this is bbc news. i'm lucy grey. our top stories: shot out of the sky — the us military targets the chinese balloon that had been floating in american airspace. they successfully took it down, and i want to compliment our aviators who did it. three airports were shut and the airspace was closed. it came down off the us east coast. a peace mission to south sudan — the pope makes an unprecedented visit, alongside the leaders of the church of england and church of scotland. we'll tell you about the bbcjournalist trying to make amends for her own family's connection to slavery. and getting to the core of things. why the centre of the earth

may be slowing down. hello, and welcome to bbc news. the giant chinese balloon that had been floating over the united states has been shot down by an american fighterjet off the coast of south carolina. the balloon, which the us says was being used to spy on military sites, appeared to plummet straight into the sea. china continues to insist it was a stray civilian weather observation airship. david willis is our correspondent in washington. officials here are saying that this chinese balloon was brought down about six miles off the coast of south carolina by a single missile fired by a us fighterjet. now, president biden had apparently given permission for such a strike on

wednesday, that is a day before the actual presence of this balloon was made public. military officials decided to hold back for fear that it could spray debris down onto the mainland and hurt people on the mainland and hurt people on the ground below. then, today, as it was crossing the coast of south carolina, they closed local airports, they cleared all airspace and the order was given to fire. well, a short while ago, this is what president biden had to say about the operation.- about the operation. they successfully _ about the operation. they successfully took - about the operation. they successfully took it - about the operation. they successfully took it down, about the operation. they - successfully took it down, and i want — successfully took it down, and i want to — successfully took it down, and i want to compliment our aviators _ i want to compliment our aviators who did it, and we will — aviators who did it, and we will have _ aviators who did it, and we will have more to report on this— will have more to report on this a — will have more to report on this a little later. i told them _ this a little later. i told them to shoot it down. on wednesday? _ them to shoot it down. on wednesday? on _ them to shoot it down. on i wednesday? on wednesday. them to shoot it down. on - wednesday? on wednesday. they said to me. _ wednesday? on wednesday. they said to me, let's _ wednesday? on wednesday. they said to me, let's wait _ wednesday? on wednesday. they said to me, let's wait to _ wednesday? on wednesday. they said to me, let's wait to the - said to me, let's wait to the safest — said to me, let's wait to the safest place to do it. the challenge _ safest place to do it. the challenge now _ safest place to do it. the challenge now will - safest place to do it. the challenge now will be - safest place to do it. the challenge now will be to | challenge now will be to retrieve equipment from that downed balloon and to try to find out if indeed it was on a spying mission or if it was

just attracting meteorological information, as the chinese have alleged. the challenge, of course, is to retrieve that data and to decode it before all the equipment on board sinks to the bottom of the atlantic ocean. a short while ago, at a briefing, the pentagon said they thought this balloon was part of a fleet but had violated the sovereignty of countries across five continents, as they put it. —— that had violated. a short time ago president biden was asked if he thought this operation was provocative, as far as the chinese were concerned, and he declined to comment. joining us from washington dc to discuss this further is the director of the kissinger institute on china and the united states, robert daly. thank you very much for coming on bbc news. thank you very much for coming on bbc news- on bbc news. good to be here. it is on bbc news. good to be here. it is going _ on bbc news. good to be here. it is going to — on bbc news. good to be here. it is going to be _ on bbc news. good to be here. it is going to be fascinating, - it is going to be fascinating, isn't it, when they do piece this altogether, to find out what it was and how sophisticated it was. what is your take on what is going on here? , , . , your take on what is going on here? , , .,, i. your take on what is going on here? , ,

here? firstly, as you say, it is going _ here? firstly, as you say, it is going to _ here? firstly, as you say, it is going to be _ here? firstly, as you say, it is going to be fascinating. l here? firstly, as you say, it. is going to be fascinating. the question is, how important is it going to be. this has been a very dramatic few days. there is a very good plot, it is getting a lot of attention. the balloon does not tell us anything about chinese us relations that we didn't already know, so that is one aspect of the story. secondly, aspect of the story. secondly, as you say, china claims this is a normal meteorological balloon. but there are a number of these balloons, all not over chinese airspace, and the american military seems quite certain this is in fact an intelligence balloon, and now america is in a position to discover that. the debris only came down in 47 feet of water. we will be able to get it pretty quickly. and of china, as seems likely, is mischaracterising this, we are going to know that shortly. b, going to know that shortly. a damaging as all of this? even before we know the exact contents of it, we have had the accusations from the us, secretary of state antony blinken has cancelled his planned trip to china. how damaging is it? i

planned trip to china. how damaging is it?— damaging is it? i think the bi est damaging is it? i think the biggest long-term - damaging is it? i think the biggest long-term impact| damaging is it? i think the l biggest long-term impact of damaging is it? i think the - biggest long-term impact of all biggest long—term impact of all of this is that it is now going to make a much higher percentage of americans see china as a threat. china has been seen primarily as a threat within washington, dc for several years, within washington, dc for severalyears, but within washington, dc for several years, but for most americans, they haven't felt threatened by china. china has been over the horizon, and now chinese right overhead. and so this is going to spread the bad china narrative that has been gaining more adherence not only here in the us but in canada, in the uk and europe. people are going to see this in a more personal light, and it is going to give a sense of urgency to those parts of the american government and military and congress that are determined to counter and condemn and weaken china if they can, and so i think the bigger impact is that it lends more credence to that broad accusation about the nature of the chinese government.- nature of the chinese government. nature of the chinese covernment. , , government. yes, it is quite interesting. _ government. yes, it is quite interesting, isn't _ government. yes, it is quite interesting, isn't it? - government. yes, it is quite interesting, isn't it? but- government. yes, it is quite interesting, isn't it? but it. interesting, isn't it? but it was visible with the naked eye so people could film it with their smartphones.

so people could film it with theirsmartphones. —— so people could film it with their smartphones. —— that it was. if it was a spy balloon, why would they want to do something so blatant and so unnerving for the members of the public in the us, as you say? the public in the us, as you sa ? , , ., the public in the us, as you say? so, this is a key question. _ say? so, this is a key question. it - say? so, this is a key question. it is - say? so, this is a key question. it is not. say? so, this is a key question. it is not in | say? so, this is a key - question. it is not in china's interests to have more americans see in china as an enemy. and the timing is particularly bad because china, this spring, after the end of the zero covid policy, really wants to focus on its domestic development, its demographic crisis, a whole series of economic crises, and china had been looking for a sort of timeout from fiction with the united states. —— friction. so this appears to fly in the face of that. one possible answer is bureaucratic incompetence. did some agency of the chinese government move without getting the full signup? that is possible, there is incompetence there as there is here. other than that, it is sheer speculation. do they want to send a message to the people of

the united states thatjust as our flights and crusie around taiwan, what china sees as its sovereign territory, threatens them, they see it as a threat, but that is sheer speculation. it really doesn't make sense that china would do something which damages its own interests right now. which damages its own interests riaht now. ., ,., ., ., , right now. how important was the us secretary _ right now. how important was the us secretary of _ right now. how important was the us secretary of state's . the us secretary of state's trip, which has now been cancelled? i know that you said china wanted to be focusing a bit more perhaps domestically. it is always better but they speak then not speak. i think there was always going to be a difficulty in this trip had secretary of state blink and gone to china. —— blinken. what china wants is a timeout from friction. that is not the us wants. it wants or a floor comment on some rules for communication such that we can continue to pursue what resident biden wants to call extreme competition with china, while lowering the danger this would result in war. so those

are two very different goals. china, to date, rejects the idea that us—china relations are fundamentally competitive, whereas a growing number of people in the us see this as a new kind of cold war. certainly the whole story of this balloon and it being shot down had a cold war feeling to it, from beginning to end.— cold war feeling to it, from beginning to end. good to get our beginning to end. good to get your thoughts. _ beginning to end. good to get your thoughts. thank - beginning to end. good to get your thoughts. thank you - beginning to end. good to get| your thoughts. thank you very much. robert staley from the kissinger institute on china and the united states. —— daly. joining us from manila in the philippines now is anna malindog. she's a china analyst and a columnist for the asean post. i see that china's foreign ministry has expressed stronger satisfaction and opposition to the us use of force to attack its ownership. —— dissatisfaction. what is the reaction been in china to decide?— reaction been in china to decide? ., ., decide? good morning from manila. decide? good morning from manila- l — decide? good morning from manila. ithink— decide? good morning from manila. i think the - decide? good morning from manila. i think the chinese | manila. i think the chinese people and even the chinese government are not accepting,

or blatantly not accepting the so—called speculation that the balloon itself is like a spy balloon. according to them, and most of the statements coming from the official statements coming from china, is that they would want to have an open discussion about this incident, this unfortunate incident they were regretful about this. but i think from my vantage point, the way i see it, it is better for the two sides, the chinese and americans, to discuss this open mindedly speaking, because it will further deteriorate the already deteriorating us—china relation if this incident will not be handled in a proper manner. and at the same time, it is not good as well for the world, if the us—china relation will deteriorate further. world, if the us-china relation will deteriorate further.- will deteriorate further. well, i will deteriorate further. well, i sunpose _ will deteriorate further. well, i sunpose it — will deteriorate further. well, i suppose it all _ will deteriorate further. well, i suppose it all depends - will deteriorate further. well, i suppose it all depends on i i suppose it all depends on what they find, doesn't it, when they piece together the bits of balloon when they pull it out of the water. in terms of the reaction to normal people, are you in a position to tell us that all about how people themselves and china

have been reacting to this? i think there are various different various kinds of reactions, but generally speaking, i think the chinese people does not agree or does not accept the hyping of this incident, and smearing the country as if their country is, you know, stupid not to understand that, you know, doing such a thing like a balloon spying air, so blatantly speaking, would not be good for china. i think the chinese people are very smart and very intelligent. i myself was not really... i am thinking at the moment that really, if china would do such a thing, not given the already negative perception of china in the united states. so there is a lot of speculation, there is a lot of speculation, there is a lot of speculation, there is a lot of comments on the social media as well, but at the end of the day i think it would be nice for the both countries to talk it out, discuss it, and

avoid escalation of the incident. because it is something that the world doesn't want. i something that the world doesn't want.— doesn't want. i was 'ust speaking i doesn't want. i was 'ust speaking to fl doesn't want. i was 'ust speaking to our�* doesn't want. i was just | speaking to our previous doesn't want. i was just - speaking to our previous guest by the visit by the us secretary of state which has been cancelled. what do you think china will feel about that? will they be disappointed? that? will they be disauointed? a ., , disappointed? actually, there are two sides _ disappointed? actually, there are two sides to _ disappointed? actually, there are two sides to the _ disappointed? actually, there are two sides to the story, . are two sides to the story, based on what i have monitored. the chinese side said there is no such thing as a visit, really, and they did not announce that there is such a thing as a visit of blinken to china, it is only the us side that is saying that. so there are two sides to the story. so it is really up to the public and it is up to the two sides to clarify which is really true, because the chinese side is claiming that they did not announce that blinken would be visiting china and there is no such thing. visiting china and there is no such thing-— visiting china and there is no such thing. ok, yes. all right. well, thank — such thing. ok, yes. all right. well, thank you _ such thing. ok, yes. all right. well, thank you very - such thing. ok, yes. all right. well, thank you very much - such thing. ok, yes. all right. well, thank you very much for joining us. appreciate your

time. anna malindog, joining us from manila. let's get some of the day's other news. as many as 2,000 residents in east palestine, ohio have been forced to leave their homes following a cargo train derailment near the ohio—pennsylvania state border. the freight train derailed late on friday and residents living within a mile of the crash site were asked to evacuate their homes. officials said the train was carrying the chemical vinyl chloride. a powerful arctic blast has been sweeping across the north—east of the us, bringing plummeting temperatures, which the national weather service has described as "life—endangering." these pictures are of the observatory in new hampshire's mount washington state park, home to the highest and coldest peak in the region. temperatures are expected to fall to a record low of —10 celcius, with a wind chill that could drop to —43 celcius. officials in chile say at least 22 people have been killed in the forest fires sweeping across the country. more than 500 have been injured. president gabriel boric said neighbouring argentina had offered to send

firefighters and equipment. interior minister carolina toha believes climate change is making the country increasingly vulnerable to wildfires. the pope, the archbishop of canterbury and the moderator of the church of scotland are on a historic three day visit to south sudan. they've called it a pilgrimage of peace, to a country where more than 400,000 people have been killed in violence since independence 12 years ago. our religion editor aleem maqbool is travelling with the papal party and sent this report from the capital, juba. it's his 40th foreign trip as pope, but it's a visit like no other he's ever had before. he's previously postponed this because of ill health and mobility issues, but was always clear, in spite of a reduced international schedule, there was one country he was sure to go — south sudan. but what makes this visit

different is that for the first time on a foreign trip, he's accompanied by the leaders of other global christian denominations. the moderator of the church of scotland and the archbishop of canterbury are injuba, too. "at last, i am here," said pope francis told a crowd of displaced people, "together with my brothers on this pilgrimage of peace." since independence in 2011, south sudan slipped quickly into conflict. it's along tribal and not religious lines, but the leaders are mainly christian — catholic, anglican, and presbyterian. back in 2019, in one of the most powerful moments of his papacy, pope francis kissed the feet of the south sudanese rivals at the end of a meeting at the vatican. they promised to work for lasting peace, but little changed. so the religious

leaders came here. does the same thing happen — you make a dramatic gesture and you go away, and things don't move forward? dramatic gestures are to kick open doors, to create momentum. they don't solve problems. what they do is they may unstick stuck situations, and then they have to be followed up. tonight, the three christian leaders held a cross—denominational prayer service. it's been a remarkable coming together of churches and has brought somejoy. that's not to say many south sudanese are confident it will lead to real change. aleem maqbool, bbc news, injuba. here in the uk, detectives searching for nicola bulley, who disappeared during a dog walk in lancashire more than a week ago, say they want to speak to a woman who was seen pushing

a pram on the morning. —— who was seen pushing a pram on the morning that the mother of two was last seen, along the riverbank in st michael's on wyre. police have released this image of the woman they believe was walking along the same path. they're urging her to get in touch as a potential witness. falken hell the search for mum of two nicola bulley continues eight days after she went missing. police yesterday said after extensive investigation, they are working on the hypothesis that nicola fell into the river — a theory nicola's friends and family have today questioned. as far as i'm aware, there has been no evidence found in the water that would point to the fact that nikki was in the water, or had ever been in the water. you're not going to give up trying to find nicola, are you? no, we can't.

we are continuing as we have been all week. our hope is not gone, and we will keep going. nicola was last seen eight days ago walking her dog not farfrom here. not long later, her phone was found on the bench just behind me, still logged into a work call. her dog was found running off the lead — nicola was nowhere to be seen. police say there is around a ten—minute window where her movements are unaccounted for. the search for nicola has involved police, mountain rescue teams, and divers, as well as hundreds of people from the local community and further afield. well, i've been listening to the news of nicola's disappearance for a week and the opportunity came along today — my neighbours and i said, "let's go and see if we can help in any way." we have seen lots of search parties and people wanting to get out and help, and it's great that the community wanted to come together and try and find out what's happened to nikki. police are continuing to appeal for dashcam footage from last friday morning. their search for nicola bulley continues. juliet phillips, bbc news, st michael's on wyre. this is bbc news. a reminder of our headlines —

the us military shoots down the chinese balloon that had been floating in american airspace. three airports were shut and the local airspace was closed. it came down off the us east coast. scientists say our planet's solid inner core — which is disconnected from the rest of the earth's layers — may actually have almost stopped rotating and could even reverse course. this is based on a new study by seismologists at peking university in beijing, who reported the findings in nature geoscience. with me is dr yi yang, who is the co—author of this study and associate research scientist at peking university. do tell us more. ok. so, the taruet do tell us more. ok. so, the target of— do tell us more. ok. so, the target of our _ do tell us more. ok. so, the target of our study _ do tell us more. ok. so, the target of our study is - do tell us more. ok. so, the target of our study is the - target of our study is the inner core of the earth, it's surrounded by a liquid out of core, so it can rotate at different speeds from the surface but the difference is quite small. now, recent

studies to track the differential rotation of the inner court relative to the surface over the past several decades using repeating earthquakes and we found that the regular rotation is not steady but its oscillation is spinning back and forth, just like a swing, and the inner core rotates a bit faster and then the surface, before about 2009, and that the same pace with the surface rotation around 2009 and then a bit slower than the surface rotation. in other words, the differential rotation paused around 2009 and started to reverse a bit, so that's the major findings of our research. and you used earthquakes, you studied earthquakes to discover this? , ., this? yes. so earthquakes can aenerate this? yes. so earthquakes can generate seismic _ this? yes. so earthquakes can generate seismic waves - generate seismic waves travelling down through the inner core and we can get

valuable information of the inner core structure from an earthquake through a seismic station, like a city scale, so if you do scans twice at different times, doctors can see the changes inside your body from the results ——ct scans. similarly by comparing the seismogram is of two repeating earthquakes, are able to track the inner core differential rotation inside of the earth. differential rotation inside of the earth-— differential rotation inside of the earth. what benefit is it, knowina the earth. what benefit is it, knowing this? _ the earth. what benefit is it, knowing this? i _ the earth. what benefit is it, knowing this? i think - the earth. what benefit is it, knowing this? i think there l the earth. what benefit is it, l knowing this? i think there has been some _ knowing this? i think there has been some panic _ knowing this? i think there has been some panic related - knowing this? i think there has been some panic related to - knowing this? i think there has| been some panic related to our findings but i have to say there is nothing catastrophic about it. and, no worries. perhaps it means the earth interior is more dynamic than most people think. the inner core has dynamic interactions with the outer earth layers. there is a electromagnetic force between the inner core and the floating out of core which generates a magnetic

field and there is also strong gravitational force when the inner core and the metal so the inner core and the metal so the inner core and the metal so the inner core rotation obviously has an impact on the magnetic field and so far there has been observations suggesting similar periodic fluctuations in the magnetic field and even the global sea level and temperature variations. in six orseven temperature variations. in six or seven decades in agreement with the oscillating inner core in our study. so we believe the whole earth is in some kind of residence from the surface from the article to the inner but most of us cannot feel these tiny changes caused by the system. and we do believe this will help us understand how the interior of our earth operates. thank you very much for explaining it to us, appreciated, dryang, thank appreciated, dr yang, thank you. appreciated, dr yang, thank ou. . ~' appreciated, dr yang, thank ou. . ~ , ., an aristocratic british family is due to travel to the island

of grenada to publicly apologise for the ownership of more than 1,000 enslaved africans in the 19th century. the trevelyan family will also pay reparations to the people of grenada, where it owned six sugar plantations. one member of the trevelyan family is my colleague, laura trevelyan. she is a bbc presenter, and she spoke to our news reporter azadeh moshiri in a personal capacity. you know, it was really horrific and when i went to grenade and i saw for myself the plantations where slaves were punished mccrow one. when i saw the instruments of torture that were used to restrain them, when i looked at the neck braces, at the manacles, at this system of dehumanisation, that my family had profited from as absentee slaveowners of these sugar plantations, ifelt slaveowners of these sugar plantations, i felt ashamed and i also felt that it was my

duty, you cannot repair the past but you can acknowledge the pain and that i wanted to try to do something to make it better and so, that's partly what has led our family to this moment, where we are going to issue a public apology when seven of us go to granada later in february and in consultation with grenade's national reparations commission —— granada's national reparations commission. we hope that we can do something to help an island where all of the wealth was extracted. where all of the wealth was extracted-— where all of the wealth was extracted. ~ ., ~ ., , extracted. we talked about duty and ou extracted. we talked about duty and you talked _ extracted. we talked about duty and you talked about _ and you talked about acknowledging what happened. you decided to go back to granada _ you decided to go back to granada and film a bbc documentary there. what impression did it leave on you once — impression did it leave on you once you _ impression did it leave on you once you got there?— impression did it leave on you once you got there? well, when slavery was _ once you got there? well, when slavery was abolished _ once you got there? well, when slavery was abolished in - once you got there? well, when slavery was abolished in 1833, l slavery was abolished in 1833, slavery was abolished in 1833, slave owning families like my own were actually compensated for the fact that they had lost what was referred to as their

property, that's how slaves were seen. i wanted to go to granada in the wake of the racial getting here in the united states and just try to understand the link between the past and the present and to understand how the past defines the present and when i went there, i saw an island where poverty is rife, where there is a lot of obesity, of hypertension and of ill—health which is linked to slavery, health experts feel, because of decades of poor diet, of stress and so, it was really overwhelming. and so, it was really overwhelmina. , ., , and so, it was really overwhelmina. , overwhelming. some people could see what you _ overwhelming. some people could see what you are _ overwhelming. some people could see what you are doing _ overwhelming. some people could see what you are doing and - see what you are doing and argue — see what you are doing and argue do— see what you are doing and argue do you know what? this is argue do you know what? this is a drop— argue do you know what? this is a drop in— argue do you know what? this is a drop in the bucket and it won't _ a drop in the bucket and it won't fix _ a drop in the bucket and it won't fix the generations of difficulties and setbacks that these — difficulties and setbacks that these families have had to face — these families have had to face. what would your response be to _ face. what would your response be to that?— be to that? yes, i completely understand — be to that? yes, i completely understand that _ be to that? yes, i completely understand that this - be to that? yes, i completely understand that this can - be to that? yes, i completely| understand that this can seem like a very inadequate gesture,

that ourfamily like a very inadequate gesture, that our family received the equivalent of about £3 million in compensation when slavery was abolished. we got that money in 183a. so for me to be giving £100,000, almost 200 years later, for a fund that will look at economic development in granada and the eastern caribbean, perhaps that seems like it is really inadequate but i hope that we are setting an example by apologising for what our ancestors did by enslaving the people of granada and i also hope that we are looking at solutions, at how do you, through a university research fund, how do you come up with ideas for how this wealth gap is addressed?— is addressed? laura trevelyan talkin: is addressed? laura trevelyan talking to _ is addressed? laura trevelyan talking to my _ is addressed? laura trevelyan talking to my colleague. - is addressed? laura trevelyan talking to my colleague. a - talking to my colleague. a reminder of our top story, china has reacted angrily with its foreign ministry expressing strong dissatisfaction and opposition to the united states's use of force to bring

down a balloon but beijing insists was a stray civilian weather observation device. plenty more of that on our website. you're watching bbc news. goodbye. hello. the second half of the weekend is set to be the brighter half of the weekend. after a saturday that brought mainly grey skies overhead, sunday promises more in the way of sunshine but a slightly chillier feel. high pressure building strongly across the uk, keeping the vast majority dry with those lengthy sunny spells. this cold front has been slipping southwards and that's been introducing colder air, so quite a few places starting sunday morning around freezing. a little bit milder down towards the south of england, where we're closest to this area of cloud first thing, but that will be clearing away quickly and then, as you can see, there will be lengthy spells of sunshine. one thing you can't really see clearly here is some high cloud that's likely to stream in across parts of northern ireland, scotland, and northern england. that could turn the sunshine hazy at times but it shouldn't spoil things too much. temperatures a little down on where they have been — 7—10 celsius — but with

the brighter skies overhead, i think it will still feel fairly pleasant for the time of year. now, through sunday night, this area of high pressure tends to drift a little further south—eastwards. under the centre of the high with light winds, could see one or two fog patches but around the edge of the high will be bringing more cloud into northern ireland and scotland, hence, it will be a little milder here to start monday morning. the coldest weather down across england and wales with a touch of frost and some fog patches towards the south—east corner, but any fog should clear pretty quickly and then, plenty of sunshine across england and wales. some bright skies, too, across the east of scotland. the western side of scotland and northern ireland tending to see a little more in the way of cloud, maybe the odd spot of drizzle, a slightly stronger breeze. temperatures between seven and ten degrees. now, as we get into tuesday, we will see a weak weather front sitting somewhere across the centre of the uk. a little bit of patchy rain with that.

to the north of it, some sunshine, to the south of it, could be some quite widespread fog on tuesday morning which will tend to lift and clear to give some spells of sunshine. temperatures between six and ten degrees. now, as we head deeper into the week, high pressure holds on close to the south and the east of the uk but this frontal system pushing in from the north—west may well bring some outbreaks of rain and it will also bring strong winds at times in the north of scotland through the middle part of the week. further south, things stay calmer, some spells of sunshine, but with some patchy fog.

this is bbc news. the headlines: a chinese balloon has been shot down by the us military off the coast of south carolina on the orders of president biden. the balloon, which the pentagon believes had been spying on sensitive sites, appeared to plummet straight down into the sea after being hit. pope francis and the heads of the churches of england and scotland have urged the people of south sudan to work towards lasting peace. the three christian leaders met for a prayer vigil in the country. pope francis told thousands of worshippers that true peace harmonised differences. police searching for nicola bulley, the 45—year—old who disappeared while walking her dog in lancashire more than a week ago,

say they're looking for a key witness. officers want to speak to a woman who was wearing