The Chinese balloon shot down off the South Carolina coast by the US was part of a large surveillance programme that China has been conducting for “several years,” the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
When similar balloons passed over US territory four times during the administrations of President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump, the US did not immediately identify them as Chinese surveillance balloons, said Brig Gen Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary.
Brig Gen Ryder said “subsequent intelligence analysis” allowed the US to confirm they were part of a Chinese spying effort and learnt “a lot more” about the programme.
He would not provide any new details about the earlier balloons. When pressed, Brig Gen Ryder would only say that the vessels flew over “sites that would be of interest to the Chinese”.
One of the incidents was possibly last February, when Maj Gen Kenneth Hara, the adjutant general in Hawaii, tweeted about a balloon over Kauai a year ago.
Maj Gen Hara said US Indo-Pacific Command “detected a high-altitude object floating in air in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands” and sent up aircraft to intercept it.
He said they confirmed it was an unmanned balloon with no identification markings.
Brig Gen Ryder declined to say whether this was one of the four previous incidents that the US had discussed.
The recent balloon was shot down by a US military fighter jet on Saturday.
The Navy and Coast Guard are still recovering pieces of the balloon off the coast of South Carolina so they can be analysed.
China claims it was a civilian balloon used for weather research and criticised the US for shooting it down.
“I can assure you this was not for civilian purposes … we are 100 per cent clear about that,” Brig Gen Ryder said on Wednesday.
Top administration officials were briefing members of Congress on the Chinese balloon surveillance programme in classified sessions on Wednesday and Thursday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US briefed dozens of countries on the programme, which officials said had been active over five continents.
“The United States was not the only target,” he said alongside visiting Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg.
Mr Blinken said he and Mr Stoltenberg had spoken about the “systemic and tactical challenges” that China posed to the alliance and the importance of battling them.
The foreign countries would include nations the US believes have been under surveillamce in the past, as well as Nato allies.
Mr Stoltenberg agreed on the nature of the Chinese threat, saying the balloon incident “confirms a pattern of Chinese behaviour”.
He said that Beijing had “invested heavily in new military capabilities, including different types of surveillance and intelligence platforms”.
“We have also seen increased Chinese intelligence activities in Europe,” Mr Stoltenberg said. “We just have to be vigilant.
"We need to be aware of the constant risk of Chinese intelligence and step up what we do to protect ourselves.”
- Associated Press contributed to this report
US Navy recovers Chinese balloon — in pictures
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
SWEET%20TOOTH
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Company%C2%A0profile
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Bharat
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
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Remaining fixtures
Third-place-play-off: Portugal v Mexico, 4pm on Sunday
Final: Chile v Germany, 10pm on Sunday
Could%20We%20Be%20More
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2.0
Director: S Shankar
Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films
Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Know your cyber adversaries
Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
LIST OF INVITEES
Shergo Kurdi (am)
Rayhan Thomas
Saud Al Sharee (am)
Min Woo Lee
Todd Clements
Matthew Jordan
AbdulRahman Al Mansour (am)
Matteo Manassero
Alfie Plant
Othman Al Mulla
Shaun Norris
The specs
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Countries offering golden visas
UK
Innovator Founder Visa is aimed at those who can demonstrate relevant experience in business and sufficient investment funds to set up and scale up a new business in the UK. It offers permanent residence after three years.
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Investing or establishing a business in Germany offers you a residence permit, which eventually leads to citizenship. The investment must meet an economic need and you have to have lived in Germany for five years to become a citizen.
Italy
The scheme is designed for foreign investors committed to making a significant contribution to the economy. Requires a minimum investment of €250,000 which can rise to €2 million.
Switzerland
Residence Programme offers residence to applicants and their families through economic contributions. The applicant must agree to pay an annual lump sum in tax.
Canada
Start-Up Visa Programme allows foreign entrepreneurs the opportunity to create a business in Canada and apply for permanent residence.
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
