China boosts combat capability in Tibetan Plateau

Agencies
August 14, 2018

Beijing, Aug 14: The Chinese military has set up oxygen stations and introduced high-pressure oxygen therapy and specially designed portable barracks to its troops stationed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to boost combat capability in the high-altitude ranges where oxygen levels are low, official media here reported today.

Chinese official media had been periodically highlighting the training preparations and the combat readiness of the PLA troops in Tibet in the recent months.

According to the official People's Liberation Army (PLA) website 81.cn, all frontline training troops and border outposts have been equipped with oxygen generators and oxygen cylinders.

Also, the Army Medical University's Xinqiao Hospital in Xigaze, which is close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, is developing a high-pressure oxygen therapy that could effectively solve altitude stress for troops stationed on the plateau, the PLA Daily said.

It said that oxygen therapy, used to cure brain damage and carbon monoxide poisoning, can be calibrated for high altitude.

The improved therapy has proved effective against altitude stress. Oxygen stations have been built along border roads for soldiers to recover stamina, the state-run Global Times reported today.

"Altitude stress makes troops have breathing difficulties, results in headaches and insomnia," the daily quoted a former military officer who served in Tibet as saying.

Thin air damages combat capability, lowers troops' strength and durability, Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the newspaper.

Applying oxygen therapy helped soldiers to recover in the harsh conditions and enhanced their combat capabilities, he said.

Last month, the PLA Daily reported that the special forces of the Chinese military had conducted drills in Tibet, including ground training for helicopter pilots, to test their skills.

In June, Chinese military units stationed in Tibet carried out a drill, the first post-Dokalam, to test their logistics, armament support capabilities as well as military-civil integration in Tibet.

Earlier, official media had reported about China setting up an unmanned automatic weather observation station in Tibet, close to its border with Arunachal Pradesh, to provide meteorological support for its fighter jets and missile launches.

According to a latest 81.cn report, the PLA is also improving troops' quality of life.

Beginning last year, it has been replacing the old pre-fabricated houses at Tibetan military bases with portable barracks, specifically designed for plateau areas.

The barracks' design and material make them sturdy, moisture-proof and cold-resistant, even keep the room temperature at 15 degrees Celsius even in the worst of snow storms, the report said.

Equipped with cutting-edge camouflage nets, the barracks are difficult to detect and suitable for field operations, the website reported.

Many soldiers and officers suffer frostbite in Tibet, the former military officer said, noting the new facilities provide strong logistical support and ensured the troops' combat capability.

New barracks and other improvements can let troops have enough rest and guarantee their quality of life so that they can work together with better morale, according to Song.

"Logistical support is essential to plateau combat," he said. 

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Agencies
July 18,2020

Days after Twitter accounts of several billionaires were hacked to engineer a crypto scam, Twitter on Saturday said it is embarrassed, disappointed and, more than anything, sorry for what happened with some of its high-profile users as attackers successfully manipulated its employees and used their credentials to access internal systems, including getting through the two-factor protections.

In the first detailed summary of the "social engineering attack" via a crypto scam that hit at least 130 users this week, Twitter said for 45 of those accounts, the attackers were able to initiate a password reset, login to the account and send Tweets.

"We are continuing our forensic review of all of the accounts to confirm all actions that may have been taken. In addition, we believe they may have attempted to sell some of the usernames," the micro-blogging platform said in a statement.

For up to eight of the Twitter accounts involved, the attackers took the additional step of downloading the account's information via "Your Twitter Data" tool.

This is a tool that is meant to provide an account owner with a summary of their Twitter account details and activity.

"We are reaching out directly to any account owner where we know this to be true. None of the eight were verified accounts," said Twitter.

The company said the attackers were not able to view previous account passwords, as those are not stored in plain text or available through the tools used in the attack.

"Attackers were able to view personal information including email addresses and phone numbers, which are displayed to some users of our internal support tools," informed Twitter.

In cases where an account was taken over by the attacker, they may have been able to view additional information, Twitter added, saying its forensic investigation of these activities was still ongoing.

"We are actively working on communicating directly with the account-holders that were impacted".

The company said it will soon restore access for all account owners who may still be locked out as a result of the remediation efforts.

The New York Times reported on Friday that the Twitter crypto scam can be traced back to a group of hackers who congregate online at OGusers.com, a username-swapping community where people buy and sell coveted online handles.

The report said that the Twitter hack is not from Russian, Chinese or North Korean hackers but was done by a group of young people, "one of whom says he lives at home with his mother".

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News Network
May 23,2020

Karachi, May 23: Ninety-seven people were killed and two survived when a passenger plane crashed into homes in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi, health officials said Saturday.

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane had made multiple approaches to land at the city's airport when it came down in a residential area, damaging buildings and sparking a rescue operation that lasted into the night.

All passengers and crew had been accounted for and the bodies of those killed had been recovered from the crash site, the Sindh Health Ministry said, adding that 19 had been identified.

A local hospital earlier reported it had received the bodies of people killed on the ground.

The site remained cordoned off on Saturday morning.

The crash sent plumes of smoke were into the air as rescue workers and residents searched the debris for people and as firefighters tried to extinguish the flames.

An AFP reporter witnessed charred bodies being loaded into ambulances.

PIA said the plane lost contact with air traffic control just after 2:30 pm (0930 GMT) travelling from Lahore to Karachi.

The disaster comes as Pakistanis prepare to celebrate the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Eid al-Fitr, with many travelling back to their homes in cities and villages.

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News Network
February 5,2020

Feb 5: Pakistan will buy more palm oil from Malaysia, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Tuesday, aiming to help offset lost sales after top buyer India put curbs on Malaysian imports last month amid a diplomatic row.

India imposed restrictions on refined palm oil imports and informally asked traders to stop buying from Malaysia, the world's biggest producer of the edible oil. Sources said the move was in retaliation for Malaysia's criticism of India's policy on Kashmir.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday that he discussed palm oil with Khan who was on a visit to Malaysia and that Pakistan had indicated it would import more from Malaysia.

"That's right, especially since we noticed India threatened Malaysia for supporting the Kashmir cause, threatened to cut palm oil imports," Khan told a joint news conference, referring to India's Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.

"Pakistan will do its best to compensate for that."

India is a Hindu-majority country while Malaysia and Pakistan are mainly Muslim. India and Pakistan have been mostly hostile to each other since the partition of British India in 1947, and have fought two of their three wars over competing territorial claims in Kashmir.

Pakistan may have bought around 135,000 tonnes of Malaysian palm oil last month, a record high, India-based dealers who track such shipments told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The figure is close to estimates of 141,500 tonnes from Refinitiv, which show sales to India in January may have plunged 80% from a year earlier to 40,400 tonnes.

Malaysia will release official export data on Monday.

Pakistan bought 1.1 million tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia last year, while India bought 4.4 million tonnes, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council.

Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Tuesday after Khan's comments and on expectations of a steep drop in production in January.

STRONG TIES

India has repeatedly objected to Mahathir speaking out against its move last year to strip Kashmir's autonomy and make it easier for non-Muslims from neighbouring Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to gain citizenship.

At the news conference, Mahathir did not refer to Kashmir but Khan did.

"The way you, PM, have stood with us and spoken about this injustice going on, on behalf of Pakistan I really want to thank you," Khan said.

He also said he was sad he had been unable to attend a summit of Muslim leaders in Malaysia in December. Saudi Arabia did not attend the summit, saying it was the wrong forum to discuss matters affecting the world's Muslims and Khan belatedly pulled out.

Some Pakistani officials, unnamed because they were not authorised to speak to the media, said at the time that Khan pulled out under pressure from Saudi Arabia, a close ally, although local media reported his officials denied that was the reason for his absence.

"Unfortunately our friends, who are very close to Pakistan as well, felt that somehow the conference was going to divide the ummah," Khan said, using the Arabic word for the Muslim community but not mentioning Saudi Arabia by name.

"It is clearly a misconception, as that was not the purpose of the conference."

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