乡约

Northern Europe braces for gale-force winds and extensive floods_我的网站

模范秘书

A | London, Oct 18 (UNI) Former British military pilots are being lured to China with large sums of money to pass on their expertise to the Chinese military, it is claimed.
Up to 30 former UK military pilots are thought to have gone to train members of China's People's Liberation Army, BBC reported.
The UK is issuing an intelligence alert to warn former military pilots against working for the Chinese military, the BBC said.
Attempts to headhunt pilots are ongoing and had been ramping up recently, Western officials say.
A spokesperson from the Ministry of Defence said the training and the recruiting of pilots does not breach any current UK law but officials in the UK and other countries are trying to deter the activity, the report said.
"It is a lucrative package that is being offered to people," said one official. "Money is a strong motivator." Some of the packages are thought to be as much as $270,000.
The retired British pilots are being used to help understand the way in which Western planes and pilots operate, information which could be vital in the event of any conflict, such as over Taiwan.
"They are a very attractive body of people to then pass on that knowledge," a Western official said. "It's taking Western pilots of great experience to help develop Chinese military air force tactics and capabilities."
The UK first became aware of a small number of cases of former military pilots being recruited in 2019 which were dealt with on a case-by-case basis, the BBC said.
The Covid-19 pandemic slowed attempts down, when travel to China was almost impossible but the attempts have now increased, leading to this alert.
The pilots have experience on fast jets and helicopters and come from across the military and not just the Royal Air Force. They have flown Typhoons, Jaguars, Harriers and Tornados.
F-35 pilots are not thought to be involved although China is thought to be interested in them. Some of the pilots are in their late 50s and left the military some time ago.
Pilots of other allied nations have also been targeted.
"We are taking decisive steps to stop Chinese recruitment schemes attempting to headhunt serving and former UK Armed Forces pilots to train People's Liberation Army personnel in the People's Republic of China," a Defence Ministry spokesperson said.
"All serving and former personnel are already subject to the Official Secrets Act, and we are reviewing the use of confidentiality contracts and non-disclosure agreements across Defence, while the new National Security Bill will create additional tools to tackle contemporary security challenges - including this one."
UNI MR。 LONDON -- Hundreds of people were being evacuated from their homes and schools closed in parts of Scotland on Thursday, as much of northern Europe braced for stormy weather, heavy rain and gale-force winds from the east.The U.K.'s weather forecaster, the Met Office, issued a rare red alert — the highest level of weather warning — for parts of Scotland, predicting “exceptional rainfall” Thursday and Friday that is expected to cause extensive flooding and “danger to life from fast-flowing or deep floodwater.” The last red alert in the U.K. was issued in 2020.Forecasters say the storm, named Babet by U.K. officials, could bring more than a month’s worth of rain in the worst-affected regions in Scotland.Babet already brought flooding to several towns and villages in Ireland, with some areas remaining under water and without power Thursday. Soldiers helped with evacuation measures in the town of Midleton in County Cork, where more than 100 properties were flooded.In the town of Brechin, near Scotland's eastern coast, officials told residents of about 400 houses to evacuate to local rest centers. Local schools were closed and will remain shut on Friday.In Denmark, residents scrambled to place sandbags along exposed areas. In Assens on the central island of Funen, emergency services deployed huge rubber tubes in the harbor to counter rising water levels, broadcaster TV2 reported. Southern Denmark police urged people along the east coast to leave exposed areas if the weather predictions remain, saying cottages, harbors and other places could be flooded.TV2 reported that the region would likely see the worst flooding in 110 years, and the Danish Meteorological Institute said waves could reach 4 meters (13 feet) along east-facing coasts. The southeastern Danish town of Koege wrote on its Facebook page that emergency workers were busy filling sandbags and urged citizens to “avoid unnecessary baths, dishes, laundry and other water-intensive activities,” saying “the municipality’s treatment plant was at risk of being overloaded.”Police in the area warned that roads may be blocked, urged people to secure valuables and advised against sleeping on their boats in the harbors, saying that "if something happens, emergency services cannot get to them,” police spokesperson Brian Bang-Rasmussen said.Copenhagen's airport and the Danish national rail company warned of cancellations and delays Friday because of bad weather. Several ferry lines between Danish islands were suspended, as were ferries to Rostock in northern Germany and to Oslo.Swedish meteorologists also issued a warning for the south coast from Friday evening and Saturday. They said that the water level in southern parts of Sweden may reach its highest level since the 1990s.In Germany, authorities warned of high water in bays in Schleswig-Holstein, south of the Denmark border, until mid-Saturday.Authorities also warned of high water in the next two days on the Baltic Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany’s northernmost state, with water levels of up to 2 meters (6.6 feet) above average possible in the inlet where the city of Flensburg is located. Some ferries to the North Sea islands of Foehr and Amrum were delayed or canceled, German news agency dpa reported.Norwegian meteorologists said a strong low-pressure area over Great Britain combined with high pressure over northern Scandinavia was creating strong east-northeasterly winds, with ”very strong gusts" expected to hit southern Norway from the east.___Olsen reported from Copenhagen, Denmark.___This story corrects that the town of Koege is in southeastern, not southwestern, Denmark.。