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OPEC ministers meet in Moscow on December 23, 2008. File Photo by Anatoli Zhdanov/UPI
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In 2023, the U.S. Justice Department indicted Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, on felony gun charges. He was the first child of a sitting president to be charged by the department.
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A spokesperson for NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) says it has no force posture changes to announce after an unprecedented flurry of Russian drones violated Polish airspace overnight. Authorities in Poland say they have assessed that the incursions were not accidental. Polish and Dutch fighters shot down several of the intruding uncrewed aircraft. The alliance has described this as a first-of-its-kind event, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned that the risk of a broader conflict in Europe is now greater than at any point since the end of World War II.
NATO planes shot down Russian drones that violated Poland’s airspace on Tuesday
Russia’s drone incursion into Poland marked the first time in its history that NATO planes have engaged potential threats in allied airspace, Col. Martin L. O’Donnell told @NatashaBertrand@halbritzhttps://t.co/blFilvt87v
Polish authorities say Russian drones began to violate the country’s airspace at around 11:30 PM local time last night. The last incursion was reported at 6:30 AM local time this morning. The intrusions came amid a new round of Russian drone and missile attacks on neighboring Ukraine.
Exactly how many Russian drones, and of what specific types, made their way into Poland’s airspace is unclear. Polish Prime Minister Tusk said that between 11 and 19 violations of Polish airspace were recorded overnight, many of them crossing the border from Belarus. He said that at least three, and likely four, drones were shot down. In his Polish-language statements, Tusk used the term “kilkanaście,” which means a number between 11 and 19, and has no direct English translation.
Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s Foreign Minister, subsequently said there had been 19 total airspace violations. He also said Poland has assessed that the drones “did not veer off course but were deliberately targeted.”
Last night, Poland’s airspace was breached 19 times by drones manufactured in Russia. Our assessment is that they did not veer off course but were deliberately targeted.
Poland, EU and NATO will not be intimidated and we will continue to stand by the brave people of Ukraine.… pic.twitter.com/prAEqrIUKX
Poland’s Tusk has also said that while at least three to four drones were shot down, another three to four appeared to have simply crashed in Polish territory. According to Karolina Gałecka, a spokesperson for the Polish interior minister, the remains of seven drones and an unidentified “rocket” have been recovered so far. Speaking at a briefing today, the spokesperson for the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command, Jacek Goryszewski, said debris currently categorized as being of “unknown origin” may turn out to be from an interceptor fired by NATO’s air defenses.
❗️Breaking: More than 20, most likely 23, Russian drones were detected in a nighttime violation of Polish airspace, — Polish media Rzeczpospolita reported, referring to the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces. pic.twitter.com/piwOkFrwqt
The debris has been found mostly in areas in eastern Poland, relatively close to the country’s borders with Ukraine and Belarus, but some has also been discovered much further north and west. The drone incursions had also led to the temporary closure of four Polish airports, including the country’s main Chopin Airport in the capital Warsaw, although this has since reopened and flights have resumed. One of the other airports closed was Rzeszów-Jasionka in Poland’s south-east, which is a major hub for arms transfers to Ukraine.
Locations in Poland where Russian drones were found today shown on a map:
Cześniki (Zamość County, Lublin Voivodeship) – 1 drone, Czosnówka (Bialski County, Lublin Voivodeship) – 1 drone, Wyryki Wola (Włodawa County, Lublin Voivodeship) – 1 drone and a damaged building,… pic.twitter.com/tVfugCeOrA
NOTAMs for closures at Modlin and Warsaw are set to expire at 0330 UTC (~60 minutes from now), while NOTAMs for Rzeszow and Lublin are scheduled to end at 0600 (all times preliminary and subject to change). Transit traffic over Poland continuing to stay west of normal routes. pic.twitter.com/QRd97Nw4Bv
At the time of writing, there have been no reports of casualties, but at least one Russian drone hit a house when it came down.
⚡ 7 drones and rocket debris of unknown origin found in Poland
This was confirmed by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, Karolina Gałecka, during a press conference. “We have found 7 drones and one piece of a rocket,” she confirmed.… https://t.co/EnsxzMOe6upic.twitter.com/u6V2jz0iQj
Poland had already put its forces on high alert ahead of the first airspace violations last night. Polish and Ukrainian authorities have also confirmed they were actively coordinating throughout the night as Russian drones were tracked heading west.
Another report from the Commander of our Air Force. We are clarifying all available data and analyzing the details of this Russian strike.
Already during the night, Ukrainian forces were informing the Polish side through the relevant channels about the movement of Russian…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 10, 2025
More information is coming in about the intrusion of Russian attack drones into Polish territory. As of now, it’s known about 8 drones. Increasing evidence indicates that this movement, this direction of strike, was no accident. There have been previous incidents of individual…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 10, 2025
Prime Minister Tusk’s office has confirmed that assets that were “directed to the anticipated area of operation” included two Polish F-16s, as well as Polish Army Mi-24 Hind, Mi-17 Hip, and S-70 Black Hawk helicopters. At least one Polish Saab 340 Erieye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft also appears to have participated in the operation last night, based on publicly available flight-tracking data. The look-down capability offered by the Erieye’s radar would have been particularly valuable for spotting small, low-flying drones. Poland’s armed forces also have extensive ground-based air defense capabilities.
After a major 9+ hour mission hunting Russian drones and coordinating air defenses overnight, Poland’s SAAB 340 airborne early warning aircraft is heading for home. pic.twitter.com/L1McAqVWz1
1x Polish AEW&C aircraft over Poland currently monitoring the eastern border. Additionally, 1x NATO refueling aircraft was over Polish airspace supporting fighter jets, including at least one F-35, in the task of neutralizing Russian drones that have crossed the Polish border. pic.twitter.com/Dek3DwGFLb
Polish authorities also said that two F-35 Joint Strike Fighters took part in the response to the Russian drone incursions. The Netherlands has separately said that its F-35s were among the assets that helped secure Poland’s skies overnight. The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) currently has Joint Strike Fighters stationed at Malbork in Poland, to help bolster the country’s air defenses.
Dutch F-35s have intercepted Russian drones over Poland.
Within the NATO framework, our F-35s make a significant contribution to the defence of our collective security. This is precisely what we stand ready to do.
NATO has further confirmed that an Italian Air Force AEW&C plane, which would be one of that country’s modified Gulfstream G-550 aircraft, as well as at least one A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) from a fleet the alliance operates collectively, were launched in response to the incursions into Polish airspace.
German Patriot surface-to-air missile systems forward-deployed in Poland were also at least placed on alert. A NATO source separately toldReuters that Patriot surface-to-air missiles in the region detected the drones with their radars, but had not engaged them.
Exactly what Polish and other NATO assets were used to shoot down Russian drones is unclear. The Dutch Minister of Defense, Ruben Brekelmans, has confirmed that Polish and Dutch fighters were among them.
Video, seen immediately below, has emerged that is said to show a Russian drone being downed by a Polish Air Force F-16, but this remains unverified. A picture of debris from an AIM-120C-7 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) that is said to have been found in Poland earlier today is also circulating online, but this is also unconfirmed. Both F-16s and F-35As could have employed AIM-120s, as well as AIM-9 Sidewinder variants, and even potentially their internal guns.
Doczekaliśmy się momentu w którym Polak może w swoim ogrodzie znaleźć resztki naszego albo holenderskiego pocisku powietrze – powietrze AIM-120 C-7 AMRAAM którym strzelano do rosyjskich dronów.
Poland’s Tusk thanked both his country’s armed forces and NATO allies for shooting down drones overnight.
My thanks and congratulations to the Polish Operational Command and our NATO pilots for shooting down Russian drones over Poland. Actions speak louder than words.
Regardless, it is important to note here that NATO jets, including Dutch F-35s in Poland, have scrambled in response to Russian drones into the airspace over alliance members in the past. However, they had not fired any weapons in response to those intrusions until last night.
A stock photo of a Dutch pilot running toward an F-35 during a scramble. Royal Netherlands Air Force
“This is the first time NATO planes have engaged potential threats in Allied airspace,” Col. Martin L. O’Donnell, a spokesperson for NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) told ABC News.
❝Last night showed that we are able to defend every inch of NATO territory including its airspace.❞
— @SecGenNATO Mark Rutte on the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones
Though the immediate response to the Russian drone incursions overnight has concluded, Polish Minister of Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz confirmed that the search for downed drones was still underway as of Wednesday.
“We ask for calm and to share only the announcements of the military and state services. In case of encountering object fragments, please do not approach them and inform the police,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said on X.
Nad Polską trwa operacja neutralizacji obiektów, które naruszyły granicę RP. Prezydent i Premier zostali powiadomieni. Wszystkie służby działają. Prosimy o stosowanie się do komunikatów Wojska Polskiego i Policji. Samoloty użyły uzbrojenia przeciwko wrogim obiektom. Jesteśmy w…
The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces called the overnight violations “unprecedented” and “an act of aggression that posed a real risk to the lives of our citizens.”
❗️W wyniku dzisiejszego ataku Federacji Rosyjskiej na terytorium Ukrainy doszło do bezprecedensowego w skali naruszenia polskiej przestrzeni powietrznej przez obiekty typu dron. Jest to akt agresji, który stworzył realne zagrożenie dla bezpieczeństwa naszych obywateli.
The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces called the overnight violations “unprecedented” and “an act of aggression that posed a real risk to the lives of our citizens.”
“There is no reason to claim that we are in a state of war… but the situation is significantly more dangerous than all previous ones,” Poland’s Prime Minister Tusk said. He further warned that the prospect of a large-scale conflict in Europe is now “closer than at any time since the Second World War.”
Warsaw’s immediate response included the foreign ministry summoning Andrey Ordash, Russia’s chargé d’affaires in the Polish capital. However, Ordash told the Russian RIA Novosti news agency that Poland has not offered any evidence that the drones were of Russian origin.
Poland has also now invoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which forms the legal basis for NATO. Article 4 states that “the Parties [to the alliance] will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.”
NATO’s article four calls on allies to “consult” in case of a threat. It was last invoked in 2022 after the Russian invasion by several Eastern European countries. Among other things, it would be a test of Trump’s approach to the alliance. Just a week ago Trump had said: “We are… https://t.co/yddJZAcP4U
Since NATO was created in 1949, Article 4 has only been invoked seven times. The last of these was in 2022, in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The North Atlantic Treaty also includes a collective defense provision, Article 5, which has only ever been invoked once, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
As noted, a spokesperson for NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) told TWZ that there are “no force posture adjustments to announce at this time.” U.S. European Command (EUCOM) declined to comment.
It remains to be seen what kind of response NATO might formulate following the Article 4 consultation.
A White House official told TWZ that President Donald Trump and the White House are tracking the reports out of Poland, and there are plans for President Trump to speak with Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki today.
Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers have been swift to condemn Russia’s actions. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said that the “repeated violations of NATO airspace” by Russian drones were “fair warning that Vladimir Putin is testing our resolve to protect Poland and the Baltic nations.”
Repeated violations of NATO airspace by Russian drones are fair warning that Vladimir Putin is testing our resolve to protect Poland and the Baltic nations. After the carnage Putin continues to visit on Ukraine, these incursions cannot be ignored.
Republican congressman Joe Wilson, a senior member of the foreign affairs committee, went further, describing the incursions as an “act of war.”
Russia is attacking NATO ally Poland with Iranian shahed drones less than a week after President Trump hosted President Nawrocki at the White House. This is an act of war, and we are grateful to NATO allies for their swift response to war criminal Putin’s continued unprovoked…
Wilson called upon President Donald Trump to respond with sanctions “that will bankrupt the Russian war machine.”
Increasingly, questions are being asked at the highest levels as to whether the drone incursion was a deliberate act, although the Kremlin has denied this.
German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius said the Russian drones were “clearly set on this course” and “did not have to fly this route to reach Ukraine.”
German Defense Minister Pistorius:
There is definitely no reason to assume that [Russian drones violating Polish airspace] was a matter of course correction errors or anything of that sort. These drones were quite obviously deliberately directed on this course.
“There is absolutely no reason to believe that this was a course correction error or anything of the sort,” Pistorius told the German parliament. He added that, according to the Polish government, the drones were armed with warheads, although this claim doesn’t seem to be otherwise supported.
The Russian Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, claims that there were no intentions to engage any targets on Polish territory, but has provided no further information to substantiate that assertion. The type of drones used are also indicative of this being a probing action to give Russia a valuable opportunity to observe NATO’s response. It could also serve as a form of intimation.
Same outward public signaling as if they had used larger Geran drones, but with a much lower risk to Russia of any actual NATO response given the much smaller warhead (if they even carried any and weren’t the decoy variant).
Altogether, the full scale and scope of the response from Poland and the rest of NATO to last night’s Russian drone incursions, as well as whether that is the start of a trend of escalating airspace violations, remains to be seen.
Update: 2:00 PM Eastern –
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says he has now “received not only expressions of solidarity with Poland, but above all proposals for concrete support for the air defense of our country” following conversations today with the leaders of other NATO members in Europe and the alliance’s Secretary General. Tusk did not elaborate on what that support might entail. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had previously said that “allies expressed solidarity with Poland and denounced Russia’s reckless behaviour.”
❝Allies expressed solidarity with Poland and denounced Russia’s reckless behaviour.❞
Following a North Atlantic Council meeting, @SecGenNATO Mark Rutte delivered a statement to the media on the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones
It is worth reiterating here that Poland has significant air defense capabilities itself and has been making major investments to expand and improve them. This includes plans for a new aerostat-based elevated airborne early warning system that would be especially useful for spotting and tracking incoming low-flying threats like drones and cruise missiles.
“What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!” U.S. President Donald Trump has now written in a post on his Truth Social social media network, but what actions he may be looking to take are unclear. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and major political ally of Trump’s, has said the U.S. Congress is prepared to help impose new sanctions and tariffs on Russia in response.
I completely agree with President @realDonaldTrump‘s sentiment in response to Russia’s insane violation of Polish airspace for hours, deploying multiple drones.
Mr. President, Congress is with you. We stand ready to pass legislation authorizing bone crushing new sanctions and… pic.twitter.com/LIqYmS4rG7
Fox News has reported that no U.S. forces were involved in the response to the drone incursions overnight. A report from CNN says that Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, had been on his way to Poland at the time.
A NATO spokesman tells @LucasFoxNews there was ‘no U.S. military involvement’ in shooting down the Russian drones. “This is the first time NATO planes have engaged potential threats in Allied airspace.”
Attributable to U.S. Army Col. Martin L. O’Donnell, Supreme Headquarters… https://t.co/FSDcqYsp8h
Mario is headed to outer space for his next cinematic adventure.
Nintendo held a supersized livestream of announcements Friday commemorating the 40th anniversary of “Super Mario Bros.”: The first game in the popular franchise was released in Japan in September 1985. Among the news items shared by the company’s video game maestro Shigeru Miyamoto is that the sequel to “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is officially titled “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.” The follow-up to the 2023 blockbuster is slated to hit theaters in April.
“What kinds of adventures do you think Mario and his friends will have in space?” Miyamoto, who created Nintendo’s iconic mustachioed hero, said during Nintendo Direct after sharing a brief teaser for the film. “This movie will be the main event of the ‘Super Mario Bros.’ 40th anniversary.”
“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is another collaboration between Nintendo and the animation studio Illumination. During the livestreamed announcement, producer and Illumination chief executive Chris Meledandri shared that “while the ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ games are the core inspiration for our story, this next film holds surprises for fans of every Mario era.”
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” directors Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath are once again at the helm for “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.” Also returning are cast members Chris Pratt (Mario), Anya Taylor-Joy (Princess Peach), Charlie Day (Luigi), Jack Black (Bowser), Keegan-Michael Key (Toad) and Kevin Michael Richardson (Kamek), as well as composer Brian Tyler.
The announcement did not mention whether Lumalee — the cheerfully nihilistic star-shaped blue being that Luigi meets during “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” — will return for the sequel, but the teaser did include a glimpse of a yellow Luma. So it’s impossible not to hope that the character will have some sort of role in “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” since the star-shaped creatures appear in both the 2007 video game “Super Mario Galaxy” and its 2010 sequel. While the character in the movie had memorable one-liners about “the sweet relief of death” and how “hope is an illusion,” in the games these blue Lumas are more helpful merchants of life.
New characters likely to debut in the sequel include Rosalina, a sort of guardian of the cosmos and caretaker of the Lumas who first appeared in the “Super Mario Galaxy” game, as well as Yoshi, the dinosaur-like character who can grab faraway objects — and foes — with his tongue. Yoshi was teased in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s” post-credits scene.
The success of films like “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide, is among the reasons Hollywood has recently pivoted to more video-game inspired fare. The “Super Mario” movie sequel was first announced in 2024.
Kim Jo Yong says the upcoming drills ‘will undoubtedly bring about negative consequences’ for Seoul and its allies.
Published On 14 Sep 202514 Sep 2025
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s influential sister has condemned upcoming joint military exercises between the United States, Japan and South Korea, calling them “dangerous” and a “reckless show of strength”.
The comments by Kim Yo Jong, published by state media on Sunday, come a day before Seoul and its allies begin drills combining naval, air and missile defence exercises off South Korea’s Jeju Island.
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The drills, called the “Freedom Edge”, will last through Friday.
Kim Yo Jong, who is vice department director of the North Korean governing party’s central committee, slammed the drills as a “dangerous idea”.
“This reminds us that the reckless display of power displayed by the US, Japan, and South Korea in the wrong places, namely around the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, will undoubtedly bring about negative consequences for themselves,” Kim Yo Jong said, using the official name for North Korea.
The statement follows a visit by her brother to weapons research facilities this week, where he said Pyongyang “would put forward the policy of simultaneously pushing forward the building of nuclear forces and conventional armed forces”.
North Korea perceives the trilateral drills as “scenarios for limited or full-scale nuclear strikes and attempts to neutralise its launch platforms”, Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told the AFP news agency.
“The North is likely using the allied exercises as a pretext to push ahead with nuclear modernisation and conventional upgrades,” he added.
Aside from the trilateral exercises, the US and South Korea also plan to stage the “Iron Mace” tabletop exercises next week on integrating their conventional and nuclear capabilities against North Korea’s threats, South Korean local media reported.
South Korea hosts about 28,500 American soldiers in its territory.
“Iron Mace” will be the first such drills taking place under US President Donald Trump and newly elected South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who have expressed willingness to resume dialogue with North Korea.
If “hostile forces” continue to boast about their power through those joint drills, North Korea will take countermeasures “more clearly and strongly”, North Korea’s top party official Pak Jong Chon said in a separate dispatch via the state news agency KCNA.
Since a failed summit with the US in 2019 on denuclearisation, North Korea has repeatedly said it will never give up its nuclear weapons and declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear state.
Kim Jong Un has been emboldened by the war in Ukraine, securing critical support from Russia after sending thousands of North Korean troops to fight alongside Moscow.
Moscow and Pyongyang signed a mutual defence pact last year when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the reclusive state.
Background Since World War Two, international agreements have safeguarded the right to seek asylum. The Trump administration, which has already reshaped U.S. immigration policy at home, is now preparing to take its restrictive vision global.
What Happened According to documents reviewed by Reuters, the administration plans to use the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly later this month to advocate limiting asylum rights. The proposal would require asylum seekers to apply for protection in the first country they enter, and make asylum temporary, with host countries deciding when return is safe.
Why It Matters If adopted, this would mark a major shift away from decades of international refugee protections. Critics warn it could return the world to conditions similar to the Holocaust era, when people fleeing persecution had few safe havens.
Stakeholder Reactions Mark Hetfield of HIAS, a refugee resettlement group, said weakening asylum rights would endanger lives, stressing that existing agreements guarantee protection for those fleeing persecution. Meanwhile, Trump officials argue the system is “abused” for economic migration. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau is expected to lead the UN event, while Trump’s nominee Andrew Veprek has called for a fundamental reshaping of asylum norms.
What’s Next The administration will press allies to back its approach, though broad international support remains uncertain. Reports suggest Trump officials are also prioritizing resettlement for South African Afrikaners, reflecting a controversial shift in refugee policy.
US secretary of state says Trump was ‘not happy’ about the attack, but the incident will not change ties with Israel.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to arrive in Israel, where he is set to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as tensions mount in the Middle East over the Israeli attack on Qatar last week.
Rubio’s trip, which begins on Sunday, comes after US President Donald Trump criticised Israel over the unprecedented attack on Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital, Doha.
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Before departing for Israel, Rubio told reporters that while Trump was “not happy” about the strike, it was “not going to change the nature of our relationship with the Israelis”.
But he added that the US and Israel would discuss its impact on efforts for a truce in Israel’s war on Gaza.
“The president wants this to be finished with. And finished with meaning 48 hostages released all at once. Hamas is no longer a threat, so we can move on to the next phase, which is, how do you rebuild Gaza?” he said.
“How do you provide security? How do you make sure Hamas never comes back again? That’s the president’s priority… And part of what we’re going to have to discuss as part of this visit is how the events of last week with Qatar impact that.”
Rubio said it had yet to be determined who would do that, who would pay for it and who would be in charge of the process.
Israel’s attack on Qatar, a major non-NATO ally of the US, targeted Hamas leaders who had gathered to discuss a new ceasefire proposal in the war on Gaza put forth by the US. The leadership survived, but six people were killed, including a Qatari security officer.
US officials described it as a unilateral escalation that did not serve US or Israeli interests.
The strike also led to broad condemnation from other Arab states, and derailed ceasefire and captive talks brokered by Qatar.
Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington, DC, noted that the US and Qatar have expressed a commitment to continue the push for peace.
“However, late on Saturday, Netanyahu said on social media that it’s Israel’s view that the Hamas leadership needs to be driven out of Qatar, because in Israel’s view, Hamas is not committed to peace,” she said.
“So there’s going to be certain discussions about the next steps forward, given that Trump has said he wants to see an end to the war in Gaza,” she said.
For its part, Hamas has repeatedly said it was willing to release all of the captives it took from Israel and cede control of Gaza to an interim Palestinian administration, in exchange for an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, has called for the expulsion of Gaza’s population and signed an agreement on Thursday to move ahead with a settlement expansion plan in the occupied West Bank that would make any future Palestinian state virtually impossible.
On Friday, the United Nations General Assembly voted to back a revival of the two-state solution, in open defiance of Israeli opposition.
Israeli allies, France and the United Kingdom, alongside several other Western nations, are set to recognise Palestinian statehood at a UN gathering this month out of exasperation at Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza war and in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces bombed a residential building causing fires to spread in an intense night of Israeli strikes on Gaza City. The army says its forces are “increasing the pace of attacks” and told hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to move south.
Romania has scrambled fighter jets after a drone breached the country’s airspace during a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine, its Ministry of National Defence said, as Kyiv accused Moscow of expanding its war.
The Romanian move on Saturday came as Poland also deployed aircraft and closed an airport in the eastern city of Lublin over the threat of a drone attack.
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Ukraine’s European Union neighbours have been on guard since Poland shot down Russian drones in its airspace earlier this week, with the backing of aircraft from its NATO allies.
Romania’s Defence Ministry said it detected the drone incursion late on Saturday, and scrambled two F-16 fighter jets as well as two Eurofighters – part of German air policing missions in Romania – while also warning citizens to take cover.
It said the jets followed the drone until “it disappeared from the radar” near the Romanian village of Chilia Veche.
Minister of National Defence Ionut Mosteanu said the F-16 pilots came close to taking down the drone before it left the country’s airspace, adding that helicopters would survey the area near the border to look for potential drone parts.
“But all information at this moment indicates the drone exited airspace to Ukraine,” he told the private television station Antena 3.
Romania, an EU and NATO state which shares a 650km (400-mile) border with Ukraine, has had Russian drone fragments fall onto its territory repeatedly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the social media platform X that data showed the drone breached about 10km (6 miles) into Romanian territory and operated in NATO airspace for about 50 minutes.
He alleged that the Russian military knows exactly where its drones are headed and how long they can operate in the air.
“It is an obvious expansion of the war by Russia – and this is exactly how they act,” Zelenskyy said.
“Sanctions against Russia are needed. Tariffs against Russian trade are needed. Collective defence is needed.”
Sweden also condemned the drone incursion in Romania.
Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard wrote on X that the breach was “another unacceptable violation of NATO airspace”.
“Sweden stands in full solidarity with Romania as a NATO Ally and EU Member State. We are always ready to contribute further to the deterrence and defence of the Alliance.”
NATO had announced plans to beef up the defence of Europe’s eastern flank on Friday, after Poland shot down drones that had violated its airspace, the first known shots fired by a member of the Western alliance during Russia’s war in Ukraine.
While Russia denies targeting Poland, several European countries, including France, Germany and Sweden, have stepped up their support for defending Polish airspace in response.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, expressed concern at the Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace, but said that it remained unclear if it was a deliberate act by Russia.
“We think it’s an unacceptable and unfortunate and dangerous development,” Rubio told reporters before departing on a trip to Israel and the United Kingdom.
“No doubt about it: the drones were intentionally launched. The question is whether the drones were targeted to go into Poland specifically.”
Rubio said that if the drones were targeted at Poland, “if the evidence leads us there, then obviously that’ll be a highly escalatory move”.
“There are a number of other possibilities as well, but I think we’d like to have all the facts and consult with our allies before we make specific determinations,” he added.
The comments echo suggestions by US President Donald Trump that the Russian incursions into Polish airspace were a mistake.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, however, has dismissed that.
“We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn’t. And we know it,” Tusk said on X on Friday.
Trump, meanwhile, said on Saturday that he was ready to impose major sanctions on Russia – just as soon as all NATO nations did the same thing and stopped buying Russian oil.
“I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA,” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Trump has repeatedly threatened sanctions against Russia without following through.
The sound of an Israeli bomb interrupted Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud during a live broadcast as he explained that fighter jets have been striking buildings in Gaza City every 10–15 minutes since this morning. Israel says its forces are “increasing the pace of attacks” on the city.
Here are the key events on day 1,298 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Published On 14 Sep 202514 Sep 2025
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Here is how things stand on Sunday, September 14:
Fighting
Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least three people in the Donetsk region and another in Kharkiv, the Kyiv Independent reported on Saturday, citing local officials.
A drone breached Romanian airspace during a Russian attack on Ukrainian infrastructure, prompting Romania to scramble fighter jets, the country’s defence minister, Ionut Mosteanu, said. He added that the F-16 pilots came close to taking down the drone as it was flying very low before it left national airspace towards Ukraine.
Poland also deployed aircraft and closed an airport in the eastern city of Lublin because of the threat of Russian drone strikes. The moves came three days after Poland shot down Russian drones in its airspace with the backing of aircraft from its NATO allies.
On the front line, the Russian Ministry of Defence claimed its troops had taken control of the village of Novomykolaivka in Ukraine’s southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region.
In Russia, a local official said two Ukrainian drones hit one of the country’s largest oil refining complexes in the Bashkortostan region, sparking a fire and causing minor damage. Regional Governor Radiy Khabirov said that despite the attack, operations would continue at the facility operated by Bashneft, a subsidiary of Russia’s largest oil producer, Rosneft.
An explosive device detonated on a section of railway in Russia’s western Oryol region, killing two people and wounding another, Governor Andrei Klychkov wrote on Telegram. Russia’s railway network has been repeatedly rocked by derailments, blasts and fires that authorities blame on Ukrainian sabotage.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its troops shot down 340 Ukrainian drones over the past day and also struck Ukrainian long-range drone infrastructure.
Politics and diplomacy
United States President Donald Trump said the US is prepared to impose new energy sanctions on Russia, but only if all NATO nations stop buying Russian oil and implement similar measures.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also urged allies to stop buying Russian oil and not to “look for excuses” to avoid sanctions.
US lawmakers Lindsey Graham and Brian Fitzpatrick, both Republicans, have sponsored a bill to impose tough sanctions on Russia over its war on Ukraine, and said they would urge fellow legislators this week to tie their bill to must-pass legislation on keeping the federal government operating. The measures include secondary sanctions on India and China for buying Russian oil.
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi criticised the US’s calls for action against buyers of Russian oil, saying that Beijing did not participate in wars or plot them. He said that war cannot solve problems and that sanctions only complicate them.
Poland’s foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, accused Hungary of blackmailing the European Union by obstructing Ukraine’s bid to join the 27-member bloc. Ukraine had applied to join the EU days after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, but has been unable to advance accession talks due to vetoes imposed by Hungary’s Kremlin-friendly leader, Viktor Orban.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace this week was unacceptable but that it remained unclear if Russia had deliberately sent the drones into Polish territory. Poland had shot down the drones, the first known shots fired by a member of the Western alliance since the war began.
Military
Ukraine will need at least $120bn for its defence in 2026 as the war with Russia drags on into its fourth year, Minister of Defence Denys Shmyhal said. Ukraine now spends more than 31 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on its military. This year’s state budget plans at least $63bn in defence spending, plus in-kind weapons from Kyiv’s Western allies.
Russia’s MiG-31 fighter jets, equipped with hypersonic ballistic missiles, completed a four-hour flight over the neutral waters of the Barents Sea as part of ongoing “Zapad 2025” (West 2025) military exercises, the Interfax news agency reported. Russia and Belarus are holding joint drills days after Poland shot down suspected Russian drones over its airspace.
Economy
Ukrainian officials and a team from the US International Development Finance Corporation will carry out site visits to identify investment projects as part of Kyiv’s minerals deal with Washington, Ukraine’s Minister of Economy Oleksii Sobolev said. The two countries had signed a deal giving the US preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals projects in exchange for investment.
The governor of Utah has been criticised after he said he prayed that the man suspected of shooting Charlie Kirk “wouldn’t be one of us.” In Friday’s briefing, US officials revealed that 22-year-old Tyler Robinson had been arrested and that he had engraved messages on bullets.
The first group of critically ill and injured Palestinian children set to receive NHS treatment have left Gaza and are expected to arrive in the UK in days.
They are the first children to be brought to the UK for treatment as part of a government operation being co-ordinated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Home Office and Department of Health.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed the children had been evacuated from Gaza in an interview with the Daily Mirror newspaper.
A Foreign Office source told the BBC the report was correct and the children were due to arrive in the UK in the “coming days”.
The UK government is also working to evacuate students with places to study at British universities.
Cooper did not confirm how large the first group was but the BBC understands it contains between 30 and 50 Palestinian children.
Cooper told the newspaper “it was a lot of diplomatic work in order to help them actually leave Gaza”.
She added: “But that work is underway and I’m determined to make sure that we can do our bit to help those injured families and also to help students get into their courses this autumn.”
Some Gazan children have been brought privately to the UK for medical treatment through an initiative by Project Pure Hope, but the government until now had not evacuated any through its own scheme during the conflict.
On Saturday, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said the bodies of 47 people killed by the Israeli military had arrived at its hospitals over the previous day.
Since UN-backed global food security experts confirmed a famine in Gaza City on 22 August, the ministry has reported that at least 142 people have died from starvation and malnutrition across the territory.
Earlier this year, the World Health Organization said that Israel’s offensive in Gaza had stretched the territory’s health system “beyond breaking point”.
Israel has said it is expanding its efforts to facilitate aid deliveries and has disputed the health ministry’s figures on malnutrition-related deaths.
The Israeli military launched its campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 64,803 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.
Sept. 13 (UPI) —Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook might not have committed fraud when obtaining a mortgage loan on at least one property for which she is accused of fraud.
Cook in 2021 described the Atlanta condominium that she bought as a second home or a vacation home in documents reviewed by The Washington Post and The New York Times.
A document from May 2021 described the Atlanta property’s use as a “vacation home, and a December 2021 form that she provided to the Biden administration called the condo a second home, according to The Washington Post.
She submitted the December document for review after President Joe Biden nominated her to join the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.
A similar review by The New York Times reaches the same conclusions but says the documents are not legal documents and do not disprove claims that she committed fraud by claiming the Atlanta property and another home in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Federal Housing Agency Director Bill Pulte initially raised concern that Cook might have committed fraud and said the newly released documents do not disprove fraud allegations.
“If Dr. Cook solicited estimates as a vacation home and then entered into a mortgage agreement as a primary residence, that is extremely concerning and … evidence of further intent to defraud,” Pulte said, told The New York Times.
Pulte has referred the issue to the Department of Justice, which is investigating the matter.
President Donald Trump announced he is firing Cook, but she challenged her dismissal in a lawsuit and remains a Federal Reserve governor at least until the legal matter is resolved.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
A flight of six F-35B stealth fighters landed in Puerto Rico Saturday afternoon to take part in the Trump Administration’s enhanced operation against narcotraffickers, also aimed at Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. They will join one of the largest U.S. military deployments to the Caribbean in years.
Video emerged of the jets landing at the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. A U.S. defense official told The War Zone that “[w]e have no force posture changes to announce currently.”
Interestingly, the F-35s seen landing at the base have no unit markings on their tails. This could be force protection/security tactic, it isn’t clear at this time.
F-35 fighters have arrived at the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, now operating as the primary staging base for the aircraft and their support teams.
The fifth-generation jets originated at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma and did a stopover at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, according to open source flight trackers on social media.
🚨| URGENTE: Aviones F35 de los Estados Unidos fueron filmados saliendo a Puerto Rico desde la Base de la Fuerza Aérea MacDill, una instalación militar de EE. UU. ubicada en Tampa, Florida 🇺🇸🇻🇪 El fin del régimen de Maduro es cada vez más real. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/SU4oyRv7nF
They were photographed being refueled by a KC-135 Stratotanker near Miami.
Imágenes del 🇺🇲KC-135T, reg 58-0094, sobrevolando Miami y reabasteciendo los F-35B🚀 que van rumbo a Puerto Rico🇵🇷 en una de las imágenes se logra distinguir 5 F-35 lightning II pic.twitter.com/DRQrnuStYk
Earlier this month, Trump ordered 10 F-35s to take part in a mission that the Trump administration has made the centerpiece of its foreign policy and power projection. The White House considers Maduro a narco-terrorist tied to a Venezuelan drug cartel. He is also a fugitive with a $50 million bounty on his head.
The jets join an armada that includes 4,500 Marines and sailors, at least eight ships, including a nuclear-powered Los Angeles class fast attack submarine, and many other military assets. The Air Combat Element (ACE) that’s part of the amphibious group have AV-8B+ Harriers deployed to the USS Iwo Jima, as well. A second flight of four F-35s from MCAS Yuma is also headed toward Puerto Rico, according to open source flight spotters.
MAZDA21 flight (4x F-35Bs) departed MCAS Yuma (KNYL) 🇺🇸 and are en route to Roosevelt Roads (NRR/TJRV) 🇵🇷.
Deadly force has already been used in this mission. Trump said 11 smugglers were killed in an attack on a cartel boat were killed in attack11 smugglers tied to Tren de Aragua (TD) drug cartel. Venezuela responded by flying two F-16s near the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham.
It is unclear what missions the fighters will perform. We’ve reached out to the White House and Pentagon for more details.
The F-35s bring a wide array of capabilities wherever they are deployed. While best known for its kinetic capabilities, including striking targets and taking on enemy aircraft, the Joint Strike Fighter is an extremely powerful intelligence gathering tool, with its highly capable radar and electro-optical systems. Yet its electronic intelligence gathering ability is perhaps its most potent reconnaissance asset. You can read more about that here. In addition, the B model is capable of operating on the Wasp class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, that is, as we noted earlier, currently off the coast of Puerto Rico. Launching and recovering from a ship as an option provides commanders with extra flexibility when planning operations.
The Wasp class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) conducts an anchoring evolution. Sailors and Marines of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group – 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Logan Goins) Seaman Logan Goins
United States President Donald Trump has said he is ready to sanction Russia, but only if all NATO allies agree to completely halt buying oil from Moscow and impose their own sanctions on Russia to pressure it to end its more than three-year war in Ukraine.
“I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, which he described as a letter to all NATO nations and the world.
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Trump proposed that NATO, as a group, place 50-100 percent tariffs on China to weaken its economic grip over Russia.
Trump also wrote that NATO’s commitment “to WIN” the war “has been far less than 100%” and that it was “shocking” that some members of the alliance continued to buy Russian oil. As if speaking to them, he said, “It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia.”
NATO member Turkiye has been the third-largest buyer of Russian oil, after China and India. Other members of the 32-state alliance involved in buying Russian oil include Hungary and Slovakia, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
If NATO “does as I say, the WAR will end quickly”, Trump wrote. “If not, you are just wasting my time.”
As he struggles to deliver on promises to end the war quickly, Trump has repeatedly threatened to increase pressure on Russia. Last month, he slapped a 50 percent tariff on India over its continued buying of Russian oil, though he has not yet taken similar actions against China.
Trump’s social media post comes days after Polish and NATO forces shot down drones violating Polish airspace during Russia’s biggest-ever aerial barrage against Ukraine.
Poland and Romania scramble aircraft
Polish airspace has been violated many times since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but never on this scale anywhere in NATO territory.
Wednesday’s incident was the first time a NATO member is known to have fired shots during Russia’s war in Ukraine.
On Saturday, Poland said it and its NATO allies had deployed helicopters and aircraft as Russian drones struck Ukraine, not far from its border.
Poland’s military command said on X that “ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached their highest level of alert”, adding that the actions were “preventative”.
Also on Saturday, Romania’s Ministry of National Defence said that the country’s airspace had been breached by a drone during a Russian attack on infrastructure in neighbouring Ukraine.
The country scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to monitor the situation, tracking the drone until it disappeared from the radar” near the Romanian village of Chilia Veche, said the ministry in a statement.
Little sign of peace
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed the prospect of penalties on states still doing business with Moscow.
In an interview with the US media outlet ABC News last week, Zelenskyy said, “I’m very thankful to all the partners, but some of them, I mean, they continue [to] buy oil and Russian gas, and this is not fair… I think the idea to put tariffs on the countries that continue to make deals with Russia, I think this is the right idea.”
Last month, the US president hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss an end to the war, in their first face-to-face meeting since Trump’s return to the White House.
Shortly afterwards, he hosted Zelenskyy and European leaders in Washington, DC, for discussions on a settlement.
Despite the diplomatic blitz, there has been little progress towards a peace deal, with Moscow and Kyiv remaining far apart on key issues and Russia persisting in its bombardment of Ukrainian cities.
Russia claims advances
Russia on Saturday said it had captured a new village in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region, which Moscow’s forces say they reached at the beginning of July.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said its troops had seized the village of Novomykolaivka near the border with the Donetsk region – the epicentre of fighting on the front. The AFP news agency was unable to confirm this claim.
DeepState, an online battlefield map run by Ukrainian military analysts, said the village was still under Kyiv’s control.
At the end of August, Ukraine had for the first time acknowledged that Russian soldiers had entered the Dnipropetrovsk region, where Moscow had claimed advances at the start of the month.
The Russian army currently controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory.
The Kremlin is demanding that Ukraine withdraw from its eastern Donbas region, comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as a condition for halting hostilities, something that Kyiv has rejected.
The Dnipropetrovsk region is not one of the five Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Crimea – that Moscow has publicly claimed as Russian territory.
On Friday, Zelenskyy said that Putin wanted to “occupy all of Ukraine” and would not stop until his goal was achieved, even if Kyiv agreed to cede territory.
Malawians will vote for a new president, parliament members, and local councillors on September 16 after five years of economic challenges and natural disasters. Analysts predict a competition between President Lazarus Chakwera and former President Peter Mutharika. The main issues for voters are outlined here:
Economic Stagnation
Malawi, one of the poorest countries, has seen its economy stagnate since the 2020 elections, with the World Bank predicting only 2% growth this year. This marks the fourth consecutive year where the population has grown faster than the economy. An IMF program ended in May without achieving macroeconomic stability, with plans to negotiate a new program after elections. Inflation has been over 20% for three years, making essentials unaffordable. Protests occurred this year due to high inflation affecting jobs, and over 70% of Malawians live below the poverty line of $3 per day.
Corruption
Malawi has seen a long series of corruption scandals stretching back more than a decade.
Chakwera has talked tough on fighting graft since becoming head of state in 2020, but he has been criticised for handling cases selectively and corruption scandals have continued under his watch.
Hunger and Failed Harvests
Malawi has faced severe hunger crises, with millions of its people requiring food assistance last year after a severe regional drought destroyed harvests.
In 2023, one of the deadliest storms to hit Africa in the last two decades, Cyclone Freddy, also wiped out crops and caused food shortages.
Malawi’s population is especially vulnerable to extreme weather events as the majority of its population of 22 million is reliant upon subsistence agriculture for food.
Fuel Shortages
Malawians have become used to queuing for hours at fuel stations because of shortages.
In an address to the nation this week Chakwera apologised for the scarcity of fuel, alleging sabotage by officials at the state oil company. The opposition says government mismanagement is to blame.
Protesters display St. George and Union Jack flags during a “Unite the Kingdom” rally in central London on Saturday. Photo by Tayfun Salci/EPA
Sept. 13 (UPI) — More than 100,000 Britons who are frustrated with the United Kingdom’s immigration policies marched in central London during a Saturday afternoon and evening event billed as “Unite the Kingdom.”
The event was organized by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon aka Tommy Robinson and included a video address from Elon Musk.
Musk, 54, accused the U.K. government of not protecting “innocent people, including children who are getting gang-raped,” The Times reported.
“There’s this genuine risk of rape and murder and the destruction of the country and the dissolution of the entire way of life,” Musk told the protesters.
“If you weren’t under a massive attack, then people should go about their business and live their lives, but unfortunately, if the fight comes to you, you don’t have a choice,” he continued.
“Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you,” Musk added. “You either fight back or you die.”
An estimated 110,000 people participated in the protest march from Waterloo Bridge to Whitehall and at times clashed with police, 26 of whom were injured when pelted with bottles and other projectiles, according to The BBC.
Four officers suffered serious injuries, and at least 25 people were arrested for what London’s Metropolitan Police called “wholly unacceptable” violence.
The Metro Police deployed 1,000 officers, who were assisted by 500 others from nearby jurisdictions.
“There is no doubt that many came here to exercise their lawful right to protect, but there were many who came intent on violence,” Matt Twist, assistant commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, told the BBC.
A counter-protest called “Stand Up to Racism” drew about 5,000 participants and was organized by Women Against the Far Right, The Guardian reported.
Those protesters carried placards saying, “Refugees Welcome” and “Oppose Tommy Robinson,” among others.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – A day prior to the marquee India-Pakistan cricket clash at the Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai, it’s a tale of two teams positioned on opposite ends of the pre-match hype metre as political frenzy envelops the fixture.
As a result of the hoopla, the game of cricket has been reduced to a supporting act.
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India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate faced the heat as his side’s designated news conference representative on Saturday.
The former Netherlands international cricketer was sent to tackle a barrage of questions on the tense atmosphere in the wake of the four-day conflict in May, when the South Asian archrivals came close to an all-out war.
Unlike the pre-tournament news conference, where media persons were discouraged from asking political questions, Saturday’s event was heavier on politics and lighter on cricket.
Doeschate, who has been part of the Indian coaching set-up for over a year, was asked to talk about the players’ mindset in the lead-up to the match and whether the simmering sentiments back home will affect them.
“It will play on the minds of the players, who share the compassion of the Indian public,” Doeschate said.
However, the coach urged them to “put the sentiments and emotions behind” when they step on the field.
“It’s something we have addressed in the dressing room in team meetings. We are aware of the feelings [of Indian fans], but the guys have to play for their country, so they will be as professional and focused as they can be given the circumstances.”
While the conversation occasionally turned to India’s team combination for the match and tackling a new-look Pakistani T20 side, some sections of the media kept steering it back to themes such as “using the sports field as an avenue for protest [against the opponent]” and, cynically, protecting the players from the outside noise.
However, ten Doeschate was careful in his handling of questions on the delicate theme and did not attempt to shut down the constant probing.
He revealed India head coach Gautam Gambhir’s message to the dressing room in the lead-up to the Pakistan match.
“It’s been about being professional, not worrying about things not in our control and trying to be emotionless when approaching the cricket side of things.”
The 45-year-old former allrounder wrapped up by saying the way the Indian team plays on Sunday will “represent how the players feel about the country.”
India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir at a practice session [File: Sajjad Hussain/AFP]
‘Just another cricket match’
Meanwhile, Pakistan took the opposite approach to the media scrutiny by sending Saim Ayub, a very nonchalant young member of the squad, to deal with the barrage of critical and deceptively political questions.
The allrounder flat-batted the inquest into Pakistan’s inability to beat India in recent games by repeating the “past is past” mantra that every athlete knows so well.
Pakistan’s last win over India, in all formats and competitions, came in October 2021, when Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan guided them home by 10 wickets.
The 23-year-old has never played a match against India, and when he was asked to recount his experience of being on the reserves’ bench during the India-Pakistan game at the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, he simply blamed amnesia for his inability to recall his feelings from last June.
“I could have answered your question better had you asked last year,” he quipped.
Ayub, whose main role in the team is to open the batting, has seen a dip in his run-scoring form since his return from injury this year.
In his 15 T20I innings since May, Ayub has scored 40 or more runs on four occasions, only one of which came during the recent tri-nation T20 series in the UAE.
The left-handed batter dealt with the criticism of his performance with a smirk and said, “The same player can’t be expected to win the match every time.”
“The team is made up of 11 players, and we try that every player stands up on a different day. We can only try to give our best effort and hope that the result goes our way.”
When it was his turn to face questions on the hyped up match and how it could lead to on-field nerves, Ayub was happy to term it “just another cricket match”.
“It can be a big fixture for some people, but for us, it’s just another match where we must improve our performance.”
A changed-up Pakistan team led by a new captain and coach will look to change the recent trend in results against India, while their opponents will aim to not only win the contest on the pitch, but also placate a charged-up fanbase back home.
Pakistan will rely on Shaheen Shah Afridi’s experience against India on Sunday [Sajjad Hussain/AFP]
