republicans have criticised president biden over the amount of time it took to shoot down a chinese observation balloon that flew across the united states. china has said shooting down the balloon was an obvious over reaction. the diplomatic fall out is continuing, as warships try to recover the debris. secretary of state antony blinken was due to be in beijing this week, but he cancelled the trip after the balloon was discovered. barbara plett usher reports from beijing. for days, this solitary object floated serenely through us airspace, putting a diplomatic crisis onto television screens in real time. was it a harmless weather balloon, as the chinese claimed, or a spy in the sky? moments after it arrived over the atlantic, the us brought an explosive end to the drama. that trail of white vapour you see on the left of the screen is an american fighterjet heading for the balloon. the second vapour trail is from a heat seeking missile fired from the jet, easily finding its ta
but he added that the roman catholic church couldn t permit same sex marriages. and who ll claim the major prizes at this year s grammy awards? all you need to know about music s biggest night. hello, welcome to bbc news. iran s supreme leader is pardoning a large number of prisoners, including some of those arrested during the past months of protests. the pardon by ayatollah khamenei comes on the eve of the anniversary of the islamic revolution in 1979, a date on which he regularly offers an amnesty to some prisoners. but the iranian state media says it excludes those facing charges of spying for foreign agencies, murder and bodily harm, as well as the destruction or arson of state property. taraneh stone from the bbc s persian service says those freed have several conditions attached to their release. the supreme leader has agreed to pardon and commute sentences of tens of thousands of people who are in prison or who are waiting for sentences. the letter from the judiciary