Breaking News: The suspected Chinese spy balloon that has been drifting across the United States since Thursday has been shot down:
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement Saturday afternoon that Mr. Biden had given his authorization on Wednesday"to take down the surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to American lives under the balloon's path."
"They successfully took it down, and I want to compliment our aviators who did it, and we'll have more to report on this a little later," he said. In this photo provided by Brian Branch, a large balloon drifts above the Kingstown, N.C. area, with an airplane and its contrail seen below it. in North and South Carolina on Saturday afternoon ahead of the operation.
"Today's deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the safety and security of the American people first while responding effectively to the PRC's unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," Austin said, using an acronym for the People's Republic of China.
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