Hong Kong CNN — China has expressed its “strong dissatisfaction and protest” against Washington’s decision to shoot down its balloon, accusing it of “overreacting” and “seriously violating international practice.” US military fighter jets on Saturday shot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean in a mission President Joe Biden hailed as a success. The United … Read more
Washington CNN — When President Joe Biden learned a likely Chinese spy balloon was drifting through the stratosphere 60,000 feet above Montana, his first inclination was to take it down. By then, however, it was both too early and too late. After flying over swaths of sparsely populated land, it was now projected to keep … Read more
Editor’s Note: Gavin J. Smith is a public relations professional and political strategist. He is CEO of Gavin James Public Affairs, a public relations and marketing consulting firm in Lexington, South Carolina. During the Trump administration, he was press secretary for the Department of Labor and deputy communications director for the Department of Health and … Read more
CNN — A suspected Chinese surveillance balloon in the skies over the continental United States has sparked national security and diplomatic concerns, adding to already tense Washington-Beijing relations. The incident prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone his highly anticipated trip to China, saying Friday that the high-altitude Chinese balloon entering US airspace “created … Read more
Editor’s Note: David A. Andelman, a contributor to CNN, twice winner of the Deadline Club Award, is a chevalier of the French Legion of Honor, author of “A Red Line in the Sand: Diplomacy, Strategy, and the History of Wars That Might Still Happen” and blogs at Andelman Unleashed. He formerly was a correspondent for … Read more
Editor’s Note: John Avlon is a CNN senior political analyst and anchor. He is the author of “Lincoln and the Fight for Peace.” The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion at CNN. CNN — Halfway through his first term and on the eve of his second State of the Union, … Read more
CNN — The suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that violated American airspace this week has fueled a diplomatic crisis with the postponement of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s planned trip to Beijing. But the two countries have a long history of spying on each other. The US has sought to collect its own intelligence about the … Read more
CNN — Gunshots fired at two power substations in Moore County, North Carolina, late last year left 45,000 homes and businesses without power and more attacks just like that could already be planned by domestic extremist groups, according to experts. “All of a sudden, about 8:45 p.m., about 20 shots fired off right across the … Read more
CNN — An American volunteer aid worker, Pete Reed, was killed in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on Thursday while aiding civilians, according to a statement from Global Response Medicine, the humanitarian aid group he founded. Reed, a US Marine veteran, was listed as “killed while rendering aid” on a mission with another organization, … Read more
Jenin, West Bank CNN — Mohammed Abu al-Hayja was sleeping alongside his wife and two young daughters last month when loud gunfire woke them up. Minutes later, Israeli soldiers rammed down his door and burst through his apartment. “They spread through the house in seconds,” 29-year-old al-Hayja told CNN. “Two soldiers came up to me, … Read more