F-22 Safely Shoots Down Chinese Spy Balloon Off South Carolina Coast:
Air Force Capt. Samuel “RaZZ” Larson, F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team commander and pilot, performs an aerial maneuver during the team’s certification flight at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, Dec. 9, 2022.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden ordered the destruction of a Chineses spy balloon. This was delayed until the balloon was over water off the coast of South Carolina to ensure no Americans on the ground were harmed. Officials first detected the balloon and its payload on January 28 when it entered US airspace near the Aleutian Islands. The balloon traversed Alaska, Canada, and re-entered US airspace over Idaho. Prior to shooting it down, US officials took steps to protect against the balloon's collection of sensitive information, mitigating its intelligence value to the Chinese. Rather than posing a military or physical threat, the balloon’s intrusion into American airspace will enable US analysts to examine sensitive Chinese equipment. While Chinese officials admitted that the balloon was theirs, they said it was a runaway weather balloon. The mission now transitions to one of recovery. There are a number of US Navy and Coast Guard vessels establishing a security perimeter around the area where the balloon came to Earth.
Dems reshuffle primaries to stress diversity over tradition:
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris stand on stage with DNC chair Jaime Harrison at the Democratic National Committee winter meeting, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
On Saturday, the Democratic Party approved reordering its 2024 presidential primary as a way of empowering minority voters in its base. States with early contests play a major role in determining the nominee as White House hopefuls struggling to raise money or gain political traction often drop out early. The new plan was championed by President Biden, who is expected to formally announce his reelection campaign in the coming months. The reconfiguring would have South Carolina hold its primary on Feb. 3, followed three days later by New Hampshire and Nevada, which is swapping the caucus it used to hold in favor of a primary. Georgia would vote fourth on Feb. 13, followed by Michigan on Feb. 27, with much of the rest of the nation set to vote on Super Tuesday in early March. Four of the first five new states under Democrats’ new plan are battlegrounds, meaning the eventual party winner would be able to lay groundwork in important general election spots. This is especially true for Michigan and Georgia, both of which voted for Republican Donald Trump in 2016 before flipping to Biden in 2020.
GOP Sen. Rubio demands Pfizer explain alleged gain-of-function research:
On Thursday, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio demanded that Pfizer explain the purported evidence of them mutating the SARS-CoV-2 virus to make COVID-19 more contagious. In a video released by Project Veritas, Pfizer Director of Research and Development, Jordon Trishton Walker, says "One of the things we're exploring is like, why don't we just mutate it [COVID] ourselves so we could create — preemptively develop new vaccines, right? So, we have to do that. If we're gonna do that though, there's a risk of like, as you could imagine — no one wants to be having a pharma company mutating f**king viruses." Rubio was quick to condemn the alleged practices, calling it "careless and dangerous." In a letter he sent to Pfizer President and CEO Albert Bourla, he demanded that the company explain its future plans, if any, to mutate the virus. He further asked whether the company intended to carry on with gain-of-function or directed evolution of it to develop new vaccines preemptively. Rubio concluded by saying "As a leader in global public health and development of the COVID vaccine, with American taxpayer dollars, it is critical that Pfizer is accountable for their actions and be transparent with the public on the substance and intent of their research."
Sources:
F-22 Safely Shoots Down Chinese Spy Balloon Off South Carolina Coast
Dems reshuffle primaries to stress diversity over tradition | AP News
GOP Sen. Rubio demands Pfizer explain alleged gain-of-function research | Just The News