Mystery in the skies over the US: We're answering your questions
What's the latest?
There remain many outstanding questions about what the three objects shot down by the US over the weekend were for and who owned them. So what exactly do we know so far?
- There is no evidence the three unidentified flying objects destroyed in recent days were part of a spying programme run by China, the White House has said
- But the sensors from the first suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down over the US earlier in the month have been recovered from the Atlantic Ocean for examiniation, the US military says
- The US maintains that the first object, which has been identified as a balloon, was part of a spying programme run by China and was monitoring US military sites
- China maintains its denial that it was for surveillance, stating that it is a weather balloon which blew off course
- It has also accused the US of using its own balloons to spy on China, as part of a deepening diplomatic row, which the White House has refuted
Rising seas threaten ‘mass exodus on a biblical scale’, UN chief warns
António Guterres calls for urgent action as climate-driven rise brings ‘torrent of trouble’ to almost a billion people
An increase in the pace at which sea levels are rising threatens “a mass exodus of entire populations on a biblical scale”, the UN secretary general has warned.
The climate crisis is causing sea levels to rise faster than for 3,000 years, bringing a “torrent of trouble” to almost a billion people, from London to Los Angeles and Bangkok to Buenos Aires, António Guterres said on Tuesday. Some nations could cease to exist, drowned under the waves, he said.
Addressing the UN security council, Guterres said slashing carbon emissions, addressing problems such as poverty that worsen the impact of the rising seas on communities and developing new international laws to protect those made homeless – and even stateless – were all needed. He said sea level rise was a threat-multiplier which, by damaging lives, economies and infrastructure, had “dramatic implications” for global peace and security.
Russian state TV journalist who spoke out against war live on air recounts daring escape from country
‘I love life and I am not going to keep silent’
An anti-war Russian journalist has recounted the dramatic night she escaped her home country with the help of seven cars and by just following stars in the absence of GPS.
Marina Ovsyannikova had raised an anti-war sign during a live broadcast in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ovsyannikova used to work for state-run Channel One TV and had fled from Moscow in March last year after she was put under house arrest for protesting against the Russian invasion.
Philippines summons China envoy over maritime laser incident
Manila filed a diplomatic protest against Beijing after an incident in the South China Sea. The US warned that it would defend its ally if Filipino forces were attacked.
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Tuesday summoned China's ambassador to voice "serious" concern over alleged "acts of aggression" against the Philippine Coast Guard in the South China Sea.
On Monday, the Philippine Coast Guard accused China of trying to block one of its ships by using a "military-grade laser light."
Teresita Daza, the spokeswoman of the Department of Foreign Affairs described the act as "disturbing and disappointing."
Analysis: Scars of annulled 1993 vote trail Nigeria 2023 election
Parallels are being drawn between the 2023 election and the annulled 1993 vote, widely seen as the country’s ‘freest and fairest’.
On February 25, Africa’s largest democracy will hold its sixth election since the return to civilian leadership in 1999. The polls in Nigeria will be held a few months shy of the 30th anniversary of the annulled 1993 presidential elections, widely seen as the “freest and fairest” in the country’s history.
In January 1966, six years after Nigeria’s independence, a coup – the country’s first – ended civilian rule. It was not until 1979 that a military government handed over to a democratic administration but that peace was punctured by a New Year’s Eve coup four years later.
China goes on the offensive as balloon fallout threatens to damage credibility
It’s been about two weeks since a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon entered American airspace late last month. In that time China’s response has shifted from conciliatory to indignant, and now, as the fallout continues, to outright confrontational.
While China’s increasingly hardline stance plays to its domestic audience, it’s also served to expose the inconsistencies and inherent contradictions in Beijing’s messaging – severely damaging its credibility, analysts say.
On Monday, Beijing accused Washington of “illegally” flying high-altitude balloons over its airspace more than 10 times since last year, calling the US the “world’s largest surveillance empire.”
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