US downs Chinese balloon, a flashpoint in US-China tensions

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. The United States says it is a Chinese spy balloon moving east over America at an altitude of about 60,000 feet (18,600 meters), but China insists the balloon is just an errant civilian airshipused mainly for meteorological research that went off course due to winds and has only limited “self-steering” capabilities. (Brian Branch via AP)