CLIMATE CHANGE, driven by fossil fuel emissions, is raising temperatures to dangerous new heights, while also worsening drought and food security, a new report by doctors and health experts warned on Tuesday.

The record temperatures of 2023 — the hottest year on record — meant the average person experienced 50 more days of dangerous temperatures than they would have without climate change, according to the Lancet Countdown, an annual report based on work by dozens of experts, academic institutions, and United Nations (UN) agencies, including the World Health Organization.

Especially vulnerable are the elderly, with the number of heat-related deaths in people over 65 last year reaching a level 167% above the number of such deaths in the 1990s. Without climate change, researchers would have expected that number to rise by 65% from the 1990s, the report said.

“Year on year, the deaths directly associated with climate change are increasing,” said Marina Belén Romanello, executive director of the Lancet Countdown.

“But heat is also affecting not just the mortality and increasing deaths, but also increasing the diseases and the pathologies associated with heat exposure,” she said.

For example, people who exercise outdoors are increasingly at risk, she said. Companies are facing limited capacity for working outdoors.

In fact, last year’s extreme heat cost the world an estimated 512 billion potential labor hours, worth hundreds of billions of dollars in potential income, the report said.

“Similar to what we saw with the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, it is key workers who tend to be most exposed and unable to shield as easily during heatwaves, such as those working in one of our many hospitals without air-conditioning, or outdoor construction workers,” said data scientist Nathan Cheetham at King’s College London in a statement. Cheetham was not involved in the study.

Climate change is also making food more unreliable, the authors warned.

With up to 48% of the world’s land area facing extreme drought conditions last year, the researchers said, about 151 million more people would be experiencing food insecurity as a result, compared with the years 1981-2010.

Extreme rainfall last year also affected roughly 60% of lands, unleashing floods and raising risks from water contamination or infectious disease.

The study’s authors urged the upcoming UN climate summit, Conference of the Parties (COP29), to direct climate finance toward public health. The COP29 talks begin Nov. 11 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on countries to “cure the sickness of climate inaction” by slashing fossil fuel use and emissions in order “to create a fairer, safer, and healthier future for all.”  — Reuters

BEIJING — China implied on Wednesday that if US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump won the Nov. 5 election he could ‘discard’ Taiwan, saying the United States has always pursued an “America First” policy.

Mr. Trump, neck and neck in the polls with Vice-President Kamala Harris, has made comments on the campaign trail that Chinese-claimed Taiwan should pay to be protected and also accused the island of stealing American semiconductor business.

Asked about Mr. Trump’s remarks this month vowing to impose additional, massive tariffs on China if it were to “go into Taiwan” as well as about Taiwan having to pay for protection, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said Taiwan’s people had a clear understanding of US policy.

“Whether the United States is trying to protect or harm Taiwan, I believe most of our Taiwan compatriots have already made a rational judgment and know very clearly that what the United States pursues is always ‘America First’,” Zhu Fenglian told a regular news briefing.

She was referring to Mr. Trump’s favored slogan about prioritizing US interests.

Taiwan’s people know that “Taiwan at any time may turn from a pawn to a discarded child,” Ms. Zhu added, without using Mr. Trump’s name.

Ms. Zhu’s wording refers to a tactic in the game Go, in which a player sacrifices a smaller piece to secure a greater advantage or victory.

The United States is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, even in the absence of formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei.

Mr. Trump, in a weekend interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, repeated his claims about Taiwan “stealing” US chip business and needing to pay to be protected.

On Wednesday, Taiwan Economy Minister Kuo Jyh-huei told reporters in Taipei he would not be commenting, as the US election campaign was underway.

“I wish the United States well for a successful democratic election,” he added.

Taiwan received strong backing from Trump’s administration during 2017 to 2021, including arms sales, which have continued under the government of President Joseph R. Biden.

The United States announced a new arms package for Taiwan on Friday worth almost $2 billion for missile systems, which angered Beijing, as do all weapons sales to Taipei.

“I sternly warn the Lai Ching-te administration that buying weapons won’t buy security,” Ms. Zhu said, referring to Taiwan’s president whom China detests as a “separatist.”

Taiwan’s democratically elected government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future. — Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR — A Malaysian court ruled that jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak will have to defend himself against four charges of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering in a case over the scandal at state fund 1MDB, a prosecutor said on Wednesday.

Najib had been accused of illegally receiving 2.3 billion ringgit ($526 million) from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He has pleaded not guilty.

Najib, 71, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2022 after being found guilty of graft in a separate 1MDB-linked case. The sentence was later halved by a pardons board chaired by Malaysia’s king, with Najib set to be released in August 2028.

On Wednesday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that all 25 charges filed against Najib were valid and correct in law, state news agency Bernama reported.

A prosecutor involved in the case confirmed the report to Reuters, adding that Najib will take the stand in his defense.

Najib’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Najib, who was voted out in 2018 after nine years in power, issued a rare apology last week for his role in mishandling the scandal, which occurred during his tenure as prime minister and finance minister.

He maintained however he had no knowledge of any illegal transfers from the state fund he helped found, saying he was misled by others and believed that monies transferred into his personal bank accounts were political donations from the Saudi royal family.

Najib’s apology came just days after Malaysia said it would introduce a law allowing house arrest for some offences. The government later denied the law was targeted towards Najib or to help other politicians accused of corruption to escape jail.

Najib has been pushing to serve the remainder of his jail sentence at home, and is seeking a court ruling to compel the government to confirm the existence of a royal order that he said accompanied the pardons board’s decision and recommended house arrest for him.

Investigators in Malaysia and the United States say at least $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB by high-level officials of the fund and their associates between 2009 and 2014, in a globe-spanning scheme that former US attorney-general Jeff Sessions has described as “kleptocracy at its worst.”

Prosecutors say more than $1 billion of 1MDB funds made its way into Najib’s personal accounts. He faces several other trials over the scandal. — Reuters