The World Health Organization has said it delivered 1.2m doses of polio vaccine to Gaza, with 400,000 more to follow, as part of an emergency campaign after the first case of the childhood disease in the war-hit coastal strip in a quarter of a century.

The vaccinations, due to begin this weekend, will be accompanied by three-day pauses in the fighting in several areas of the territory to allow the inoculation of more than 640,000 children.

However, UN officials warned that Hamas and the Israeli military “must respect” the humanitarian pauses negotiated to allow the vaccinations, after two incidents this week – one deadly – when Israeli forces fired on aid vehicles, raising questions over how safely the vaccinations could be conducted.

Underlining the scale of the challenge one WHO official said the plan was “not ideal” but added that it would be feasible “if all the pieces of the puzzle” were in place.

The WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, confirmed vaccinations were due to start on Sunday with daily pauses scheduled to take place between 6am and 3pm.

UN officials have said the vaccination campaign will be carried out in three-day phases in different zones of the Gaza Strip.

The campaign has been organised after the WHO said earlier this month that a baby had been paralysed by the type 2 polio virus, prompting UN agencies to urge an urgent vaccination effort.

It will involve more than 2,000 health and community workers at several hundred locations.

“From Sunday, we’re giving out two oral doses of the polio vaccination, and then four weeks after this initial round of campaigns we will need to repeat the vaccination again. This is for 640,000 children across the Gaza Strip,” Louise Wateridge, a UN official, told the BBC.

“It’s so important that we get this vaccination campaign out as soon as possible, and that we have the safety to do this, because the repercussions will be disastrous for not just children in the Gaza Strip but children in the region. And they have already been put through so much.”

In response to concerns over the safety of aid workers and families during the campaign, Catherine Russell, the executive director of Unicef, said the humanitarian pauses must be respected.

“UNICEF is ready to start the first round of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza on Sunday to reach nearly 640,000 children. All parties MUST respect the area-specific humanitarian pauses to stop polio from spreading in Gaza and the region,” she wrote on X.

“If fighting doesn’t stop, polio vaccinators are unable to reach children. Gaza has been polio free for 25 years until now. Failing to respect these pauses would be an unforgivable failure for the children in Gaza and the region, who have already suffered so much.”

On Thursday, an Israeli missile hit a convoy carrying medical supplies and fuel to an Emirati hospital in the Gaza Strip, killing five Palestinians from a local transportation company, the American Near East Refugee Aid group (Anera) said on Friday.

Israel claimed without immediate evidence that it opened fire after gunmen seized the convoy. Sandra Rasheed, the Palestine director at Anera, said: “The convoy, which was coordinated by Anera and approved by Israeli authorities, included an Anera employee who was fortunately unharmed.

“Despite this devastating incident, our understanding is that the remaining vehicles in the convoy were able to continue and successfully deliver the aid to the hospital. We are urgently seeking further details about what happened.” Anera planned to release more information on Friday.

An Israeli military spokesperson, Lt Col Avichay Adraee, posted on X that “gunmen seized a car at the head of the convoy (a Jeep) and began driving”.

Israeli forces had opened fire on aid convoys in the Gaza Strip before this week’s incidents.

The World Food Programme announced on Wednesday that it was pausing all staff movement in Gaza until further notice after Israeli troops opened fire on one of its marked vehicles, hitting it with at least 10 rounds. The shooting came despite having received multiple clearances from Israeli authorities.

On 23 July, Unicef said two of its vehicles were hit with live ammunition while waiting at a designated holding point.

A sustained Israeli attack on a convoy in April hit three World Central Kitchen vehicles, killing seven people.

Russia has continued to make rapid advances in eastern Ukraine toward the key city of Pokrovsk, sparking public criticism of the Ukrainian military leadership and raising questions about Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s decision to launch a bold incursion into the Russian Kursk region.

For months, Russian forces have attempted to seize Pokrovsk, a strategically important mining town with a prewar population of about 60,000, but their advance has gained considerable momentum in recent weeks.

Deep State, a Ukrainian group close to Ukraine’s defence ministry that tracks frontline activities, reported that Russian forces on Friday were less than 10km (6 miles) from the outskirts of Pokrovsk, where local officials have ordered a mass evacuation.

Russian pro-war military bloggers also reported on Friday that forces had entered the nearby city of Selydove, south of Pokrovsk.

As Vladimir Putin’s troops advanced on Pokrovsk, Russia also shelled a residential building and a children’s playground in Kharkiv, killing at least five people, including a child, and leaving 40 people injured, according to the city’s mayor.

Videos circulating on social media showed flames pouring out of the high-rise building, which officials said was hit with a glide bomb. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, has come under relentless shelling since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Located at the intersection of several key roads, Pokrovsk facilitates the supply of Ukrainian forces across a broad frontline and its loss could open the way for further Russian advances in the Donetsk region.

“The situation is very bad, and it deteriorated quickly,” said a commander whose troops are stationed near Pokrovsk, speaking on the condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.

“Time will tell if we should have sent troops to Kursk instead of defending the east. But for now, we are suffering,” he added.

Kyiv’s surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region earlier this month provided a welcome boost to morale at home and raised hopes that the gutsy attack might prompt Moscow to redeploy its troops away from the eastern front.

But more than three weeks into the operation, Ukraine’s military has admitted that Russia has not yet committed its forces in eastern Ukraine to recapture its own territory, while Kyiv’s progress in the Kursk region has significantly slowed down.

Ukraine continues to hold a chunk of Russian territory and in Sumy, the Ukrainian city closest to the operation, signs of the incursion are everywhere, with an increased military presence in the city and frequent sightings of military hardware headed in the direction of Russia.

On Friday, Russian strikes on Sumy killed two women and wounded eight other people, regional officials said, claiming guided air bombs had been used to strike a factory. There are regular strikes on areas close to the border. Regional authorities urged residents of these areas to evacuate as soon as possible. Already, more than 20,000 people have left the border areas.

Ukraine’s top general, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said last week Moscow had redeployed 30,000 troops to recapture its territories in the Kursk region, with some troops shifted from the occupied south of Ukraine.

Crucially, he also said that Russia was simultaneously increasing its efforts in the Pokrovsk sectors.

A popular Ukrainian commentator and officer in the army’s reserves, who goes by the online handle Tatarigami, said the breach in the frontline in the Donetsk region was “worsened” by the Kursk offensive, which he said “diverted experienced and motivated brigades, stripping stabilisation reserves and allowing Russian forces to advance rapidly.”

He also accused the Ukrainian military leadership of underplaying the gravity of the situation.

“Unfortunately, the high command is still receiving reports about the ‘controlled situation’, which is far from being controlled … Lies, lies, lies,” he tweeted.

Zelenskiy this week rejected charges that the redeployment of experienced troops to Kursk had weakened Ukraine’s position in Pokrovsk.

During a press conference on Tuesday, the Ukrainian president described the situation in Pokrovsk as “extremely difficult” but argued that the incursion had actually slowed down Russian advances toward the city.

However, open-source data, along with military analysts close to the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian bloggers, paints a different picture, showing a deteriorating frontline since 6 August when Ukrainian forces first entered Kursk.

Even before Ukraine decided to send troops to Kursk, the country had been on the back foot in eastern Ukraine for months, grappling with delayed western aid while its forces remained outnumbered and exhausted.

Some Ukrainian soldiers have stated that the Kursk incursion was not to blame for the collapse on the frontlines. Instead, they attribute the difficulties to troop exhaustion, with some soldiers having been engaged in combat since the start of the invasion more than two years ago.

“At the moment, it looks like our front in Donbas has collapsed,” Roman Ponomarenko, a brigade officer at the revered Azov Brigade wrote on Telegram.

“The defence of the Ukrainian armed forces is disorganised, the troops are tired, weakened, and many units are demoralised … And it’s not because of the Ukrainian armed forces’ operation in Kursk.”

Ukraine has since managed to partially replenish its forces through strict new government conscription laws that have lowered the draft age from 27 to 25.

However, the newly mobilised troops appear to be sent to the frontlines with limited military training.

“The replenishment received is mostly untrained and does not help; instead, it complicates the combat operations of the units,” Ponomarenko wrote.

In an interview last week with Associated Press, a battalion commander in Ukraine’s 47th Brigade said that some of the newly mobilised shoulders “don’t want to shoot”.

“They see the enemy in the firing position in trenches but don’t open fire … That is why our men are dying.”

Ukraine’s morale took a further hit with the news of the crash of the first western-supplied F-16 fighter jet, which resulted in the death of the well-known pilot Oleksiy Mes, who went by the call sign Moonfish.

Mes was part of the first group of experienced Ukrainian pilots trained in the west to fly F-16s.

The Ukrainian military reported that the jet crashed while repelling a major Russian attack on Monday, though one Ukrainian lawmaker claimed that the jet was downed by friendly fire.

The social media platform X faces the prospect of a ban in Brazil after failing to meet a court-imposed 24-hour deadline to appoint a legal representative in the country.

The deadline expired at 8.07pm local time on Thursday (0.07am BST on Friday). An hour later, Elon Musk’s social network announced it would not comply.

The dispute began in April when the supreme court judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of dozens of accounts for allegedly spreading disinformation – a request Musk has denounced as censorship.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said in a radio interview on Friday morning: “Just because the guy [Musk] has a lot of money doesn’t mean they can disrespect you … Who does he think he is?”

X, formerly known as Twitter, has been without a legal representative in Brazil since 17 August, when Musk announced that his company was shutting down its operations in the country “effective immediately” due to what it called “censorship orders” from Moraes. The service has remained available to users in the country.

Moraes’ April order to X to block some accounts stemmed from an investigation into “digital militias” who backed former president Jair Bolsonaro’s attempts to stay in power after his 2022 election defeat. After Musk refused to comply, the judge included him in his investigation.

On Wednesday, Moraes gave the company 24 hours to appoint a new legal representative in Brazil – a requirement for foreign companies operating in the country – “under penalty of immediate suspension of the social network’s activities”.

In the post announcing its non-compliance with the order, X said it “would not comply with his [Moraes’] illegal orders to censor his political opponents”.

Asked on Friday about Musk’s refusal to comply, Lula said: “Any and all citizens from anywhere in the world who have investments in Brazil are subject to the Brazilian constitution and Brazilian laws.”

The president said Musk “must respect the decision of the Brazilian supreme court … If not, this country will never be sovereign”.

It is not clear whether or when the social network will be suspended.

Moraes may either make a solo decision or bring it before the supreme court’s full bench, which, according to ministers who have reportedly spoken privately to the Brazilian press, is inclined to support their colleague.

Even if a suspension order is issued, the social network will probably not shut down immediately.

There are several bureaucratic steps to follow: first, the court gives the order to the National Telecommunications Agency, which must pass it on to the more than 20,000 broadband internet providers in the country, each of which must block X.

A simple use of a VPN, according to experts, would be sufficient to circumvent the suspension.

It was also revealed on Thursday that on 18 August – a day after Musk announced the end of X’s operations in Brazil – Moraes blocked the local bank accounts for Musk’s satellite and internet provider Starlink. The aim was to enforce fines imposed on X for refusing to remove profiles accused of promoting anti-democratic acts and false news.

The two firms are part of Musk’s sprawling business empire, which includes the rocket company SpaceX and the electric car company Tesla. The billionaire owns X and 40% of SpaceX, and is the chief executive of Tesla.

Legal experts have criticised the Starlink decision. They argue that it is a different company (albeit owned by the same person) and should not be held responsible for matters pertaining to X.

In an email to its clients, Starlink criticised the decision and stated: “Although this illegal request may affect our ability to receive your monthly payment … we will continue to provide services to you free of charge, if necessary.”

Starlink, which is the dominant internet provider in the Amazon, remains operational for now.

The superyacht that capsized off the coast of Sicily this month, in which the British tech magnate Mike Lynch and six others died, could only have sunk because of human error, according to the chief executive of the company that owns the vessel’s manufacturer.

It is thought the Bayesian was struck by a downburst – a gusty wind associated with storms – causing the vessel to capsize and sink within minutes. The victims included Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah. Fifteen people survived, including Lynch’s wife, whose company owned the Bayesian.

“The first thought when I read the news of the sinking was that there was a problem related to the management of the boat or the fact that the hull may have hit a rock,” said Giovanni Costantino, the chief executive of the Italian Sea Group, which owns the Bayesian’s manufacturer, Perini Navi.

“But when the passengers declared they had not heard a loud noise onboard, which would have meant that the yacht had struck a reef, I realised the yacht had taken on water due to a hatch that was left open. Otherwise the Bayesian cannot sink.”

Italian prosecutors have placed three crew members under investigation for manslaughter and shipwreck, including the captain of the yacht, James Cutfield, 51, from New Zealand. Being investigated in Italy does not imply guilt and does not mean formal charges will follow.

The yacht was built by Perini in 2008, and named Salute. Lynch acquired it in 2014 and changed the name to Bayesian, after the 18th-century mathematician Thomas Bayes, whose work on probability informed Lynch’s professional thinking.

Perini Navi was founded in 1983, and filed for bankruptcy in February 2021. In December of the same year, the Italian Sea Group secured the acquisition of the brand and several Perini properties for €80m (£67m). Costantino’s company bears no responsibility for vessels constructed by Perini Navi before its acquisition, including the Bayesian.

Nevertheless, he said he had a sense of duty to show support for and defend the Perini brand. “Seven people have died onboard a vessel with our brand, which is why I want to speak up, also out of respect and closeness to the families who have lost relatives and friends,” said Costantino. “I imagine the crew is going through the worst moment of their lives. However, something in the way they handled the situation did not work. There was a chain of human errors.”

After the incident, Costantino delved into the maritime routes of the Bayesian that night, reviewed the weather bulletin predicting an approaching storm, and examined footage from surveillance cameras capturing the final moments of the sinking ship.

“The strong wind arrived at 3.50am,” he said. “Up until that moment, the Bayesian was still anchored. From 3.50 to 4.03, the ship moved as it was dragged by the wind, tilting towards the side where there is a lateral hatch that leads to the garage [where jetskis, inflatables and other water sports kit is stored]. In the garage, there is another door leading to the engine room. If that door was open, it means that water has also entered the engine room, causing the inevitable sinking.”

The ship’s engineer, Tim Parker Eaton, who was in charge of the engine room, and sailor Matthew Griffith are also being investigated.

Italian prosecutors have suggested the sinking could have been the result of human error, but officials have also indicated it would be challenging to conduct a thorough inquiry without recovering the wreck.

Costantino said vessels such as the Bayesian must able to float even if a single compartment is flooded. “I can tell you with certainty that the ship took on water in these 13 minutes. It took on water not only flooding the garage but also the engine room,” he said.

In recent days, experts, sailors, and captains have speculated about potential flaws in the management of the incident or the vessel that could have led to the sinking. However, they emphasise that these are merely conjectures, and the families of the victims will need to await the conclusion of the investigations to understand what happened.

Costantino also said the Sir Robert Baden Powell, a Dutch-flagged sailing vessel built in 1957 and located about 150 metres (492ft) from the Bayesian when the storm struck, did not suffer damage.

“A ship from those years cannot have the technology of the Bayesian,” he said. “Yet that ship did not suffer damage. Its crew had prepared it well to face the storm. They even managed to provide assistance to the Bayesian.”

He added: “The local fishermen did not go out that night. These people took the weather conditions seriously. How did the crew of the Bayesian not take the meteorological bulletin seriously? I struggle to explain it. How did they, when they realised they were losing the ship, not think of rescuing the passengers who were in the cabins? At the moment, only God knows.”

Cutfield’s lawyers said they were “currently working alongside other legal representatives to evaluate the defence strategy and review the technical aspects of the case”.

Costantino is optimistic the investigation will shed light on tragedy. “I expect the truth to come to light, for the sake of justice for those who have died.”

The superyacht that capsized off the coast of Sicily this month, in which the British tech magnate Mike Lynch and six others died, could only have sunk because of human error, according to the chief executive of the company that owns the vessel’s manufacturer.

It is thought the Bayesian was struck by a downburst – a gusty wind associated with storms – causing the vessel to capsize and sink within minutes. The victims included Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah. Fifteen people survived, including Lynch’s wife, whose company owned the Bayesian.

“The first thought when I read the news of the sinking was that there was a problem related to the management of the boat or the fact that the hull may have hit a rock,” said Giovanni Costantino, the chief executive of the Italian Sea Group, which owns the Bayesian’s manufacturer, Perini Navi.

“But when the passengers declared they had not heard a loud noise onboard, which would have meant that the yacht had struck a reef, I realised the yacht had taken on water due to a hatch that was left open. Otherwise the Bayesian cannot sink.”

Italian prosecutors have placed three crew members under investigation for manslaughter and shipwreck, including the captain of the yacht, James Cutfield, 51, from New Zealand. Being investigated in Italy does not imply guilt and does not mean formal charges will follow.

The yacht was built by Perini in 2008, and named Salute. Lynch acquired it in 2014 and changed the name to Bayesian, after the 18th-century mathematician Thomas Bayes, whose work on probability informed Lynch’s professional thinking.

Perini Navi was founded in 1983, and filed for bankruptcy in February 2021. In December of the same year, the Italian Sea Group secured the acquisition of the brand and several Perini properties for €80m (£67m). Costantino’s company bears no responsibility for vessels constructed by Perini Navi before its acquisition, including the Bayesian.

Nevertheless, he said he had a sense of duty to show support for and defend the Perini brand. “Seven people have died onboard a vessel with our brand, which is why I want to speak up, also out of respect and closeness to the families who have lost relatives and friends,” said Costantino. “I imagine the crew is going through the worst moment of their lives. However, something in the way they handled the situation did not work. There was a chain of human errors.”

After the incident, Costantino delved into the maritime routes of the Bayesian that night, reviewed the weather bulletin predicting an approaching storm, and examined footage from surveillance cameras capturing the final moments of the sinking ship.

“The strong wind arrived at 3.50am,” he said. “Up until that moment, the Bayesian was still anchored. From 3.50 to 4.03, the ship moved as it was dragged by the wind, tilting towards the side where there is a lateral hatch that leads to the garage [where jetskis, inflatables and other water sports kit is stored]. In the garage, there is another door leading to the engine room. If that door was open, it means that water has also entered the engine room, causing the inevitable sinking.”

The ship’s engineer, Tim Parker Eaton, who was in charge of the engine room, and sailor Matthew Griffith are also being investigated.

Italian prosecutors have suggested the sinking could have been the result of human error, but officials have also indicated it would be challenging to conduct a thorough inquiry without recovering the wreck.

Costantino said vessels such as the Bayesian must able to float even if a single compartment is flooded. “I can tell you with certainty that the ship took on water in these 13 minutes. It took on water not only flooding the garage but also the engine room,” he said.

In recent days, experts, sailors, and captains have speculated about potential flaws in the management of the incident or the vessel that could have led to the sinking. However, they emphasise that these are merely conjectures, and the families of the victims will need to await the conclusion of the investigations to understand what happened.

Costantino also said the Sir Robert Baden Powell, a Dutch-flagged sailing vessel built in 1957 and located about 150 metres (492ft) from the Bayesian when the storm struck, did not suffer damage.

“A ship from those years cannot have the technology of the Bayesian,” he said. “Yet that ship did not suffer damage. Its crew had prepared it well to face the storm. They even managed to provide assistance to the Bayesian.”

He added: “The local fishermen did not go out that night. These people took the weather conditions seriously. How did the crew of the Bayesian not take the meteorological bulletin seriously? I struggle to explain it. How did they, when they realised they were losing the ship, not think of rescuing the passengers who were in the cabins? At the moment, only God knows.”

Cutfield’s lawyers said they were “currently working alongside other legal representatives to evaluate the defence strategy and review the technical aspects of the case”.

Costantino is optimistic the investigation will shed light on tragedy. “I expect the truth to come to light, for the sake of justice for those who have died.”

Police in Argentina have arrested a former Red Brigades member who has spent more than 40 years on the run from the justice system in Italy, where he is wanted for crimes including kidnapping and criminal association that he allegedly committed as part of the far-left guerrilla group.

Leonardo Bertulazzi had been living in Argentina for years as a refugee, a status he lost under the administration of the country’s radical rightwing president, Javier Milei. He was previously sentenced in absentia to 27 years in prison, and Italian police officers were present in Buenos Aires during his capture.

The Red Brigades was responsible for dozens of deaths in violent attacks during Italy’s “Years of Lead” in the 1970s and 80s, including the kidnapping and killing of the former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro.

“Bertulazzi is responsible for crimes that undermined democratic values and the lives of many victims,” the Argentinian government said in a statement.

A fugitive since 1980, Bertulazzi was found guilty of participating in the kidnapping of the naval engineer Piero Costa in Genoa in January 1977. Costa, a member of one of the wealthiest Genoese ship-owning families, was abducted near his home in Castelletto, with two armed men seizing him and pushing him into the passenger seat of a Fiat 132.

Initially, a ransom of 10bn lire was demanded, but negotiations with the Costa family led to a reduction of the demand to 1.5bn lire. The payment was made and Costa was released in early April 1977, bound hand and foot.

According to investigators, the kidnapping of Costa was aimed at obtaining financial means to subsidise terrorist activities; 50m lire was allegedly used to buy the apartment in Rome where Moro was held prisoner during his kidnapping. Moro’s bullet-riddled body was found in 1978 in the boot of a car parked in Rome 55 days after his kidnapping.

Bertulazzi had been at the centre of a complex legal situation that allowed him to live as a free man despite being wanted in Italy and with everyone knowing his whereabouts. He was arrested in 2002 in Buenos Aires after a joint investigation with Interpol, but was released eight months later because his Italian trials had been held in absentia, preventing his extradition.

The government of the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, welcomed the news of his arrest. “The arrest of the fugitive member of the Red Brigades was made possible through an intense and fruitful collaboration among the Italian judicial authorities, Argentine officials and Interpol,” a statement said.

Italian authorities do not expect his imminent return to Italy. Bertulazzi’s lawyers have filed an appeal against the decision of the Argentine commission for refugees to revoke his refugee status, and even if that is rejected, the extradition process could be prolonged.

One of two doctors charged in connection with Matthew Perry’s death is expected to plead guilty to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine when he appears in court on Friday.

Dr Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, reached a plea agreement with prosecutors earlier this month and would be the third person to plead guilty in the aftermath of the Friends star’s fatal overdose last year.

Chavez agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as they pursue others, including the doctor Chavez worked with to sell ketamine to Perry. Also working with the US attorney’s office are Perry’s assistant, who admitted to helping him obtain and inject ketamine, and an acquaintance of the actor who admitted to acting as a drug messenger and middleman.

The three are helping prosecutors as they go after their main targets: Dr Salvador Plasencia, who is charged with illegally selling ketamine to Perry in the month before his death, and Jasveen Sangha, a woman who authorities say is a dealer who sold the actor the lethal dose of ketamine. Both have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

Chavez admitted in his plea agreement that he obtained ketamine from his former clinic and from a wholesale distributor where he submitted a fraudulent prescription.

After a guilty plea, he could receive up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced.

Perry was found dead by his assistant on 28 October. The medical examiner ruled ketamine was the primary cause of death. The actor had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal but off-label treatment for depression that has become increasingly common.

Perry found Plasencia about a month before his death when seeking more ketamine than his doctor would give him. Plasencia in turn asked Chavez to obtain the drug for him.

“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted Chavez. The two met up the same day in Costa Mesa, halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego, and exchanged at least four vials of ketamine.

After selling the drugs to Perry for $4,500, Plasencia asked Chavez if he could keep supplying them so they could become Perry’s “go-to”.

“The doctors preyed on Perry’s history of addiction in the final months of his life last year to provide him with ketamine in amounts they knew were dangerous,” US attorney Martin Estrada said in announcing the charges on 15 August.

Plasencia is charged with seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two charges related to allegations he falsified records after Perry’s death. He and Sangha are scheduled to return to court next week. They have separate trial dates set for October, but prosecutors are seeking a single trial that would probably be delayed to next year.

Donald Trump’s latest maneuver to try to avoid a looming sentencing date next month for his conviction for falsifying business records includes an ambitious request to move the case into federal court.

The former US president’s sentencing on 34 felony counts in a hush-money trial that gripped the nation had been set for 18 September at state court level in Manhattan. His lawyers had already filed a motion to delay that hearing until after November’s presidential election, in which he is the Republican nominee.

A new court filing on Thursday, reported by the New York Times, opens a second front in that effort.

“The ongoing proceedings will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to President Trump – the leading candidate in the 2024 presidential election – and voters located far beyond Manhattan,” Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, Trump’s attorneys, said in the written filing to the federal judge Alvin K Hellerstein.

The trial judge Juan Merchan is already considering a request from the lawyers submitted in July to postpone the sentencing hearing, and it is unclear what effect their new motion will have on that process, the Times said.

The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, said at the time he believed that request was without merit, but was content to leave the issue in the hands of Merchan, who oversaw the trial looking into payments Trump made to the adult film star Stormy Daniels.

A jury took less than 12 hours following the trial in May to determine that he illegally tried to influence the result of the 2016 election by paying Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about an affair.

Trump, the first former president in history to be convicted of felony offenses, faces up to four years in prison, and has already seen the sentencing postponed once from its original 11 July date.

According to the Times, the filing to switch the case away from Merchan’s jurisdiction could end up backfiring by alienating him further. The judge imposed fines on Trump during the trial for violating a gag order that is still in effect, and has refused at least three demands from Trump’s legal team to recuse himself.

“Defendant has provided nothing new for this Court to consider. Counsel has merely repeated arguments that have already been denied by this and higher courts” and were “rife with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims”, Merchan wrote in his latest ruling dated 13 August.

Hellerstein has already rejected one identical request for the federal court to step in, filed last year before the trial. Trump’s lawyers argued that the case needed to be thrown out or considered before a higher court because it involved official acts Trump undertook as president.

Those claims took on added poignancy when the supreme court issued a controversial ruling in July that former presidents enjoy absolute immunity for officials acts in office, a decision that forced the special prosecutor Jack Smith into reworking a separate case against Trump over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

Smith filed a “superseding indictment” this week with the same four charges, but rewritten to emphasize that Trump’s meddling was not an official act.

Hellerstein, however, has already determined that Trump was not acting in any presidential capacity over the payment to Daniels.

“The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely personal item of the president – a cover-up of an embarrassing event,” he wrote in his opinion last year, the Times reported.

“Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a president’s official acts. It does not reflect in any way the color of the president’s official duties.”

Blanche and Bove, in the new filing, argue the New York state court system is “inadequate” to handle a case with significant federal implications, and that keeping it there would “result in further irreparable harm to President Trump”.

The Times said it was not clear when Hellerstein would respond to the “unorthodox” filing, or if he would grant a hearing to discuss it.

The hush-money case is one of numerous legal battles Trump has been fighting as he attempts to win back the White House in November.

The White Stripes singer Jack White called Donald Trump’s campaign “fascists” and threatened to sue after an aide apparently used a clip of the band’s hit Seven Nation Army on a pro-Trump social media post.

Trump’s deputy director of communications, Margo Martin, shared a brief 10-second video clip of Trump boarding a plane to campaign events with the music as a background soundtrack.

The move clearly angered White, who rapidly became the latest in a long line of musicians to take umbrage at their art being used as a soundtrack to Trump’s bid to retake the White House.

On Instagram White wrote: “Don’t even think about using my music you fascists. Law suit coming from my lawyers about this (to add to your 5 thousand others.) Have a great day at work today Margo Martin.’

The spat comes after earlier this week the Swedish band Abba demanded Trump stop using their music after several of their songs and footage of the group were used at a campaign rally.

Other top artists that have objected to Trump or his staff using their work include Céline Dion, Beyoncé, Johnny Marr of the Smiths, the family of the late soul singer Isaac Hayes and the estate of the late Irish pop star Sinéad O’Connor.