While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Feb 6
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US President Joe Biden was criticised for waiting so long to alert the public as the alleged spy balloon made its flight over America.
PHOTO: AFP
Republicans criticise Biden for waiting to shoot down Chinese balloon
Republican US lawmakers on Sunday criticised President Joe Biden for waiting days to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon as it floated over the United States, accusing him of showing weakness towards China and initially trying to keep the breach of US airspace undisclosed.
A US Air Force fighter jet on Saturday shot down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina, a week after it first entered US airspace near Alaska, triggering a dramatic spying saga that has further strained American-Chinese relations.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday the US military was able to collect “valuable” intelligence by studying the balloon, and that three other Chinese surveillance balloons had transited the US during Mr Donald Trump’s administration - a disclosure the Republican former president denied.
US Navy divers work to recover debris from Chinese ‘spy’ balloon
US Navy divers were working to locate portions of the debris from the Chinese “spy” balloon that a US fighter jet shot down 6 miles off the coast of South Carolina, defence officials said on Sunday.
The recovery effort, which is expected to take days, began not long after debris from the balloon hit the water, a defence official said. He added that a Navy ship arrived on the scene soon after the balloon was shot down, and that other Navy and Coast Guard ships, which had been put on alert, were also sent to the scene.
The shooting down of the balloon capped a remarkable week of high-stakes international drama, played out over the skies of the continental United States. While China has insisted that the balloon was not for surveillance, but rather a weather balloon that drifted off course, the Biden administration has stood firm that the balloon’s purpose was a somewhat hapless effort by China to spy on US military installations.
Ukraine to replace defence minister in wartime reshuffle
Ukraine is set to replace Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov with the chief of its military spy agency, a close ally of President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, in a reshuffle at the forefront of Ukraine’s war campaign.
Mr Reznikov would be transferred to another ministerial job and replaced by Kyrylo Budanov, head of the GUR military intelligence agency, said David Arakhamia, a senior lawmaker and chief of Servant of the People parliamentary bloc.
“War dictates changes in personnel policy,” Mr Arakhamia said on the Telegram messaging app.
Thousands of Danes protest cancelling of public holiday
Thousands of people gathered in Copenhagen on Sunday to protest a bill put forward by the government to scrap a public holiday to help finance increased defence spending.
The demonstration was organised by the country’s biggest labour unions which oppose abolishing the Great Prayer Day, a Christian holiday that falls on the fourth Friday after Easter and dates back to 1686.
Unions organising the protest estimated at least 50,000 people took part, which would make it Denmark’s biggest demonstration in more than a decade. Local police don’t give such crowd estimates.
The holiday abolition was proposed in December to help raise tax revenues for higher defence spending in wake of the Ukraine war, and is part of the newly formed government’s sweeping reform programme aimed at overcoming challenges to the country’s welfare model.
Football: Kane's record-breaking goal seals Tottenham win over Man City
Manchester City’s bid to chop Arsenal’s Premier League lead to two points was scuppered as Harry Kane’s record-breaking goal earned Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 win over the champions on Sunday.
Kane’s 15th-minute effort punished some sloppy City passing and made him the north London club’s all-time top goalscorer with 267, taking him past former great Jimmy Greaves whose record had stood since 1970.
It was a strike even fans of Tottenham’s arch-rivals Arsenal would have celebrated down the Seven Sisters Road as it helped Mikel Arteta’s side stay five points clear of champions City despite Saturday’s shock loss at Everton.
