The Daily Populous

Sunday February 5th, 2023 day edition

image for China condemns US ‘attack’ on surveillance balloon as ‘overreaction’

China condemned the U.S. military’s decision on Saturday to shoot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that flew over the U.S. last week.

“China strongly disapproves of and protests against the U.S. attack on a civilian unmanned airship by force,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday morning, per the South China Morning Post.

A “high-altitude surveillance balloon” first entered U.S. airspace in Alaska on Jan. 28.

Beijing confirmed on Friday that the balloon was Chinese, but claimed that it was primarily used for meteorological research and had been blown off course.

“The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure,” a ministry spokesperson said.

However, American officials have maintained that the balloon was surveilling “strategic sites” within the U.S., leading Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone his trip to Beijing on Friday.

The U.S. military waited to shoot down the balloon until Saturday afternoon, when it was over water off the coast of South Carolina, due to safety concerns. »

Ban on marijuana users owning guns is unconstitutional, U.S. judge rules

Authored by reuters.com

"The mere use of marijuana carries none of the characteristics that the Nation's history and tradition of firearms regulation supports," Wyrick wrote.

She called marijuana the most commonly used drug illegal at the federal level.

Circuit Court of Appeals cited that decision in declaring unconstitutional a federal law barring people under domestic violence restraining orders from owning firearms. »

In Brazil, Forests Returned to Indigenous Hands See Recovery, Study Finds

Authored by e360.yale.edu

Granted formal rights to their ancestral lands in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, Indigenous people have stemmed forest loss and improved tree cover, a new study finds.

Less that 12 percent of the original forest remains, with intact areas often found in Indigenous lands.

To gauge the impact of granting Indigenous people land tenure, the study looked at satellite imagery of 129 Indigenous territories in the Atlantic Forest from 1985 to 2019. »

Minnie Driver: ‘I had to fake an orgasm in a room full of male execs at an audition for a chocolate bar ad’

Authored by theguardian.com

She was Emmy nominated for her performance in the 2007 television series The Riches and has a recurring role in Will & Grace.

She has a podcast, Minnie Questions With Minnie Driver, and her memoir, Managing Expectations, was published last year.

When I was starting out, in the early 90s, I had to fake an orgasm in a room full of male ad execs at an audition for a chocolate bar ad. »

Second Chinese spy balloon spotted over Latin America, says Pentagon

Authored by independent.co.uk
image for

A second Chinese spy balloon has been spotted, this time in the skies over Latin America, according to the Pentagon.

We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,” Pentagon press secretary Brig Gen Patrick Ryder said in a statement to the news network.

He told reporters that the balloon “has the ability to manoeuvre” and denied Chinese government claims that it was used for civilian research. »