US and Canada call off search for debris of three downed objects as they ‘look at guts’ of ‘spy’ balloon
The US and Canada have called off searches for three unidentified objects that were shot down last weekend, as investigators begin analysing the last of the debris collected from first Chinese “spy” balloon shot down at the start of the month.
Authorities did not manage to locate any debris from the three unknown objects, they confirmed.
The US military said late on Friday that, alongside federal agencies and Canadian partners, they had used a variety of capabilities, including airborne imagery and sensors, surface sensors and inspections, and subsurface scans, during their search operations.
US President Joe Biden said this week that “nothing right now suggests the objects were related to China’s spy balloon”.
He added that the US intelligence community believed they were most likely balloons linked to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting scientific research.
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Thursday: Shot down flying objects ‘not related to China’
The third object was shot down over Canada’s mountainous and sparsely-populated territory of Yukon in the northwest.
Despite Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling the analysis of the debris from the object “very important” last week, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police also announced on Friday its decision to end search efforts.
“Given the snowfall that has occurred, the decreasing probability the object will be found and the current belief the object is not tied to a scenario that justifies extraordinary search efforts, the RCMP is terminating the search,” it said in a statement.
Recovery efforts for the Chinese surveillance balloon shot down off the South Carolina coast two weeks ago concluded on Thursday, and “air and maritime safety perimeters have been lifted”, the US military’s Northern Command said in a statement.
It confirmed that the last of the balloon’s debris was heading to an FBI laboratory in the southeastern US state of Virginia for analysis.
A US navy sailor searching for debris with an underwater vehicle off South Carolina
“It’s a significant amount [of recovered material], including the payload structure as well as some of the electronics and the optics, and all that’s now at the FBI laboratory in Quantico,” said National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, who added that the US had already learned a lot about the balloon by observing it when it was in the air.
“We’re going to learn even more, we believe, by getting a look at the guts inside it and seeing how it worked and what it was capable of,” he told a White House news briefing.
Counteroffensive officials will use the Chinese balloon’s priority sensors, electronics and other elements collected to determine how Beijing might have gathered and transmitted surveillance information.
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China has insisted that the balloon, which was the size of a small car and spent a week flying over the US, was used for meteorological and other scientific research and had been blown off course.
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said on Saturday that the US’s handling of the balloon incident had been “unimaginable” and “hysterical” – an “absurd” act that violated international norms.
“There are so many balloons all over the world, so is the United States going to shoot all of them down?” Yi, director
of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said at the Munich Security Conference.
In his speech on Thursday, President Biden said: “Make no mistake, if any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people, I will take it down.”
YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul has defeated one of the greatest-ever fighters, former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson, who is more than twice his age.
Paul, 27, won the bout via a unanimous points decision at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas – home of the Dallas Cowboys and the biggest NFL stadium in the US.
The fight was already controversial but then arguably failed to live up to the hype. Boos were heard from the crowd in the final two rounds, after a perceived lack of action.
Afterwards, the pair heaped praise on each other. Paul said: “This man is an icon and it’s just an honour to be able to fight him. And he’s obviously the toughest, baddest man on the planet.”
Tyson, 58, described Paul as a “good fighter” but dismissed the suggestion he was out to prove something.
“I didn’t prove nothing to anybody, only to myself,” he said.
Jake Paul defeated Mike Tyson on points. Pic: AP
Boxing careers compared
This was not Paul’s first professional fight. The American YouTube star made his debut in 2020, and his most high-profile clash was last year against Tyson Fury’s brother Tommy Fury, which he lost by a split decision.
The so-called “Problem Child” has since defeated former UFC contender Nate Diaz, professional boxer Andre August, former Gold Gloves champion Ryan Bourland and most recently MMA fighter Mike Perry.
In contrast, “Iron Mike” Tyson was ranked among the best heavyweight boxers of all time.
During his career, he knocked out 44 opponents – retiring from professional boxing in 2005 after defeat against Kevin McBride.
He returned to the ring in 2020 for a bout against fellow boxing icon Roy Jones, which ended in an unofficial draw.
Mike Tyson struggled at times against Jake Paul, 31 years his junior. Pic: AP
‘Someone’s getting put to sleep’
Earlier this week, Paul said he believed the bout would not go the distance. “No, someone’s getting put to sleep,” he said. “It’s going to be a war, and we’re both heavy hitters. It’s not going the full 16 minutes.”
Tyson said: “I’ve been through so many ups and downs since my last fight with Kevin McBride.
“I’ve been in rehab. I’ve been in prison, been locked up. Never in a million years did I believe I’d be doing this.”
Several states would not allow the bout to go ahead, and the Texas Athletic Commission only agreed to the fight if there were changes, due to Tyson’s age.
It limited the contest to eight rounds lasting a maximum of two minutes instead of three. Both boxers were also required to wear heavier gloves, designed to lessen the force of punches.
The fight was initially scheduled for 20 July, but was postponed when Tyson suffered an ulcer flareup.
Taylor defends title
Katie Taylor celebrates after defeating Amanda Serrano in Texas. Pic: AP
Meanwhile, among the undercard fights, Irish boxer Katie Taylor successfully defended her super lightweight world title against Puerto Rico’s Amanda Serrano.
But it was tight. Taylor claimed the rematch 95-94 for all three judges in an epic battle.
The bout came two and a half years after the pair fought at Madison Square Garden, which Taylor won on a split decision.
Bout suffered from buffering
Earlier in the evening thousands of Netflix users in the US reported problems with the coverage, with some posting on social media about buffering.
At one point, more than 98,000 people had reported issues according to Downdetector, which tracks outages.
US
Matt Gaetz: Speaker Mike Johnson will request report into Trump’s attorney general pick is kept secret
US House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he will “strongly request” a report into allegations of sex trafficking against Matt Gaetz, who is the president-elect’s choice of attorney general, should not be released.
Mr Johnson said he was against publishing the House Ethics Committee report on Mr Gaetz, 42, who if approved by the Senate will become the nation’s top prosecutor once Donald Trump is sworn in as president on 20 January.
That’s despite Mr Gaetz having previously faced a nearly three-year Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl. He denies the allegations and has not faced criminal charges.
Mr Gaetz has also never worked as a prosecutor and has only worked in law for a few years at a local level.
He stepped down from Congress after Mr Trump announced him as his attorney general pick.
His resignation brought the investigation by the House Ethics Committee to an end – two days before it had been expected to release its report into the trafficking claims.
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Why is Matt Gaetz a controversial pick?
House Speaker Mr Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said of the probe: “I’m going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report, because that is not the way we do things in the House.”
Politicians of both parties on the Senate Judiciary Committee have said they want to see the report on Mr Gaetz, as part of a Senate confirmation process for cabinet nominees that would start next year with public hearings.
Democrats have described the MAGA loyalist as “a gonzo agent of chaos” and his appointment a “red alert moment for our democracy”, while some Republican senators have also raised doubts about his suitability for the role.
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Mr Johnson said he planned to urge House Ethics Committee chairman Michael Guest not to provide the report to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“The rules of the House have always been that a former member is beyond the jurisdiction of the Ethics Committee,” said Mr Johnson, who returned on Friday morning from meeting Mr Trump at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
“I think it’s a terrible breach of protocol and tradition and the spirit of the rule,” he added. “I think that would be a terrible precedent to set.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Mr Johnson had said on Wednesday that as Speaker he could not be involved in deciding whether or not to release the report.
US
Malcolm X family brings $100m lawsuit against FBI, CIA and NYPD over ‘conspiracy to assassinate’ civil rights leader
A $100m (£79m) lawsuit has been brought against the CIA, FBI and New York Police Department (NYPD) who are accused of being involved in the 1965 assassination of civil rights leader Malcolm X.
The case, which has been filed in a federal court in Manhattan, New York, alleges that the agencies were aware of the assassination, they were involved in the plot and failed to stop the killing.
The legal action has been brought by Malcolm X’s three daughters along with his estate.
The NYPD and CIA have not yet responded to the claims while the FBI said it was “standard practice” not to comment on litigation.
Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the US Department of Justice, which is also included in the lawsuit, declined to respond.
Attorney Ben Crump with Malcolm X’s family on Friday. Pic: Reuters
Malcolm X was 39 when he was shot dead on 21 February 1965 on stage by three gunmen as he prepared to speak at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan.
At a news conference in New York on Friday, to announce the details of the lawsuit, attorney Benjamin Crump said: “The government fingerprints are all over the assassination of Malcolm X.
“We believe we have the evidence to prove it.”
For decades, questions have arisen over who was behind his murder.
Malcolm X rose to prominence as the national spokesman of the Nation of Islam, an African-American Muslim group which supported black separatism.
He broke away from the group in 1964 and moderated some of his earlier views on racial separation, which angered Nation of Islam members and resulted in death threats.
Three men were convicted of his murder but two of them were cleared in 2021 after investigators took a fresh look at the case. They concluded some evidence was shaky and authorities had held back some information.
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Malcolm X’s family speaking in February 2023 when the plans for the lawsuit were initially announced
In the lawsuit, which began its process in 2023, it is alleged the NYPD coordinated with federal law enforcement agencies to arrest the activist’s security guards days before the assassination.
It also claims police were intentionally removed from inside the ballroom where Malcolm X was killed and that federal agencies had personnel, including undercover agents, at the site but failed to protect him.
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The lawsuit goes on to allege a “corrupt, unlawful, and unconstitutional” relationship between law enforcement and “ruthless killers… which was actively concealed, condoned, protected, and facilitated by government agents”.
Referring to Malcolm X’s family, the lawsuit states: “They did not know who murdered Malcolm X, why he was murdered, the level of NYPD, FBI and CIA orchestration, the identity of the governmental agents who conspired to ensure his demise, or who fraudulently covered up their role.”
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