World

SOCHI, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday promised Moscow's "total support" for Africa, at a conference with African officials in Sochi in southwest Russia.

"Our country will continue to provide total support to our African friends in different sectors," Putin said in a speech read out by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to other foreign ministers and senior officials.

Putin said Russia could help countries with "sustainable development, the struggle against terrorism and extremism, combating epidemics, food problems and the consequences of natural disasters".

The conference taking place on Saturday and Sunday comes after two Russia-Africa summits in 2019 and 2023.

Lavrov said Russia's relations with Africa have been strengthening "more and more".

"We see progress on all axes" of co-operation, he said.

The conference is another chance for Russia to promote its vision of a "multipolar world" -- a month after it hosted a BRICS summit of major emerging economies.

Russia wants to show that Western sanctions aimed at isolating it over its Ukraine offensive have failed.

Russia was a major player in Africa in Soviet times and has been growing in influence on the continent in recent years, including with the help of Russian mercenary groups and through large investments in the raw-materials sector.

MOSCOW — Russia and Ukraine both launched record drone attacks on each other overnight, as the Kremlin said it saw "positive signals" from US president-elect Donald Trump over his desire to strike a deal to end the conflict.

Trump's election to the White House has the potential to upend the almost three-year conflict and has thrown into question Washington's multi-billion dollar support for Kyiv, crucial to its defence.

The Republican said on the campaign trail that he could end the fighting within hours and has indicated he will talk directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin -- a major break from the approach struck by President Joe Biden.

Trump will not be inaugurated until January and for the moment on the battlefield and in the skies, the conflict shows no signs of subsiding.

Russia fired 145 drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said -- more than in any single night-time attack of the conflict so far.

"Last night, Russia launched a record 145 Shaheds and other strike drones against Ukraine," Zelensky said on social media, urging Kyiv's Western allies to do more to help Ukraine's defence.

Russia also said it had downed 34 Ukrainian attack drones targeting Moscow on Sunday, the largest attempted attack on the capital since the start of the offensive in 2022.

 'Positive signals' 

While having publicly claimed to be backing Kamala Harris in the US election, the Kremlin is widely believed to have actually wanted to see Trump return to the White House, welcoming his scepticism over American aid to Ukraine and his chaotic leadership style.

"The signals are positive. Trump during his election campaign talked about how he perceives everything through deals, that he can make a deal that can lead to peace," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with state media published Sunday.

"At least he's talking about peace, and not about confrontation. He isn't talking about his wish to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia -- that distinguishes him from the current administration," Peskov added.

But he warned about Trump's unpredictability, and said time would tell whether his victory could bring about an end to the Ukraine conflict.

"What will happen next, it's hard to say," Peskov said, adding that Trump was "less predictable" than Harris and Biden.

"It's also less predictable to what extent he will stick to the statements that he made on the campaign trail," Peskov added.

Trump has not said how he intends to strike a peace deal or what terms he is proposing.

Russia's president Putin has demanded Ukraine withdraw from swathes of its eastern and southern territory as a precondition to peace talks.

Following Trump's election, Zelensky warned there should be "no concessions" to Putin, saying ceding land or giving in to any of his other hardline demands would only embolden the Kremlin and lead to more aggression.

Zelensky has also previously warned that without US aid Kyiv would lose the war.

 'Massive' attack 

Talk of a US-brokered deal comes with Russia advancing on the battlefield.

Moscow's troops made their largest territorial gains in October since March 2022, according to AFP analysis of data from the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Moscow's defence ministry claimed Sunday to have captured another village in Ukraine's east.

Kyiv's attempted drone strike on Moscow was its largest attack on the Russian capital of the conflict, with Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov calling it "massive".

It forced the temporary closure of three airports, wounded a 52-year-old woman and set two homes on fire in the village of Stanovoye in the Moscow region, officials said.

While the Ukrainian capital Kyiv is regularly targeted by massive Russian drone and missile strikes, attacks on Moscow are much less frequent.

The defence ministry said Russia's air defence had downed a total of 70 Ukrainian drones between 0400 GMT and 0700 GMT over six regions.

It said 34 were downed over the Moscow region and the rest over Bryansk, Orlov, Kaluga, Tula and Kursk.

In the Moscow region, local officials said the drones were downed in the Ramenskoye, Kolomna and Domodedovo districts.

In the previous largest drone attack on or near Moscow in September, a woman was killed in Ramenskoye -- the first time someone has been killed in a Ukrainian attack near the capital.

In May 2023, two drones were destroyed near the Kremlin and in the same year there were several drone attacks on the Moscow City business district.

PARIS — Record-breaking heat, extreme weather events, air pollution and the spread of infectious disease: climate change poses an already vast yet rising threat to the health of humans around the world, experts warn.

The latest round of UN climate talks begin next week during what is expected to be the hottest year in recorded history -- and in the shadow of climate sceptic Donald Trump's re-election as US president.

The COP29 negotiations will be held in Azerbaijan as the world continues to emit increasing levels of planet-heating fossil fuels, even as many nations have been lashed by devastating floods, droughts, heatwaves and storms.

"Climate change is making us sick, and urgent action is a matter of life and death," the World Health Organization warned this week.

Here are some of the ways that global warming affects health.

Extreme heat 

The EU's climate monitor said this week that 2024 is "virtually certain" to surpass last year to become the hottest year in recorded history. It is also expected to be the first year that is more than 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average.

Out of 15 ways that climate change impacts health being tracked by experts as part of The Lancet Countdown, 10 have now "reached concerning new records", according to the group's latest report.

The number of over-65s who died from heat has risen by 167 percent since the 1990s, just one of the recent all-time highs, the report said.

Extreme heat leads to numerous health risks such as kidney disorders, strokes, adverse pregnancy outcomes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, organ failure and ultimately death.

Jeni Miller, executive director of the Global Climate and Health Alliance, said "this year has underlined the growing impacts of a warming climate on people's health and wellbeing".

She pointed to extreme heat leading to 700 deaths and more than 40,000 cases of heat stroke in India, "climate-exacerbated" rains causing a dam to collapse in Nigeria killing 320, and 48 out of 50 US states "experiencing moderate or worse drought".

Spain is, meanwhile, still recovering from its deadliest floods in a generation, while parts of the United States and Cuba are picking up the pieces after recent hurricanes.

Droughts, floods and other extreme weather events are also expected to hit global crops, leading to rising hunger in many regions.

Air pollution 

Almost all -- 99 per cent -- of the world's population breathes air that exceeds the World Health Organisation's(WHO) guidelines for air pollution.

This pollution has been found to increase the risk of respiratory diseases, strokes, heart disease, lung cancer, diabetes and other health problems, posing a threat that has been compared to tobacco.

Almost 7 million premature deaths a year are linked to air pollution, according to the WHO.

Just last week, Pakistan's second-biggest city Lahore recorded air pollution at 40 times the level deemed acceptable by the WHO.

In better news, the Lancet Countdown report found that deaths from fossil fuel-related air pollution fell by nearly seven percent from 2016 to 2021, mainly due to efforts to reduce pollution from burning coal.

Infectious diseases 

The changing climate means that mosquitoes, birds and mammals will roam beyond their previous habitats, raising the threat that they could spread infectious diseases with them.

Dengue, chikungunya, Zika, West Nile virus and malaria are all mosquito-borne diseases that could spread wider in a warming world.

The transmission risk of one dengue-spreading mosquito has risen by 43 per cent over the last 60 years, according to the Lancet Countdown. A new global record of over five million dengue cases was recorded last year.

Storms and floods create stagnant water that are breeding grounds for mosquitoes, and also increase the risk of water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and diarrhoea.

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump won a sweeping victory in the US presidential election on Wednesday, defeating Kamala Harris in a stunning political comeback that sent shock waves across the world.

The polarizing Republican's win, following one of the most hostile campaigns in modern US history, was all the more remarkable given an unprecedented criminal conviction, a near-miss assassination attempt, and warnings from a former chief of staff that he is a "fascist."

"It's a political victory that our country has never seen before," Trump told a victory party in Florida.

As supporters chanted "USA!", the 78-year-old added that his "magnificent" win would "allow us to make America great again."

World leaders swiftly pledged to work with Trump, led by Israel and Ukraine where the course of raging conflicts could depend on the new president and his isolationist "America First" foreign policy.

Vice President Harris, who only entered the race in July after President Joe Biden dropped out, ran a centrist campaign that highlighted Trump's inflammatory messaging and use of openly racist and sexist tropes.

But his apocalyptic warnings about immigration and championing of isolationism found their mark with voters battered by the post-Covid economy and eager for a change from the Biden years.

The campaign pointed to a nail-bitingly close contest, but the results came surprisingly fast, delivering a crushing victory that included wins in the swing states of Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Gloom descended on her campaign and Harris cut short a planned watch party and canceled a speech. She is now due to speak later Wednesday.

Change and turmoil 

Trump is the first president in more than a century to win a non-consecutive second term.

He is also the only person to be elected as a convicted felon -- he will face sentencing in a New York court for fraud on November 26.

Trump is on course to break another record as the oldest-ever sitting president during his four-year term. He will surpass Biden who is set to step down in January at the age of 82.

The dollar surged, stocks rallied and bitcoin struck a record high Wednesday as news of his victory emerged.

But turmoil likely lies ahead.

Trump's victory comes with a promise of radical policy shifts -- not just at home but also abroad.

He has repeatedly suggested he would end the conflict in Ukraine by pressuring Kyiv to cede land to Russia, and his threat of mass deportations of illegal immigrants has stirred deep concern in Latin America.

He also returns to the White House as a climate change denier, poised to dismantle his predecessor Biden's green policies and jeopardize global efforts to curb human-caused warming.

Even before Trump's victory was fully confirmed, foreign leaders rushed to send congratulations.

These included longtime Trump allies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Also messaging Trump was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is predicted to see a rapid reduction in US military aid once Biden leaves office.

Zelensky said he hoped Trump's "impressive victory" would help his country find a "just peace."

The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin, on whom Trump has often lavished praise, did not plan to congratulate him.

NATO's chief, Mark Rutte, said Trump, who has frequently expressed displeasure with the US-led alliance, would make it "strong." 

Showman's instinct 

For all his dark promises of political revenge against enemies at home and his criticisms of allies overseas, Trump remains famously unpredictable when it comes to matching words with actions.

His campaign rallies, filled with grievance, insults and misinformation, featured extreme rhetoric.

But he won positive coverage with viral online moments that played on his everyman appeal and his showman's instinct -- like his appearance at a McDonald's drive-thru and impromptu news conference from a garbage truck.

Star supporters like tech baron Elon Musk helped appeal to young men.

He campaigned on tax cuts, less regulation and the most significant increase in import tariffs in nearly a century to promote growth and boost manufacturing, despite warnings of trade wars and higher prices for US consumers.

Trump often lurched into foul language and violent imagery. But that hard-charging style played well with his unfailingly loyal base, which sees him as a Washington outsider.

When Harris joined the race in July, replacing Biden, she soon closed the yawning gap Trump had in opinion polls.

Her message of unity, focus on abortion rights and warnings of the threat Trump posed to democracy appeared to resonate, evidenced by a huge surge in fundraising.