Military

Despite reaching out to Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe through a special crisis line, the Chinese official declined the call, leaving Austin's efforts unanswered.

United States officials believe the Chinese balloon was affiliated with a military-aerial surveillance program that monitored at least 40 countries.

"Ukraine Fatigue Resolution."

"The issue was not whether to do the mission, but how to get it done with no overt clue as to who was responsible," Hersh stated.

The US House of Representatives is expected to pass a resolution blaming China for a "brazen violation of United States sovereignty" and accusing it of trying to "deceive the international community through false claims about its intelligence collection campaigns."

Pentagon asserts balloon seen in US last week was military craft, not civilian weather balloon as claimed by China.

In his State of the Union address last night, President Joe Biden affirmed “our duty to protect all the people’s rights and freedoms.”

Grand Forks City Council in North Dakota voted unanimously to prevent the Fufeng Group from building a corn mill on land it purchased near an air base.

US investigates potential explosives on shot down Chinese spy balloon off South Carolina coast.

President Joe Biden says he gave his authorization to shoot down a Chinese high altitude balloon a day after he was first briefed on the suspicious device, which was hovering over sensitive US military sites, but defense officials convinced him to wait until it was safe for people on the ground.