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Here is what we know about the balloon.

Pete Buttigieg says president ‘considered safety of American people’ but Marco Rubio criticizes eight-day wait
The US transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, rejected Republican criticism of Joe Biden over the eight-day wait to shoot down a which flew over military sites.
“The president gave instructions to have it shot down in a way that was safe,” Buttigieg told CNN’s State of the Union, of the operation off the Carolina coast on Saturday.
Associated Press contributed to this report

Also, Pervez Musharraf died and Beyoncé could have a big night at Grammy Awards.

When US military fighter jets shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic Ocean this weekend, it wasn't the end of the political episode, but the very beginning.

Was Beijing trying to sabotage talks with the US, monitor the speed of its military response, or just test Joe Biden’s mettle?
Now the in a puff of smoke and debris by a US air-launched missile, after perplexing Washington with its three-day odyssey over the continental US, the question is: what was it all for?
Once the balloon was spotted, Beijing claimed it was a weather observation airship that had been blown off course, drawing a snort of derision from the Pentagon, which said the balloon was able to manoeuvre and had made some deliberate turns, bringing it at one point over Montana, home of some of the US arsenal of silo-based nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

Death collection | State school success | Ballooning problem | Rose-tinted Brexit | Passport to the polls
“It’s not who we are,” says British Gas in response to criticism of its bullying tactics (). Oh, yes it is. This is a company with a “bereavement team” that is, in fact, a debt collection agency. Nothing could surprise me now about British Gas. Edith Nicoll Menstrie, Clackmannanshire
• In response to Janet Mansfield (), as a politics teacher at Loreto sixth-form college in Manchester, I can confirm that John Harris is one of many alumni who have gone on to excel in their careers of choice after having gained places at Oxford, Cambridge and Russell group universities. We are proud of all our students, past and present, at this large, diverse, stated funded college. Kate Boon Chorlton, Manchester

The United States is working to recover a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina, according to a statement released by the Pentagon on Sunday.

Lowy Institute ranks country sixth overall in the Asia Power Index, behind US, China, Japan, India and Russia
Australia has enjoyed a big increase in its diplomatic influence in Asia over the past year, according to the latest ratings of power across the region.
The Lowy Institute’s , published on Monday, also shows Australia’s standing has emerged unscathed from pandemic-era disruptions, unlike the region’s big players the US and China and many other countries.

Footage shows a suspected Chinese spy balloon being shot down over the Carolina coast. Two US fighter jets circled the balloon before launching an air missile to destroy it. Beijing claimed it was a weather observation airship that had been blown off course, but the Pentagon claimed it had been able to manoeuvre and make deliberate turns. The US said it reached Montana, home to some of the US arsenal of nuclear ballistic missiles. Some Republicans called for the balloon to be shot down over land, despite the risk of deaths and property damage below. The Biden administration took the decision to disable it once it reached Carolina's coastline

US and European fears about China exploiting TikTok’s data harvest and promoting Beijing’s worldview look set to inspire an urgent overhaul in data privacy laws
The FBI has called it a national security threat. The US government has forcing officials to delete it from their phones. Texas senator Ted Cruz has as “a Trojan horse the Chinese Communist party can use to influence what Americans see, hear, and ultimately think”. And in March its CEO will defend its existence . For those unaware of the debate broiling on the other side of the Atlantic, the target of this strong rhetoric might prove surprising: an app best known for viral dances, launching generation Z media stars, and sucking teens down an hours-long content abyss.
But the rancorous debate over TikTok that began under the Trump administration has rolled on under President Biden. In addition to a ban of the app on all federal government devices, at least have blocked TikTok on devices they’ve issued, affecting a number of state schools and universities, too. A bipartisan bill, introduced in Congress last December, stipulates banning the app’s use by everyone in the United States.

"China had too much respect for 'TRUMP' for this to have happened, and it NEVER did," the former president said Sunday.