Who first floated the idea of spy balloons?

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

Scorched earth

The death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria rose past 8,000. How does that compare with the most deadly earthquakes in history? Highest death tolls:

1556, Shaanxi, China 830,000

1976, Tangshan, China 650,000

2010, Haiti 316,000

526, Antioch 250-300,000

1920, Haiyuan, China 270,000

1138, Aleppo, Syria 230,000

2004, Indian Ocean (tsunami) 230,000

856, Damghan, Iran 200,000

1303, Hongdoong, China 200,000

Defence of the realm

How is Britain getting on in the global defence market? In 2021 the UK exported £6.64 billion worth of defence equipment, accounting for 7 per cent of the global market, putting it 4th in the world after the US (32 per cent), France (28 per cent) and Russia (12 per cent). Exports peaked at £14 billion in 2018. The markets for UK defence equipment in 2021 were:

Middle East 51%

North America 16%

Europe 13%

Asia and Pacific 7%

Africa, Latin America both 1%

Source: UK Defence and Security Exports