Mystery objects shot down over North America were probably ‘benign’, US admits
Three objects shot down by fighter jets over North America in the past week probably had a “commercial or benign” purpose, the White House has admitted.
The US said it destroyed the objects out of an abundance of caution after an alleged Chinese spy balloon drifted across its airspace earlier this month.
Expensive Sidewinder missiles, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars each, downed the objects over Alaska, Canada’s Yukon territory and Lake Huron in Michigan over a three-day period.
It’s still unclear what the UFOs were, and the search for the debris could be hampered by the remote locations.
The White House has now dampened speculation they were similar to the high-altitude balloon shot down on 4 February.
“The intelligence community is considering as a leading explanation that these could just be balloons tied to some commercial or benign purpose,” said national security spokesman John Kirby.
“We don’t see anything that points right now to being part of the PRC [China] spy balloon programme.”
He said they appeared unrelated to “intelligence collection against the United States of any kind” and that no one had come forward to claim the objects.
US officials previously suggested the object shot down over Lake Huron on Sunday could have had a surveillance purpose because it passed near sensitive military sites.
However, they also said all three objects appeared to be a different shape and much smaller than the Chinese balloon – as well as flying considerably lower.
Potential danger to commercial aircraft was cited as a key reason to destroy the objects.
Military commanders also confirmed on Tuesday that it took two missiles to destroy the Lake Huron UFO, after the first one missed and landed in the water.
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US Navy sailors retrieved the suspected spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina. Pic: AP
General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the military had gone to “great lengths” to ensure there was no risk to the public before the F-16 jet took aim.
“We’re very, very careful to make sure that those shots are in fact safe,” he said.
“And that’s the guidance from the president: Shoot it down, but make sure we minimise collateral damage and we preserve the safety of the American people.”
The comments came a day after the US said key sensors and “significant debris” from the Chinese balloon had been recovered from the sea off South Carolina.
China has denied the balloon was being used for spying and claims it was a weather research device that blew off course.
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Both countries accused each another of operating high-altitude surveillance balloons as tensions between the superpowers increased this week.
Beijing said the US had flown its own balloons over Chinese airspace 10 times over the past year – a claim it denies.
The balloon incident caused Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a high-profile trip to China.
However, he’s now said to be considering meeting his counterpart, Wang Yi, at a security conference that begins in Munich on Friday.
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Trump and Putin’s latest call on Ukraine
Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ has been passed by the US congress, sending it to the president to sign into law.
The controversial tax breaks and spending cuts package cleared its final hurdle as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the bill with a 218-214 vote.
The bill delivers tax breaks Mr Trump promised in his 2024 election campaign, cuts health and food safety programmes, and zeroes out dozens of green energy incentives.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it will lower tax revenues by $4.5trn over 10 years and add $3.4trn to the US’s $36.2trn debt.
But despite concerns over the 869-page bill’s price tag – and its hit to healthcare programmes – Republicans largely lined up in support, with just two rebelling on the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is congratulated following the vote. Pic: Reuters
Every Democrat in Congress voted against the bill, blasting it as a giveaway to the wealthy that will leave millions of Americans uninsured.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made the Republicans’ closing argument for the bill, telling Congress: “For everyday Americans, this means real, positive change that they can feel.”
Earlier, the House’s Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a record-breaking eight-hour and 44-minute speech against it.
“The focus of this bill, the justification for all of the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans, is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires,” he said.
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The bill’s spending cuts largely target Medicaid, the health programme that covers 71 million Americans on low incomes.
It will tighten enrolment standards, institute a work requirement and clamp down on a funding mechanism used by states to boost federal payments.
The changes could leave nearly 12 million people without health insurance, according to the CBO.
On the other side of the ledger, it will stave off tax increases that were due to hit most Americans at the end of the year, when tax cuts from President Trump’s first term were due to expire.
It also sets up new tax breaks for overtime pay, seniors and tipped income.
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The bill narrowly passed the US Senate on Tuesday after vice president JD Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 50-50 tie.
Mr Trump will sign it into law on Friday at 5pm local time (10pm in the UK), the White House said.
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