President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy held their first talks as the White House seeks authorization to raise borrowing limits. The opposition is believed to be seeking promises to cut spending.

This week, tensions between the US and China spiked further after an alleged spy balloon was shot down by Washington. Beijing later said it would firmly defend its interests after President Joe Biden vowed to protect the sovereignty of the United States. China continues to insist the balloon was for civilian purposes and had veered off course.

The FRANCE 24 Observers team have conducted an investigation since November 2022 and have spotted a variety of fake anti-Ukraine ads throughout the globe – a product of Russian disinformation and propaganda. Find out more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

The US State Department said the balloon that had flown over the US for days was part of a bigger surveillance program targeting 40 countries.

The former commanding US general in Europe, Ben Hodges, has told DW that the West should provide Kyiv with fighter jets. He said that providing Ukraine with the planes could lead to a victory for Kyiv within the year.

In November 2022, thousands of young Chinese people took to the streets to protest repeated Covid-19 lockdowns, constant PCR tests and to demand greater freedom. The movement was stifled in a few days and authorities abandoned their strict zero-Covid policy. But if China's youth took the risk to voice their anger, it's because their frustration goes well beyond Covid rules. FRANCE 24's Lou Kisiela, Antoine Morel and Yan Chen report.

The object was downed over Lake Huron following two other such incidents in Alaska and Canada in recent days. Earlier, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said investigators were hunting for wreckage in north-west Canada.

John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council in the White House, met DW correspondent Carolina Chimoy for a talk about what kind of impact the recently downed spy balloon could have on US-Chinese relations.

The US military shot down the high-altitude object over Alaska. It is the second foreign incursion into US airspace in two weeks.

Manila filed a diplomatic protest against Beijing after an incident in the South China Sea. The US warned that it would defend its ally if Filipino forces were attacked.

The White House justified shooting down unidentified flying objects, saying they posed a risk to civilian air travel. The Biden administration also said there is "no indication" that alien activity is behind the objects.

According to the Moldovan leader, Russia planned to use foreign saboteurs to overthrow the small, eastern European country's leadership and prevent it from joining the European Union.