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Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Photo: AFP / Sergey Guneev / Sputnik Russia has confirmed that Donald Trump sent the Kremlin sample Covid-19 tests in the early days of the pandemic, after revelations in veteran journalist Bob Woodward's new book raised further questions about the former US president's relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The Trump administration "sent us several samples of test kits," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday, broadly supporting Woodward's claim. His intervention comes after Trump denied the claims, telling ABC News they were "false". Legendary reporter Woodward wrote in War that Trump "secretly sent Putin a bunch of Abbott Point of Care Covid test machines for his personal use". "Please don't tell anybody you sent these...

By Jeff Mason, Reuters US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves as she arrives at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 9 September 2024. Photo: JIM WATSON / AFP Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, released a letter from her doctor on Saturday (US time) that pronounced her in good health and fit for high office, in an effort to draw a contrast with her counterpart, Donald Trump. In a memo distributed by the White House, the vice president's physician, Joshua Simmons, said Harris's most recent physical exam in April was "unremarkable", that she maintains an active lifestyle and "very healthy diet" despite a busy schedule, suffers from seasonal allergies and sporadic hives, does not use tob...

By Kristen Holmes, Holmes Lybrand and Kaitlan Collins, CNN Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt in July while speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Photo: Rebecca DROKE / AFP After two attempted assassinations and an ongoing threat from Iran, Donald Trump's campaign has ramped up requests for security, including transport by military aircraft and additional security measures on the ground at the former president's campaign stops, three sources familiar with the discussions told CNN. Trump's campaign wants to use these resources - including access to military aircraft with deterrent systems to protect against surface-to-air missiles - as the former president crisscrosses the US during the final weeks of the presidential campaign. President Joe Biden, when asked about ...

By Gerard Martinez, AFP Flooded streets in Punta Gorda, Florida, after Hurricane Milton bowled through. Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP Florida resident Kristin Hale weathered Hurricane Milton tired and scared, but like many of her fellow Floridians, she refuses to move away - even after a second hurricane has hit the state in as many weeks. "You persevere when you live in Florida," the 42-year-old said as she moved tree branches and other debris out of the restaurant she runs on Siesta Key, an idyllic island located between Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico on the state's west coast. "When you live in paradise, that's what you pay for," she added. "We have some of the best beaches in the world, they're just absolutely stunning. We are blessed." Even though the southeastern US state is...

By Issy Ronald for CNN Andrew Irvine (back row, far left) and George Mallory (back row, second from left) were members of the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition. Photo: Supplied / Royal Geographic Society When a National Geographic documentary team discovered a boot and sock sticking out of a melting glacier on Mount Everest in September, they almost immediately recognised its significance as a clue to a century-old mystery. A name label still stitched onto the woollen sock read "A.C. Irvine," revealing that it probably belonged to British climber Andrew "Sandy" Irvine. Irvine's disappearance on Everest in 1924, alongside his compatriot George Mallory, is one of mountaineering's biggest mysteries - with a solution that has the potential to change history. The pair disappeared on 8...

A police officer has been suspended after she allegedly performed the banned Nazi salute on two occasions. (file photo) Photo: 123RF Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton has apologised to the Jewish community after allegations were made about a sergeant performing a Nazi salute in front of police recruits. Police allege a 65-year-old sergeant from People Development Command (PDC) made the gesture on two occasions this week at the Victoria Police Academy in Glen Waverley in Melbourne's south-east. PDC is the training unit for sworn members of Victoria Police from recruits through to executive leaders. The Nazi salute is illegal in Victoria and carries a maximum penalty of $24,000 or 12 months' jail. Patton said the sergeant had been a police officer for 40 years and spent 16 y...

By Gwladys Fouche, Chang-Ran Kim for Reuters Lanterns are lit by the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima to mark the 78th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack. (file photo) Photo: STR / AFP Japanese organisation Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, has won the Nobel Peace Prize, in a warning to countries that have nuclear weapons not to use them. Many survivors of the only two nuclear bombs ever to be used in conflict, who are known in Japanese as "hibakusha", have dedicated their lives to the struggle for a nuclear-free world. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its citation the group was receiving the Peace Prize for "its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimo...

By Stephen Collinson of CNN Obama in Pennyslvania. Photo: AFP / Ryan Collerd Analysis: Exactly 16 years ago, an impossibly young-looking Barack Obama was barnstorming through Ohio on a bus tour Analysis: - Exactly 16 years ago, an impossibly young-looking Barack Obama was barnstorming through Ohio on a bus tour, electrifying huge crowds and emphatically closing the deal on his thumping 2008 election victory. On another October night on Thursday, the 63-year-old ex-president was back on stage, with a vast American flag for a backdrop, trying to do for Kamala Harris what she's so far struggled to do herself - put away the 2024 election. The snowy haired Obama had swapped Ohio, which ceased to be a closely contested presidential state as soon as he left the White House, for this year's ...

By Gerard Martinez for AFP A woman sits outside her home in Tampa, Florida, as people remove debris and clean their homes after flooding caused by Hurricane Milton. Photo: AFP/Giorgio Viera Hurricane Milton has left at least 16 people dead as residents begin the painful process of piecing their lives and homes back together. Nearly 2.5 million households and businesses were still without power, and some areas in the path cut through the Sunshine State by the monster storm from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean remained flooded. Milton crashed into the Gulf Coast late Wednesday as a Category 3 storm, smashing communities still reeling from Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, which killed 237 people across the US southeast, including in Florida. On Siesta Key, a beautiful barrier is...

m By Emma Farge for Reuters Palestinian forensic and civil defence recover human remains at the grounds of Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza's largest hospital, which was reduced to ashes by a two-week Israeli raid. Photo: - A United Nations inquiry says it found that Israel carried out a concerted policy of destroying Gaza's healthcare system in the Gaza war, actions amounting to both war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination. A statement by former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay that accompanied the report accused Israel of "relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities" in the war, triggered by Hamas militants' deadly cross-border attack on southern Israel on 7 October, 2023. "Children in particular have borne the brunt of these att...