Trump’s response to Russia violating Polish airspace: ‘Here we go!’

The United Nations (UN) Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting after Russian drones entered Polish air space.

Representatives from member countries will meet at Poland’s request to discuss the unprecedented incursion into Nato territory, which took place on Wednesday morning.

US President Donald Trump reacted by taking to Truth Social, writing: “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!”

Polish air defences and Nato aircraft sprung into action on Wednesday after 19 objects intruded Polish airspace including drones entering from Belarus, said prime minister Donald Tusk. There have been no injury reports and Moscow has so far denied responsibility for the incident.

Poland’s president Karol Nawrocki spoke to Trump among other Nato allies in talks that “confirmed unity,” he said. As European and Nato countries rally to Poland’s defence, the US has vowed that it will help defend Nato territory following the incursion.

The US would defend “every inch of Nato territory”, Washington’s ambassador to Nato Matthew Whitaker said.

Prime minister Donald Tusk activated Article 4 of the Nato treaty, demanding discussion with its member states, as he said Poland was closer to conflict than it had ever been since the Second World War.

Strong winds of up to 80mph to hit UK over the weekend

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for wind across parts of the UK over the weekend.

Forecasters say parts of England and Wales could see “strong and gusty winds” and possible thunderstorms on Sunday and into Monday evening.

The Met Office is warning of potential disruption and delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport, with a chance that some roads and bridges may close.

There is also a chance that power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage.

It is likely that some communities near coastal routes and sea fronts may be affected by spray and large waves.

The yellow weather warning is in place from 8pm on Sunday until 6pm on Monday, across London and South East England, North West England, South West England and Wales.

Gusts of around 50 to 60mph are likely around coasts and hills and 70 to 80mph is possible in the most exposed locations, with the windiest conditions expected on Monday morning.

The Met Office warned that it will be windy in the far northwest of Scotland on Thursday, combined with spells of rain.

In other parts of the country, there will be a mixture of sunshine and blustery showers, with a risk of heavy rain, hail and thunder, particularly in the Western region.

Forecasters said those affected should prepare to protect their property and people from injury. They recommend checking for loose items outside the home and planning how to secure items such as bins, garden furniture, trampolines, tents, sheds and fences.

They also advise checking road conditions and bus and train timetables, and amending travel plans if necessary to have the best chance of avoiding delays.

Despite the unpredictable conditions, forecasters said they are not expecting a named storm to hit the country.

Paul Gundersen, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “We have been monitoring a deepening area of low pressure over the North Atlantic that might bring impactful weather to the UK, most likely on Sunday and Monday. At present, a named storm is unlikely.”

Here is the weather forecast in the UK for the coming week, according to the Met Office.

Windy, especially in the North West, with showers merging into longer spells of rain across Scotland. Elsewhere, a mixture of sunshine and showers, these sometimes heavy and carrying a risk of hail and thunder. Temperatures will be near normal but feeling cool.

Remaining wet and windy in the far North West, but elsewhere showers will be fading with dry spells developing. Further heavy showers in the West. Feeling cool beneath clear skies in rural spots.

Another breezy day with showers continuing to feed in from the West, these sometimes heavy and merging into longer spells of rain. Best of the sunshine in the East. Overnight showers in the western coastal areas becoming more widespread.

On Saturday, showers may be heavy in places with isolated thunderstorms. Stronger winds and coastal gales are also possible.

Remaining changeable with sunny spells and blustery showers. More widely wet and windy on Sunday with coastal gales possible.

Sunshine and drier conditions are most likely to be found in the East, though temperatures will remain on the cooler side, with highs of around 17C to 18C expected in London on both Saturday and Sunday.

Staying windy on Monday with further blustery showers, and feeling cool.

London’s infamous ‘Wet Wipe Island’ finally cleared of five million wipes

Approximately 5 million wet wipes have finally been removed from the infamous “Wet Wipe Island” on the River Thames.

The three-week project was the country’s first mass wet wipe removal project of its kind, which scooped up everything from towels, scarves, trousers, a car’s engine timing belt and even a set of false teeth.

The Port of London Authority, in collaboration with Thames Water and Thames21, removed around 114 tonnes of waste which had congealed into a 250m island on the foreshore of the river near Hammersmith Bridge.

Wet wipes and other non-biodegradable items are harmful to the environment because they can pollute rivers, harm wildlife and leave an unsightly mess.

In order to remove the harmful waste, the workers used an efficient “rake and shake” method. This involved two eight-tonne excavators sifting through the island, separating wet wipes and waste from the natural sediment and riverbed in order to minimise the environmental impact.

In total, almost 200 cubic metres of wet wipes containing plastic were taken away in 15 skips and disposed of responsibly.

The island, which was about the size of two tennis courts and up to 1m high in places, had changed the course of the river and potentially harmed the aquatic wildlife and ecology in the area.

Grace Rawnsley, the director of sustainability at the Port of London Authority, said that “while at times the work was pretty gross, it was well worth it to help clean the river”.

“The reaction of local communities – and of people across the country and beyond – has been really encouraging but also slightly incredulous that this work was needed in the first place,” she added.

John Sullivan from Thames Water explained: “This ‘island’ was a direct result of people flushing away wet wipes containing plastic and shows the damage that is caused by putting the wrong things down your toilet.

“Flushing a wet wipe and other non-biodegradable items away does not make them magically disappear. Blockages caused by wipes are a leading cause of pollution, and we remove an estimated 3.8 billion wipes from our network each year.”

He welcomed the government’s proposed ban on wet wipes containing plastics, and hopes it will prevent a wet wipe wasteland from ever forming again.

Organisations like Thames21 are also calling for producers to “get serious about alternatives to wet wipes” and for water companies to increase their investment in screening of plastics entering the environment.

Every year, Thames Water clears 3.8 billion wipes from its network, which it said costs £18m a year.

Thames Water recently announced a further £1.8bn investment to improve river health across London, and last year connected its £4.6bn Thames Tideway Tunnel to support the reduction of sewage discharges into the tidal Thames by 95 per cent.

Gary Lineker addresses ‘cancellation’ as he wins top NTA prize

Former Match of the Day host Gary Lineker has won the TV Presenter prize at the National Television Awards, breaking the 23-year streak of Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly.

Lineker, 64, was shortlisted for the award just months after his early exit from the BBC show in May, which followed a row regarding a post he shared on social media about Zionism that included an image of a rat – historically an antisemitic insult.

Collecting the award, he said: “I think it demonstrates that perhaps it’s OK, sometimes, for us to use our platform to speak up on behalf of those who have no voice.”

His remark was met with loud cheers and applause from the live audience at the ceremony.

Lineker also said that Ant and Dec are “brilliant”, and added that “it’s an honour to follow in their footsteps” when he was questioned at the winners’ press conference.

He added: “I’m doing great. I’m enjoying having weekends off for the first time in my adult life, which has been great fun.

“I’m still watching loads of football, still doing the same sort of things, and I’ve got a new show coming up for ITV, which I start filming next week – The Box, which goes out, I think, probably next year.”

Asked if the award proves he has not been cancelled, he said: “I don’t think anyone seriously thought that I was cancelled at any point. It was obviously just a mistake and an oversight. And I think everyone saw it for that. So I was never in the slightest bit concerned for that.”

Lineker had headed up Match of the Day since 1999, when he took over from Des Lynam.

The former footballer also beat competition from The Traitors host Claudia Winkleman, This Morning’s Alison Hammond, and TV presenter and reality TV star Stacey Solomon.

Elsewhere, comedian Michael McIntyre said he would like to win three NTAs following an early victory at the ceremony on Wednesday.

Collecting the Bruce Forsyth entertainment gong for Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, he said: “I’ve sat in the front row many, many times with my feet on the bottom stair and never won this prize. This is an excellent turn of events.”

At the winners’ press conference, he added: “I would like to win three National Television Awards, actually, tonight. I doubt that’s going to happen, but we are nominated for another two awards, so that’s good. That would be a start, but I doubt that’s going to happen.”

McIntyre was also nominated in the quiz game show category for Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel, but lost out to The 1% Club, hosted by Lee Mack.

The comedian was also nominated for Michael McIntyre’s 25th Year Stand-Up Special, but it lost out to sitcom Gavin and Stacey: The Finale, which brought the popular BBC series to an end on Christmas Day.

Ruth Jones, who co-wrote and co-starred in Gavin and Stacey alongside James Corden, told the audience: “All right, calm down. I’m going to the bar now for a pint of wine.”

At the winners’ press conference, she paid tribute to her co-star and co-creator Corden, who was unable to attend the event.

Jeremy Clarkson said he was “genuinely thrilled” as Clarkson’s Farm won best factual entertainment show at the ceremony. Speaking in the winners’ room, he said: “I’d like to think that this is for farming, because it demonstrates that people who watch the show go, ‘Bloody hell, farming’s difficult’, and have voted for this show.”

Elsewhere, Call the Midwife was named best returning drama, and EastEnders actor Steve McFadden won the award for serial drama performance.

Another award went to I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! for best reality competition, with This Morning picking up best daytime show.

The London ceremony, held at the O2 and hosted by comedian Joel Dommett, saw appearances from a number of stars including The Inheritance host Elizabeth Hurley and US country star Billy Ray Cyrus, to whom she has been romantically linked.

I wish my mum had contacted Macmillan Cancer Support

I wasn’t at my mum’s side when she learned she had breast cancer, but that made me determined to be there the day she was getting the all-clear 18-months later. However, things didn’t go to plan that day.

Mum’s cancer journey started over a decade ago, a few months after a routine mammogram – when she developed “a pain”. She told herself it was probably nothing, because the scan she’d just had was fine. When she mentioned it to her GP – a small lump that didn’t feel quite right – she convinced herself that she was just being silly. The biopsy begged to differ.

In the list you keep in your head of the cancers you worry your mum might get, breast wasn’t that high on mine. Yes, it’s long been the number one cancer affecting women, with Macmillan Cancer Support reporting that about 55,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK each year  – the risk factor only increasing with age. But my mum had other health concerns to contend with.

As a schoolgirl in swinging London, she’d been a back-of-the-bikeshed smoker, which had graduated into a lifelong habit. Lung cancer seemed like a possibility.

Mum’s also the biggest sun worshipper I know. Long before any of us had heard of SPF, she would think nothing of spending an afternoon in the garden, stretched out on a blanket, slathered in baby oil. So, given what we know now about UV radiation, I wondered about skin cancer too.

Mum went on to have a series of lumpectomies to get rid of three spots of malignant tissue. She would also have lymph nodes removed as a precaution, as well as undergo extensive chemotherapy.

For me, her diagnosis was as though a stopwatch had been started. How long might she have left? She did her best to be stoic. Which was just as well, given what government austerity measures at the time were doing to the NHS: budget cuts, hapless reorganisations, and an end to the “gold-standard” two-week referral from detection to the start of treatment.

All mum could do was wait for the brown envelopes to drop on the doormat detailing appointments at unfamiliar hospitals many miles away, sometimes after the appointment had been and gone.

If she felt let down by the bureaucracy of our health service, the same could not be said for the army of individuals involved in her care. On a human level, she found her nurses and doctors to be uniquely composed and compassionate throughout her treatment.

When the day finally came for her oncologist to tell her that all the signs of her cancer had gone, I was invited along to hold her hand. “The scans are back,” he began. “And I need to discuss your options for the next course of action.” It seemed the cancer hadn’t quite gone after all. She had fought so hard to get to this point, she was expecting good news, and was unprepared for the knockback.

But she did go on to beat cancer – and has been in remission for more than five years, which we couldn’t be more grateful for. However, should it ever come back, there’s one thing we’d do differently from the off: make a call to Macmillan Cancer Support.

Only with hindsight, did we realise how much help Macmillan would have been. Someone to provide her with a calming companion for the journey, someone to help with the cancer admin – the appointments, the prescriptions, the test results – and someone to explain what all the scans and tests were for, what the results might mean, and what to expect next.

I couldn’t always be around while mum was living with cancer, and that’s where Macmillan steps in. Now, enjoying a slice of cake at a Coffee Morning, which is raising money to fund the work they do, seems like the least I can do.

Find out how you can help raise vital funds by hosting a Macmillan Coffee Morning. Sign up now on the Macmillan website

Macmillan Cancer Support, registered charity in England and Wales (261017), Scotland (SC039907) and the Isle of Man (604). Also operating in Northern Ireland.

Trump tried to convince deported South Koreans to train Americans

Donald Trump attempted to convince the South Korean workers arrested during an immigration raid to stay and train Americans before they left, officials in Seoul said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained more than 300 South Korean engineers and subcontractors following a surprise raid at a car factory in Georgia on 4 September. The factory is a joint venture of Hyundai Motors and LG Energy Solution.

They also arrested 10 Chinese nationals, three Japanese and an Indonesian.

South Korea reacted with shock and concern but prioritised bilateral relations over confrontation with a key economic and strategic ally.

The raid drew criticism as footage showed the workers shackled at their wrists, ankles and waist.

It has now emerged that Trump asked his officials to “encourage” the detained South Korean workers to extend their stay in the country and train American employees, foreign ministry officials in Seoul said at a briefing.

The president “emphasised that the detained Korean nationals were skilled workers and suggested they either remain in the U.S. to contribute to training the American workforce or be returned to South Korea, depending on Seoul’s stance”, a South Korean official said, according to the Financial Times.

Many of the arrested workers were exhausted and in shock and foreign minister Cho Hyun suggested that they instead return immediately to their home country. They could be allowed to go back to the U.S. for work later if necessary, the officials said.

The workers were initially due to fly home as early as Wednesday. But Trump’s overture resulted in a one-day delay to the departure of their chartered flight. The flight was scheduled to leave later on Thursday.

South Korea’s foreign ministry confirmed on Thursday that American authorities had released 330 of the workers, mostly Koreans, and they were being transported by bus to Atlanta where they would board the chartered flight.

After a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Cho said they had agreed the workers would not be shackled during the transport to the Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta.

U.S. immigration authorities routinely handcuff and shackle immigrants when they are put on deportation flights.

Cho said at the meeting that South Koreans were “hurt and shocked” by the arrest of fellow citizens “who came to the U.S. to transfer technology and knowhow to contribute to the Trump administration’s efforts to revive the U.S. manufacturing industry”.

He later said Seoul had “secured assurances that they will face no problems re-entering the U.S. in the future to work”.

Last week’s raid sent shockwaves through South Korea and raised questions about the viability of Korean firms doing business in the U.S.

South Korean businesses had already been complaining about strict U.S. limits on visas for skilled workers from the east Asian country, which they said made it hard for them to quickly dispatch staff to address the complexities of constructing cutting-edge factories or to train local workers.

South Korean president Lee Jae Myung said the raid could affect investment decisions made by Korean companies.

The raid was confounding and caused a great deal of confusion, he said, adding that it was likely to leave South Korean businesses “hesitant” about investing in the U.S.

His government had not yet reviewed whether there should be a new approach to business cooperation between the two nations, the president said. “But our businesses that have entered the U.S. are likely in a state of serious confusion.”

Emirates policy change sparks debate over kids in first-class cabins

A new Emirates policy banning kids eight years and under from collecting rewards has sparked a debate over whether younger passengers should be allowed in first-class cabins.

Middle East airline Emirates has updated its rules for its Skywards Programme, a loyalty scheme which allows passengers to earn miles when flying and spend them on upgrades, future flights and other rewards.

However, a new change will impact families flying with the airline, as kids aged eight and under will no longer be allowed to use miles to book first-class seats.

“Please note that passengers aged eight years old and below are ineligible for first class Emirates classic rewards and upgrade rewards,” Emirates Skywards rules state.

“Emirates classic rewards are not available to blue tier members or passengers aged eight years old and below in first class, and only members (aged nine-plus) whose membership tier is silver, gold or platinum at the time of booking are permitted to redeem first class Emirates classic rewards,” they add further down.

First reported by One Mile At A Time, which said that this is a new policy that was added by Emirates in August. The Independent has contacted Emirates to confirm.

While these young passengers will no longer be able to purchase or upgrade to first-class seats using miles, there is no mention in Emirates’ policies that kids aged eight and under cannot be bought a first-class ticket using cash.

While kids have not been banned from the first-class cabin, the inability to earn miles under the age of nine to spend on upgrades has caused a stir among passengers travelling as a family.

American travel website, The Points Guy, posted the news on Instagram, calling the policy “family unfriendly”. Meanwhile, comments under the post erupted into a debate over whether kids belong in first class.

Canadian model Khloë Terae weighed in on the debate, stating: “You are entitled to a child-free life but not a child-free world. See ya in first class with my one-year-old and newborn soon.”

Other commenters added that age does not necessarily define how disruptive a passenger can be.

“The teens on our flight back from Rome were extremely disruptive. As was their mother. My seven and 10-year-olds were quiet and perfect passengers. We always get complimented in biz and first class. Age doesn’t buy class,” one person said.

“Fact is, I’ve been on flights where adults are way more [of] a problem than a kid. Just sayin,” another added.

The policy change has also opened up conversation about how children are treated by other passengers in general on flights.

“As a parent, I honestly wish there were family-only flights,” one commenter said. “People can be so awful toward families, as you can see in this comment section. I promise you, the last thing I want is for my child to be crying, loud, or bothering anyone on a plane. It’s actually incredibly stressful for us, too. And I’m not even talking about business class.”

Other people welcomed the policy change and stated that they would prefer to see children banned from first class altogether.

“Honestly, I believe that kids should not be allowed in first class. The last couple times I flew internationally, we had infants in first class that cried the whole time,” a commenter wrote. “I don’t want to be around that. I don’t want to hear your kid screaming. I am paying for a relaxing [and] comfortable flight, and you bringing your infant or small child into first class ruins that for everyone.”

Others said that all airlines should be offering child-free flights, while one person called for the new policy to be bumped up to 12 years old.

Some airlines already have policies that exclude children from areas of the plane, such as Singapore Airlines’ partner Scoot, which has a ‘Scoot-in-Silence’ cabin for passengers aged 12 and above, offering a quiet zone for passengers.

Air Asia X also offers a similar experience in its “quiet zone”, available for passengers aged 10 and up.

The Independent has contacted Emirates for further comment.

For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast