<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Another unidentified object has been shot down over North American airspace, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has confirmed.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said the latest object "violated Canadian airspace" and was shot down over Yukon in north-west Canada.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Both Canadian and US aircraft were scrambled to track down the object which Mr Trudeau says was taken out by a US F-22 fighter jet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is the third object to be shot down over North America in the last week.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The American military destroyed a Chinese balloon last weekend, and on Friday an unspecified object the size of a small car was shot down off Alaska.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Trudeau confirmed on Saturday he gave the order and had spoken with US President Joe Biden.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Canadian forces will now recover and analyse the wreckage of the object," he wrote on Twitter.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The latest unspecified object was flying over central Yukon at about 40,000 ft (12,000m) and intercepted at about 15:41 local time on Saturday, defence minister Anita Anand told reporters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She described it as "small" and "cylindrical", but that recovery efforts are still being carried out to discover more details.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ms Anand said it was taken out "about 100 miles" from the US border, adding it posed a "reasonable threat to civil aviation".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She said it "appears to be smaller than the one shot down off the coast of South Carolina" last Saturday - meaning the giant Chinese suspected spy balloon that measured 200ft (60m) tall.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Posting earlier on Twitter, Prime Minister Trudeau thanked the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) which carries out air defence for the US and Canada and led the mission.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The White House said the object had been tracked and monitored "over the last 24 hours".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of their militaries, President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau authorised it to be taken down," it said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The leaders discussed the importance of recovering the object in order to determine more details on its purpose or origin."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Giving more details on the mission to take down the object, the US Department of Defense confirmed two F-22 jets took off from a military base in Anchorage, Alaska and the object was shot down with an AIM 9X missile.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pentagon Press Secretary Brig Gen Pat Ryder added that the FBI will be "working closely" with Canadian police.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is not clear what the object is. But its appearance over North America comes just a week after a suspected Chinese spy balloon was also destroyed by the US.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Then on Friday another unspecified object was tracked and shot down over Alaska at the orders of US President Biden.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a short statement, the military said US troops, including from the Alaska National Guard, were still conducting search and recovery activities on sea ice for Friday's object.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It said it had no further details about the object's capabilities, purpose or origin but confirmed the FBI is helping with the recovery near the Alaskan town of Deadhorse.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Arctic weather conditions, including wind chill, snow, and limited daylight, are a factor in this operation, and personnel will adjust recovery operations to maintain safety," it added - and that the rescue operation will continue as weather permits.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last weekend, defence officials told US media that debris from the Chinese balloon landed in 47ft (14m) of water - shallower than they had expected - near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China has denied the balloon - which first entered US airspace on 28 January - was used for spying purposes, saying it was a weather device gone astray.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The US, however, said the balloon is part of a fleet of surveillance balloons that have flown over five continents.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The balloon incident has strained US-China relations, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelling a planned trip to Beijing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chinese officials on Friday accused the US of "political manipulation and hype".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In an interview on Thursday, President Biden defended his handling of the Chinese balloon, maintaining that it was not "a major breach". BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>