that a section of the track was opened to the public.
Classed as the world’s oldest suspended railway, this enchanting train, located in the hip town of Wuppertal in Germany, cost a whopping 16 million German marks, which would have converted to around £7.79 million. Factoring in inflation, this would have cost a staggering £82.5 million today.
The railway is still going strong some 125 years later(Image: Getty Images)
“My fascination with the Schwebebahn lies in the way it was constructed over 100 years ago,” Cologne-based architect Christian Busch told CNN Travel back in 2022. “To realise such a project without computer-aided systems would be unthinkable today. A ride in the Schwebebahn allows the passenger an extraordinary insight into the life of the local residents and really looks like a fairground attraction from days gone by.”
Over the past century, the railway has undergone several major refurbs – with sleek new carriages replacing the original ones. However, you can still privately hire the first 1901 carriage, named Kaiserwagan after Kaiser Wilhelm II took a test ride on it.
A circus elephant once rode on the train – but it didn’t end well(Image: Getty Images)
In 1950, the Schwebebahn transported Tuffi the circus elephant above the ground. However, the racket from fellow passengers and journalists was too much for the animal, who ended up trampling a row of seats before jumping through a window into the river below.
Luckily, Tuffi wasn’t badly injured by the incident – and now the train is reserved exclusively for humans. A small statue of the elephant was however constructed on the river where Tuffi landed, which has become a popular tourist sight for holidaymakers.
The Wuppertal Schwebebahn attracts 80,000 people every single day(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Now, the Wuppertal Schwebebahn (which is technically classed as a suspension monorail) consists of 20 stops and attracts more than 80,000 people every day. “It is therefore an everyday means of transport for the inhabitants of the city, but also a popular tourist attraction,” the train’s official website states.
“Many sights can easily be reached on foot from the 20 suspension railway stations. Since August 1, 2019, only the new ‘Generation 15’ railcars have been in service.”
Guided by huge iron arches, the railway track whizzes over cars, shops, and pedestrians, before offering stunning aerial views of the serpentine river. 24-hour tickets cost €8.80 per person, or €4.40 for any additional passengers. Children under six go free, while elephants are asked to find alternative methods of transport.
Do you have a story to share? Email us at [email protected] for a chance to be featured.
