Something in the air
A US fighter plane shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon which had drifted across Canada and the US. Balloons have a long history in military operations, being deployed widely in the American Civil War and in the Siege of Paris in 1870, when they were used to get messages out of the city. But the first use of a balloon in wartime goes back to the Battle of Fleurus in 1794, when the French flew a hydrogen balloon, L’Entreprenant, over the battlefield for nine hours to spy on Austrian positions. The French won the battle but Napoleon was not convinced of the role of military balloons and later disbanded his balloon corps.
Major scale
Turkey was struck by a series of earthquakes measuring up to 7.8 on the Richter scale. Which countries have experienced the most earthquakes of over 6 on the scale since 1 January 2020?
Indonesia 41
Papua New Guinea 24
Philippines 23
South Sandwich Islands, US, Vanuatu 22
Chile 19
Japan 17
Fiji 15
Tonga 13
Source: US Geological Survey
Scorched earth
The death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria rose past 8,000.
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