China poses biggest military, cyber threat to US, intel chiefs say

China remains the United States' top military and cyber threat, according to a report by U.S. intelligence agencies published on Tuesday that said Beijing was making "steady but uneven" progress on capabilities it could use to capture Taiwan. (AFP/File)
Short Url
Updated 25 March 2025
Follow

China poses biggest military, cyber threat to US, intel chiefs say

  • The report said China’s PLA likely planned to use large language models to create fake news and enable attack networks
  • “China’s military is fielding advanced capabilities, including hypersonic weapons, stealth aircraft, advanced submarines,” Gabbard told the committee

WASHINGTON: China remains the United States’ top military and cyber threat, according to a report by US intelligence agencies published on Tuesday that said Beijing was making “steady but uneven” progress on capabilities it could use to capture Taiwan.
China has the ability to hit the United States with conventional weapons, compromise US infrastructure through cyberattacks, and target its assets in space, and also seeks to displace the US as the top AI power by 2030, the Annual Threat Assessment by the intelligence community said.
Russia, along with Iran, North Korea and China, seeks to challenge the US through deliberate campaigns to gain an advantage, with Moscow’s war in Ukraine having afforded it a “wealth of lessons regarding combat against Western weapons and intelligence in a large-scale war,” the report said.
Released ahead of testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee by President Donald Trump’s intelligence chiefs, the report said China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) likely planned to use large language models to create fake news, imitate personas, and enable attack networks.
“China’s military is fielding advanced capabilities, including hypersonic weapons, stealth aircraft, advanced submarines, stronger space and cyber warfare assets and a larger arsenal of nuclear weapons,” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told the committee. She labeled Beijing as Washington’s “most capable strategic competitor.”
“China almost certainly has a multifaceted, national-level strategy designed to displace the United States as the world’s most influential AI power by 2030,” the report said.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe told the committee that China had made only “intermittent” efforts to curtail the flow of precursor chemicals fueling the US fentanyl crisis due to its reluctance to crack down on lucrative Chinese businesses.
Trump has increased tariffs on all Chinese imports by 20 percent to punish Beijing for what he says is its failure to halt shipments of fentanyl chemicals. China denies playing a role in the crisis, which is the leading cause of US drug overdose deaths, but the issue has become a major point of friction between the Trump administration and Chinese officials.

INTELLIGENCE LEAK FUROR OVERSHADOWS HEARING
“There is nothing to prevent China ... from cracking down on fentanyl precursors,” Ratcliffe said.
China’s embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The committee hearing was overshadowed by Democratic senators grilling Ratcliffe and Gabbard over revelations that they and other top Trump officials discussed highly sensitive military plans in a Signal messaging app group that accidentally included a US journalist.
Numerous Republican senators focused their questioning on undocumented immigrants in the United States.
The intelligence report said large-scale illegal immigration had strained US infrastructure and “enabled known or suspected terrorists to cross into the United States.”
The intelligence agencies said Iran was committed to developing surrogate networks inside the US and to targeting former and current US officials.
While Iran continued to improve its domestically produced missile and UAV systems and arm a consortium of “like-minded terrorist and militant actors,” they said, the US continues to assess that Tehran “is not building a nuclear weapon.”
But US concerns about China dominated about a third of the 33-page report, which said Beijing was set to increase military and economic coercion toward Taiwan, the democratically governed island China claims as its territory.
“The PLA probably is making steady but uneven progress on capabilities it would use in an attempt to seize Taiwan and deter — and if necessary, defeat — US military intervention,” it said.
Still, it said, China faces “daunting” domestic challenges, including corruption, demographic imbalances, and fiscal and economic headwinds that could impair the ruling Communist Party’s legitimacy at home.
China’s economic growth probably will continue to slow because of low consumer and investor confidence, and Chinese officials appear to be bracing for more economic friction with the US, the report said.


Putin congratulates Russian Muslims on Eid Al-Fitr

Updated 9 sec ago
Follow

Putin congratulates Russian Muslims on Eid Al-Fitr

  • Russian president also acknowledged the contributions of Muslim organizations to the nation’s public and spiritual life

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin extended his congratulations on Sunday to the country’s Muslim community on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

In a message published on the website of the Central Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of Russia, Putin highlighted the significance of the holiday, describing it as a time of “spiritual growth, kindness, and compassion.”

According to a report by Russian state news agency TASS, the Russian president also acknowledged the contributions of Muslim organizations to the nation’s public and spiritual life, praising their involvement in charitable, educational, and patriotic initiatives.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin also issued a statement congratulating Muslims on the occasion.

Eid Al-Fitr is one of the most important celebrations in Islam, observed by millions of Muslims worldwide with prayers, feasts, and acts of charity.


3 sailors missing off Ghana in suspected pirate attack

The assailants rounded up members of the crew and sent others into hiding. (AFP file photo)
Updated 8 min ago
Follow

3 sailors missing off Ghana in suspected pirate attack

  • In 2022, a UN Security Council resolution co-sponsored by Ghana and Norway was issued to condemn the spike in piracy in the Gulf of Guinea

ACCRA: Three Chinese nationals are missing after their vessel came under a “suspected pirate attack” off the coast of Ghana, authorities said over the weekend.
The apparent kidnapping is the latest in the Gulf of Guinea, an area off the Atlantic coast of Africa whose waters — rich in hydrocarbons and fisheries — stretch across several jurisdictions, including those of countries with limited naval and coast guard capacities.
Just before 6 p.m. on Thursday, seven armed people boarded the Mengxin I vessel in Ghanaian waters and fired warning shots, the Ghanaian military said in a statement.

BACKGROUND

In 2022, a UN Security Council resolution co-sponsored by Ghana and Norway was issued to condemn the spike in piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

The assailants rounded up members of the crew and sent others into hiding.
By the time the attackers departed three hours later, the captain, chief mate, and chief engineer — all Chinese nationals — were missing, according to the statement, dated Saturday.
They are “suspected of being kidnapped by the attackers,” it said.
Ghanaian authorities are sharing information with other members of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, it added.
In 2022, a UN Security Council resolution co-sponsored by Ghana and Norway was issued to condemn the spike in piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
A study published in 2021 by the Stable Seas research institute found that pirate groups, mostly in the Niger Delta, can earn around $5 million per year through theft and hostage-taking.
That same year, a Danish naval patrol killed four pirates in an exchange of fire off the coast of Nigeria.

 


Cholera outbreak in Angola has claimed more than 300 lives: WHO

Updated 20 min 40 sec ago
Follow

Cholera outbreak in Angola has claimed more than 300 lives: WHO

  • Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with the bacterium vibrio cholerae, often from feces. It causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, and muscle cramps

GENEVA: Angola’s cholera outbreak has now claimed 329 lives, the World Health Organization said Saturday, warning that the risk of further transmission in the country and surrounding areas was “very high.”
Angola has been experiencing a substantial cholera outbreak since January, with a total of 8,543 cases as of March 23.
Angola struggles with high poverty rates and poor sanitation despite its oil wealth.
The WHO said the outbreak had rapidly spread to 16 out of Angola’s 21 provinces, affecting people of all age groups, with the highest burden among those under 20.
“The Ministry of Health, with support from WHO and partners, is managing the cholera outbreak response through case detection, deployment of rapid response teams, community engagement and a vaccination campaign,” the UN health agency said.
“Given the rapidly evolving outbreak, ongoing rainy season, and cross-border movement with neighboring countries, WHO assesses the risk of further transmission in Angola and surrounding areas as very high.”
Namibia, Angola’s southern neighbor, recorded its first case of cholera in nearly a decade, the African Union’s health agency said earlier this month.  The 55-year-old woman recovered and was discharged from the hospital.
Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with the bacterium vibrio cholerae, often from feces.
It causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, and muscle cramps.
Cholera can kill within hours when not attended to, though it can be treated with simple oral rehydration and antibiotics for more severe cases.
There has been a global increase in cholera cases and their geographical spread since 2021.
Between Jan. 1 and March 23 this year, a total of 93,172 cases and 1,197 deaths were reported across 24 countries, with 60 percent of the cases in Africa, the WHO said.

 


Niger withdraws from Lake Chad military force fighting terrorist groups

Updated 23 min 47 sec ago
Follow

Niger withdraws from Lake Chad military force fighting terrorist groups

  • The ensuing conflict, which has drawn in other extremist groups, has killed over 40,000 people and displaced around two million, causing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises

NIAMEY: Niger has withdrawn from the military coalition fighting terrorist groups in the Lake Chad region of west-central Africa, saying it will focus instead on protecting its oil operations from attacks.
The announcement comes amid rising tensions between the four countries bordering Lake Chad since a 2023 coup by Niger’s military.
In a bulletin read on state TV, the army said the operation under the Multinational Joint Task Force, active since 2015, would now be called “Nalewa Dole” following Niger’s withdrawal.
The move “reflects a stated intent to reinforce security for oil sites,” the bulletin stated, without further elaboration.
The four countries that surround Lake Chad — Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria — have been battling insurgencies since 2009, after a spate of violent campaigns by the Boko Haram group in Nigeria’s northeast spilled into its neighbous.
The ensuing conflict, which has drawn in other extremist groups, has killed over 40,000 people and displaced around two million, causing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
But since the July 2023 coup, Niger’s military junta has accused Nigeria of supporting foreign forces in a bid to destabilize it, which Abuja denies.
Oil infrastructure in southeast Niger meanwhile, in particular a pipeline leading from the landlocked country to Benin, regularly face attacks by armed groups.
The governor of Niger’s Diffa region, General Ibrahim Bagadoma, said at a regional summit in February that “The problem is that some are making efforts, while others are undermining them. We must present a united front and end foreign regional interferences.”
Late last year, Chad had threatened to withdraw from the Joint Task Force after an attack killed around 40 of its soldiers, citing an “absence of mutualized efforts.”

 

 


US carries out strike against Daesh in Somalia

Updated 37 min 58 sec ago
Follow

US carries out strike against Daesh in Somalia

  • Somalia is prepared to offer the US exclusive control of strategic air bases and ports, its president said in a letter to President Donald Trump, as seen by Reuters

WASHINGTON: The US military carried out an airstrike against Daesh in the Puntland region of Somalia, killing several Daesh operatives, Africa Command said.
In a statement, the European-based command said the latest raid was conducted in coordination with the Somali government and hit “multiple Daesh-Somalia targets.”
Daesh’s Somalia operation is relatively small compared to the Al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab, but it has been gaining strength in semi-autonomous Puntland.
“The airstrike occurred southeast of Bosasso, Puntland, in Northeastern Somalia,” the AFRICOM statement said.
“AFRICOM’s initial assessment is that multiple Daesh-Somalia operatives were killed and no civilians were harmed,” it said.
The latest strike follows a similar operation two days earlier that AFRICOM said complemented “a larger counterterrorism initiative” under way in Somalia. And it follows US strikes in February, which Puntland authorities said had killed “key figures” in Daesh, without giving further details.
Somalia is prepared to offer the US exclusive control of strategic air bases and ports, its president said in a letter to President Donald Trump, as seen by Reuters.
In the March 16 letter, authenticated by a regional diplomat, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said the assets included air bases in Balidogle and Berbera and the ports of Berbera and Bosaso.
The offer could give the US a firmer military presence in the Horn of Africa region as it looks to counter the threat from militants in Somalia and across the region.
“These strategically positioned assets provide an opportunity to bolster American engagement in the region, ensuring uninterrupted military and logistical access while preventing external competitors from establishing a presence in this critical corridor,” the letter said.
Berbera is in the breakaway Somaliland region, meaning the port and air base offer would put the government there and Somalia on a collision course.
“The US gave up this corrupted regime called Somalia. The US is now ready to deal with Somaliland, who has shown the world to be a peaceful, stable, and democratic nation,” said Abdirahman Dahir Aden, Somaliland’s foreign minister.
“The US is not stupid. They know who they need to deal with when it comes to Berbera port,” he added.
Somalia opposes any move to recognize Somaliland as an independent nation.
Balidogle is about 90 km northwest of the capital, Mogadishu, while Bosaso is in the semi-autonomous state of Puntland.
Somalia’s foreign affairs and information ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comments.