Africa & World

The Chinese state has hacked the Ministry of Defence, Sky News understands.

MPs will be told today of a massive data breach involving the MoD, targeting service personnel.

The government will not name the country involved, but Sky News understands this to be China.

The Chinese state is to be accused of two or three attempts at hacking MoD employees – including personnel.

The cyberattack was on a payroll system with current service personnel and some veterans. It is largely names and bank details that have been exposed.

Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative MP and former soldier, told Sky News that China “was probably looking at the financially vulnerable with a view that they may be coerced in exchange for cash”.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps is expected to make a statement to the Commons today, with the BBC reporting he will set out a “multi-point plan” which will include action to protect affected service men and women.

The MoD hopes serving personnel will not be concerned about their safety. They will be provided with advice and support tomorrow.

The contractor system is not connected to the main MoD computer systems and has been taken down with a review launched.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, experienced severe disruptions due to heavy rains on Tuesday, with significant flooding reported across major highways and even affecting operations at the city-state’s primary airport.

Reports say that the flooding commenced overnight, transforming typically arid streets into vast ponds and airport tarmacs. Dubai International Airport, a global hub for international travel and home to Emirates Airlines, grappled with flight disruptions exacerbated by whipping winds accompanying the downpour.

Airport authorities announced a temporary cessation of all operations for approximately 25 minutes on Tuesday afternoon, followed by the diversion of all incoming flights until weather conditions improved, as communicated through official social media channels.

By evening, the UAE had accumulated over 4.75 inches of rainfall, a volume typically seen over a year in the desert nation, with more precipitation anticipated in the ensuing hours. Additionally, rainfall was reported in nearby Bahrain, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, indicating the widespread impact of the storm across the region.

In Oman, situated on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, the National Committee for Emergency Management released a statement confirming the grim toll of the recent heavy rains. At least 18 fatalities were recorded, including approximately 10 schoolchildren who tragically perished on Monday after being swept away in a vehicle along with an adult.

The incident shows the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events attributed to human-induced climate change, a concern echoed by climatologists worldwide.

Beyond the Arabian Peninsula, regions such as southern Russia and Central Asia have grappled with similarly devastating weather patterns, characterized by unusually high levels of rainfall and snowmelt.

These conditions have forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people and resulted in fatalities, including over 60 deaths in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

As communities across the globe confront the repercussions of climate change-induced weather extremes, the urgent need for proactive measures to mitigate the impact and adapt to evolving environmental challenges becomes increasingly apparent.

In November 2023, the COP28 conference on climate change took place in Dubai, sparking significant discussions and debate, especially considering Dubai’s status as one of the top 10 oil-producing countries.

President of United States, Joe Biden, has committed another blunder as he urged supporters to vote for him because he is in “20th century.”

Biden said, “Elect me, I’m in the 20th century” in the latest Gaffe, while addressing US citizens at a joint press conference in the White House Rose Garden alongside Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

A lot of Americans are contemplating voting for the 81-year-old, saying he would be too old for the another tenure of four years.

The NBC News journalist, Peter Alexander,, asked Biden to address the issue of abortion in Arizona.

The state Supreme Court had ruled Tuesday that an 1864 law banning abortion from the moment of conception remains in effect, with only a narrow exception to save the life of a mother.

In response to the question, Biden said, “Elect me. I’m in the 20th century.”

Earlier, he had said “Why doesn’t everybody holler at once?” as journalists hurled questions at him.

This is not the first gaffe from the American leader battling his predecessor and Republican rival, Donald Trump, in November 5 election.

Among his several gaffes were mistaking Egypt for Mexico during the Israel-Hamas war, and referring to German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz as Helmurt Kurl, who died in 2017.

The 77-year-old Trump has also taunted Biden many times publicly that he is unfit to continue to be the US president, vowing to unseat him.

New York, New Jersey and other surrounding states in the region are on high alert after an earthquake rattled parts of United States’ Northeast.

The earthquake in preliminary analysis is said to be 4.8 magnitude according to local authorities. The impact was felt from Philadelphia to NewYork, local reports said.

The incident has delayed flights initially scheduled for Friday morning, EDT but New York City Mayor Eric Adams has asked residents to go about their normal day.

His comments follow those of New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who has encouraged residents to remain alert and take safety measures.

“New Yorkers are not accustomed to having earthquakes in our state,” Ms Hochul said. “Everyone should continue to take this seriously.”

“If there is an aftershock, people are encouraged to drop and cover and to hold, drop to the floor, cover your neck, and hold onto something that is sturdy,” she added.

No casualty has been recorded in the incident.

A South African bank said on Wednesday that a court had ordered a halt to outgoing payments from ex-president Jacob Zuma’s accounts in a dispute over loans for improvements to his private home while in power.

The First National Bank said the measure was the result of legal action taken by the liquidators of another bank, which is owed money by the 81-year-old politician.

“FNB was instructed by the High Court to place a hold on outgoing payments from former President Zuma’s FNB accounts. The accounts are not closed as incoming payments are unaffected,” FNB told AFP.

“This instruction from the court results from the process currently being managed by the VBS Bank liquidators, and FNB was legally required to comply. Former President Zuma’s recourse now lies with the courts and VBS liquidators.”

The measure is likely to further taint the reputation of graft-accused Zuma ahead of general elections on May 29.

In power from 2009 to 2018, Zuma is fronting a small start-up party that is threatening to take away key votes from his old home, the African National Congress.

The partial account freeze is related to the decade-old, controversial renovation of Zuma’s massive homestead in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal.

In 2016, a top court found that the then-president had acted against the constitution by using millions of dollars of state funds to refurbish his rural Nkandla home in the name of “security upgrades.”

Some of the features included a chicken coop and a swimming pool, alleged to be a fire-fighting facility — coined ‘fire pool’– a cattle enclosure and an amphitheatre.

Ordered to pay back the money, Zuma took out a 7.8 million rand ($413,000) loan from VBS.

The bank was later placed under curatorship, and its liquidators have gone to court to force Zuma to pay back the outstanding part of the loan.

In what was his first public appearance since reports of his death started spreading online, United Kingdom’s King Charles III hosted Korean War veterans at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

The royal family said this in a post on social media.

“This morning, the King met veterans of the Korean War at Buckingham Palace to mark 70 years since the signing of the armistice which ended the conflict,” the royal family said in the post.

The UK embassy in Russia had to publish a statement on Monday after reports about the 75-year-old’s death from cancer appeared online, saying that “reports about the death of King Charles are FAKE.”

Buckingham Palace said in early February that the British monarch had been diagnosed with cancer, the type and stage of which were not specified.

King Charles postponed public duties while he was undergoing “regular treatments,” it said.

The US House of Representatives massively voted to approve a bill on Wednesday that would force TikTok to divest from its Chinese owner or get banned from the United States.

The lawmakers voted 352 in favour of the proposed law and 65 against it in a rare moment of bipartisan unity in politically divided Washington.

According to CNN, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise lauded the passage of the House’s TikTok bill and downplayed concerns that going after a popular application could hurt Republicans in November.

Scalise said young people did not recognise how much of their data was at risk from the app and said the bill would give them extra layers of protection.

“This bill protects those families and young people and lets them still use the application they enjoy. So it’s a win for families across America, and it’s a long time coming,” he continued.

Scalise said he believes the overwhelming support for the legislation in the House will help ease its passage in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hasn’t committed to taking up the House’s version of the bill.

“I’ve talked to several senators; they are looking—many of them are looking towards how strong this vote is. So the fact that it’s such an overwhelming vote, both Republicans and Democrats, bodes well for this version of the bill to be quickly taken up in the Senate,” Scalise said.

An earlier statement by the Chinese government warned the US that the proposed ban on the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok would “inevitably come back to bite” the country.

Beijing warned on Wednesday that a proposed ban on Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok would “inevitably come back to bite the United States”.

The US House of Representatives is set to vote later Wednesday on a bill that would force the app to cut ties with its Chinese owner or get banned in the United States.

The legislation is the biggest threat yet to the video-sharing app, which has surged to huge popularity across the world while raising fears among governments and security officials over its Chinese ownership and potential subservience to the Communist Party in Beijing.

Ahead of the vote, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin condemned the proposed ban.

“Although the United States has never found evidence that TikTok threatens US national security, it has not stopped suppressing TikTok,” he said.

“This kind of bullying behaviour that cannot win in fair competition disrupts companies’ normal business activity, damages the confidence of international investors in the investment environment, and damages the normal international economic and trade order,” he added.

“In the end, this will inevitably come back to bite the United States itself,” Wang said.

The vote is likely to occur at 10:00 am (1400 GMT) and is expected to pass overwhelmingly in a rare moment of bipartisanship in politically divided Washington.

The fate of the bill is uncertain in the Senate, where key figures are against making such a drastic move against a hugely popular app that has 170 million US users.

President Joe Biden will sign the bill, known officially as the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” into law if it comes to his desk, the White House has said.

TikTok staunchly denies any ties to the Chinese government and has restructured the company so the data of US users stays in the country, the company says.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is in Washington, trying to shore up support to stop the bill.

“This latest legislation being rushed through at unprecedented speed without even the benefit of a public hearing, poses serious Constitutional concerns,” wrote Michael Beckerman, TikTok’s vice president for public policy, in a letter to the bill’s co-sponsors seen by AFP.

US President Joe Biden belatedly joined TikTok on Sunday, marking his debut on the social media platform with a 26-second video.

The move comes after fierce US government criticism of the video-sharing platform in recent years, most notably from Republicans but also from the Biden administration.

TikTok is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance and has been accused by a wide swath of US politicians of being a propaganda tool used by Beijing, something the company furiously denies.

In Sunday’s video posted on the @bidenhq campaign account, the 81-year-old Democratic president touches light-heartedly on topics ranging from politics to the NFL championship game.

Asked his preference between the Super Bowl or its famed half-time show, this year headlined by singer Usher, he picks watching the actual game itself.

Queried if there’s a secret plot to rig the game so that pop star Taylor Swift — who is dating Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce — could use her fame to endorse Biden, the president jokingly leans into the unfounded right-wing conspiracy theory.

“I’d get in trouble if I told you,” he says.

Citing security concerns, a slew of individual states and the federal government have banned the app on official government devices.

In Montana, a state government move to completely ban the app was recently blocked by a judge.

While the platform remains scrutinized by Washington, further federal action to ban or curtail use of the app appears to no longer be in motion.

“It seems now like the idea of a ban was being pushed more so to make political points and less as a serious effort to legislate,” David Greene, a civil liberties attorney, recently told British newspaper The Guardian.

As the election approaches, the platform provides a conduit to young voters.