The United States has announced criminal charges against Hamas’ top leaders over their roles in planning, supporting and perpetrating the 7 October attack in southern Israel.

The charges against Yahya Sinwar, the militant group’s chief, and at least five others accuse them of orchestrating the attack, which killed 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans.

That attack triggered an Israeli assault on Gaza that has killed more than 40,800 Palestinians and laid waste to much of the territory.

The seven-count criminal complaint includes charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, conspiracy to murder US nationals and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, resulting in death.

It also accuses Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah of providing financial support and weapons, including rockets, and military supplies.

“As outlined in our complaint, those defendants – armed with weapons, political support, and funding from the government of Iran, and support from [Hezbollah] – have led Hamas’s efforts to destroy the state of Israel and murder civilians in support of that aim,” attorney general Merrick Garland said in a statement.

“The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’s operations. These actions will not be our last,” Garland said. “Yahya Sinwar and the other senior leaders of Hamas are charged today with orchestrating this terrorist organization’s decades-long campaign of mass violence and terror – including on October 7th.”

The complaint names six defendants, three of whom are dead. The living defendants are Sinwar, who is believed to be in hiding in Gaza; Khaled Meshaal, who is based in Doha and heads the group’s diaspora office; and Ali Baraka, a senior Hamas official based in Lebanon.

The deceased defendants are former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in July in Tehran; military wing chief Mohammed Deif, who Israel said it killed in a July airstrike; and Marwan Issa, a deputy military commander who Israel said it killed in a March strike.

Iran has blamed Israel for Haniyeh’s death. Israeli officials have not claimed responsibility.

US prosecutors brought charges against the six men in February, but kept the complaint under seal in the hope of capturing Haniyeh, according to a Justice Department official.

The Justice Department decided to go public with the charges after Haniyeh’s death.

The criminal complaint describes the massacre as the “most violent, large-scale terrorist attack” in Hamas’ history. It details how Hamas operatives who arrived in southern Israel with “trucks, motorcycles, bulldozers, speedboats, and paragliders” engaged in a brutal campaign of violence that included rape, genital mutilation and machine-gun shootings at close range.

Garland said US authorities were also investigating the killing of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli-American taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October. His death was announced over the weekend along with five other hostages.

“We are investigating Hersh’s murder, and each and every one of Hamas’s brutal murders of Americans, as an act of terrorism,” Garland said.

The charges come as the White House says it is developing a new ceasefire and hostage deal proposal with its Egyptian and Qatari counterparts to try to end the nearly 11-month war in Gaza.

National security spokesperson John Kirby said the recent “executions” of the six hostages underscored “the sense of urgency” in the talks.

In July, Hamas and Israel agreed in principle to implement a three-phase plan publicly proposed by Joe Biden in May. Hamas has since said the latest version of the proposal on the table diverges significantly from the initial plan because new Israeli demands have been added, including the lasting Israeli control over the Philadelphi corridor along the border of Egypt and a second corridor running across Gaza.

On Monday, Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out making any “concessions” in the stalled talks or “giving in to pressure” to end the war.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report

Benjamin Netanyahu’s main political rival, Benny Gantz, has accused the Israeli prime minister of putting his personal interests before those of his country after he again insisted on the need for Israeli control of the Gaza-Egypt border on Monday, a position that has emerged as a key obstacle to a ceasefire deal.

Speaking in Tel Aviv at the Israel Bar Association’s annual conference on Tuesday, the centre-right National Unity party leader said Netanyahu had “lost his way” and “sees himself as the state … this is dangerous,” he said.

Netanyahu insisted on Monday night that Israel must retain control of the Philadelphi corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt, a stance that he has been warned jeopardises efforts aimed at brokering a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the war with Hamas.

In a press conference on Tuesday evening, Gantz said that while the corridor was important to prevent Hamas and other Palestinian militants from smuggling weapons into Gaza, soldiers would be “sitting ducks” and would not stop tunnels.

He also rebutted Netanyahu’s assertion that if Israel were to withdraw from Philadelphi, international pressure would make it difficult to return. “We will be able to return to Philadelphi if and when we are required,” Gantz said, also calling for new elections. “If Netanyahu does not understand that after 7 October everything has changed … and if he is not strong enough to withstand the international pressure to return to Philadelphi, let him put down the keys and go home.”

Netanyahu has not made regular speeches since 7 October, but gave a televised address on Monday in response to unprecedented protests across Israel in favour of a deal and a general strike prompted by the discovery of six murdered hostages in Gaza. The prime minister ruled out making any “concessions” in the stalled talks or “giving in to pressure” to end the war, which is approaching its 12th month.

An unnamed source familiar with the protracted negotiations told CNN: “This guy torpedoed everything in one speech.”

In July, Hamas and Israel agreed in principle to implement a three-phase plan publicly proposed by Joe Biden in May. Hamas has since said the latest version of the proposal on the table diverges significantly from the initial plan because new Israeli demands have been added, including a permanent Israeli military deployment along the Gaza-Egypt border and the Netzarim corridor, the new Israeli-controlled barrier cutting off Gaza City from the south of the strip.

Hamas has long demanded a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and Egypt has said that a heavy Israeli military presence on its border threatens the peace treaty between the countries.

The future of Philadelphi has also caused friction within Netanyahu’s cabinet: his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has publicly called for the Israeli leader to compromise on the issue, arguing that a deal that frees hostages in Gaza should be the government’s top priority.

Three of the six hostages the Israeli military said were shot in the head shortly before troops arrived in the area – two women and an injured man – were due to be released in the first stage of a ceasefire agreement.

The UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, on Tuesday called for an independent investigation. “We are horrified by reports that Palestinian armed groups summarily executed six Israeli hostages, which would constitute a war crime,” the UN human rights office wrote on X.

Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Sunday and Monday to express anger over their deaths and protest against the government’s handling of the war. Traffic in central Tel Aviv was blocked by demonstrators for a third straight day on Tuesday.

Many Israelis other than Gantz accuse the prime minister of valuing his political survival more than the hostages’ lives: a ceasefire deal could cause Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners to abandon the government, triggering new elections. The longtime leader sees staying in office as the best way of beating a litany of corruption charges. He denies the allegations.

“Hamas was the one that pulled the trigger, but Netanyahu is the one who sentenced [the hostages] to death,” said an editorial in the liberal newspaper Haaretz.

The Washington Post reported on Monday that the Biden administration was preparing to propose a “take it or leave it” deal after the latest round of talks collapsed again last week. If the new effort fails, the US may pull out of the mediation process, the paper said.

In Gaza, Israeli airstrikes and ground fighting between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hamas continue unabated. On Tuesday, a civil defence spokesperson in the Palestinian territory said an Israeli raid on a college in Gaza City had killed two people and injured 30. Israel said that Hamas militants were using the educational facility as a base.

Another two people were killed by the bombing of a displacement camp near the southern city of Khan Younis.

Meanwhile, the IDF has changed its policy towards the escalating violence in the occupied West Bank, and now considers the territory a “secondary front”, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.

Last week, Israel launched its biggest military operation in the West Bank for 20 years, with simultaneous raids targeting militant groups based in refugee camps, after a rare suicide bombing attempt in Tel Aviv claimed by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The violence in the area has also been fuelled by the actions of far-right settlers and their backers in Netanyahu’s coalition.

In recent weeks, Israeli defence officials have voiced concerns that the situation in the West Bank could boil over, even as the war in Gaza continues and tensions remain high with Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon.

David Cameron, the former foreign secretary, sat on advice from Foreign Office officials in Israel and London that there was clear evidence of breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza for which the UK risked being complicit, a former Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) adviser said.

The source, who contributed to the drafting of the advice, was speaking after the Labour government banned 30 of about 350 arms export licences due to a clear risk cited in a government memorandum published on Monday that they might be used in serious breaches of international humanitarian law.

The source said what has emerged in the memorandum “is similar to what was being sent to the government from at least February onwards in various drafts by Foreign Office advisers, much of it linked to the deteriorating humanitarian position in Gaza. But what has been eventually published is in much less strident language.

“The tragedy has to be considered: how many lives might have been saved if the arms export licences had been stopped then and not in September, and what the potential ripple effect might have been on how other countries would have reacted in ceasing trade.”

The source added: “The advice being sent through to the Foreign Office was clear that the breaches of IHL by Israel as the occupying power were so obvious that there was a danger of UK complicity if the licences were not withdrawn.”

A member of the previous government said its legal advice was in some respects similar to that published by Labour concerning the treatment of detainees and humanitarian aid, but insisted the legal advice was iterative and changing, adding it never said explicitly that ministers needed to suspend arms sales to avoid breaching international humanitarian law.

The inquest into how it took a British government 10 months to conclude a risk of serious breaches of IHL existed came as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, mounted a fierce rhetorical broadside against Labour for letting down Israel.

After other Israeli ministers had expressed disappointment at the British decision, Netanyahu went further, saying on X: “This shameful decision will not change Israel’s determination to defeat Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization that savagely murdered 1,200 people on October 7, including 14 British citizens.”

He added: “Just as Britain’s heroic stand against the Nazis is seen today as having been vital in defending our common civilization, so too will history judge Israel’s stand against Hamas and Iran’s axis of terror … With or without British arms, Israel will win this war and secure our common future.”

Israel is angry at the alleged insensitivity of the announcement’s timing, coming only 24 hours after it emerged that Hamas had killed six Israeli hostages. Ministers said the decision was announced on the first day MPs returned from summer recess.

The condemnation by Netanyahu came a day after a press conference during which he doubled down on his commitment to eradicate Hamas, but did not mention the UK arms ban. The broadside appears to be part of a wider strategy to rally Israelis behind his hardline negotiating strategy and against criticism from the wider world.

Israeli sources admit relations with the UK are increasingly strained, but at present they do not predict Netanyahu taking practical reprisals against the UK.

All UK components for the F-35 fighter jet programme would be almost entirely excluded from the ban, which is seen as a significant loophole by pro-Palestinian groups. By keeping British components to the F-35s out of the embargo, the UK hopes to minimise anger in Washington.

Across the wider Middle East, the Jordanian foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, praised the British decision but called for a wider boycott. The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, also conferred by phone with Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the influential president of the United Arab Emirates. After signing the 2020 Abraham Accords, the UAE became an unofficial restraint on Israel annexing the West Bank, and is critical to establishing any post-Hamas Palestinian administration in Gaza.

The FCDO source said wider lessons needed to be drawn from the internal handling of the issue. The source said: “Israel highlights vital lessons globally for arms companies and countries which grant export licences as part of elaborate trade deals. The reality is that none of these licences are granted in isolation of other business and political interests, and are enmeshed with other forms of trade technology exchanges and security equity.

“Companies also bear a responsibility to respect international humanitarian and criminal law, as do governments.

“Internally, the Foreign Office does not seem very cohesive, with disputes between humanitarian, legal and political teams, as well as with sections of the Ministry of Defence.”

The critique came as a hearing in a long-running case claiming the Foreign Office had acted irrationally in refusing to ban arms sales was deferred on Tuesday by a high court judge for more than a month, to give the claimants time to reassemble its case in light of the Monday suspension of 30 of the 350 extant arms licences. The first full-day hearing is set for 18 November.

The campaigners from Al-Haq and the Global Legal Action Network said the UK has acted unlawfully in excluding from the sales ban almost all British components of the US-led F-35 jet fighter aircraft. The case is also likely to focus on the failure of the UK to reach an assessment on the legality of airstrikes, sniper attacks and controlled demolitions in Gaza, as well as the exclusion of evidence of breaches of humanitarian law on the West Bank.

A former New York state government official who worked for the former governor Andrew Cuomo and current governor, Kathy Hochul, was charged on Tuesday with acting as an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government, federal prosecutors revealed in a sprawling indictment.

Linda Sun, who held numerous posts in New York state government before rising to the rank of deputy chief of staff for Hochul, was arrested on Tuesday morning along with her husband, Chris Hu, at their $3.5m home on Long Island.

The pair pleaded not guilty to criminal charges before magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo in Brooklyn. Kuo ordered Sun released on $1.5m bond and Hu on $500,000 bond. Their next court appearance is 25 September.

Prosecutors said Sun, at the request of Chinese officials, blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to the governor’s office, shaped New York governmental messaging to align with the priorities of the Chinese government and attempted to facilitate a trip to China for a high-level politician in New York.

In return, she and her husband received benefits including help for Hu’s China-based business activities and undisclosed tickets to performances by visiting Chinese orchestra and ballet groups, the indictment says. A Chinese government official’s personal chef prepared “Nanjing-style salted ducks” that were delivered to Sun’s parents’ home, it adds.

The couple then laundered the financial proceeds, using them to buy their property in Manhasset, a condominium in Hawaii for $1.9m and luxury cars including a 2024 Ferrari, the indictment says.

Sun faces eight counts, including failure to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and money laundering conspiracy. Hu faces three counts: money-laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and misuse of means of identification.

“As alleged, while appearing to serve the people of New York as deputy chief of staff within the … state executive chamber, the defendant and her husband actually worked to further the interests of the Chinese government and the” country’s communist party, US attorney Breon Peace said. “The illicit scheme enriched the defendant’s family to the tune of millions of dollars.”

Sun’s lawyer Jarrod Schaeffer told reporters after the hearing on Tuesday: “Our client is understandably upset that these charges have been brought.”

A spokesman for China’s embassy in Washington did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The indictment outlines a series of exchanges Sun had with officials in the Chinese consulate in New York in January 2021, when Cuomo was still governor and Hochul was lieutenant governor. Neither leader is named in the document, but they are instead referred to as “Politician-1” and “Politician-2.”

After Chinese officials requested a lunar new year video from the governor, Sun said Hochul could probably do it and asked for “talking points of things you want her to mention”.

“Mostly holiday wishes and hope for friendship and cooperation / Nothing too political,” an official told her, according to the indictment.

Sun later told a different official that she had argued with Hochul’s speechwriter over the draft because the speechwriter insisted on mentioning the “Uyghur situation” in China. She promised that she would not let that happen, and the final speech did not mention the Muslim ethnic minority, according to the indictment.

The FBI searched the couple’s $3.5m home in Manhasset in late July but declined to release details at the time.

Sun worked in state government for about 15 years, holding jobs in Cuomo’s administration and eventually becoming Hochul’s deputy chief of staff, according to her LinkedIn profile. In November 2022, Sun took a job at the New York labor department as deputy commissioner for strategic business development, but she left that job months later in March 2023, the profile said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Hochul’s office said the administration fired Sun after “discovering evidence of misconduct”.

“This individual was hired by the executive chamber more than a decade ago. We terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process,” the statement reads.

A spokesperson for Cuomo did not immediately return an emailed request for comment.

Sun and Hu live in a gated community on Long Island called Stone Hill. The couple bought the house in 2021 but placed it in a trust earlier this year, records show.

With Associated Press and Reuters

New Zealand will nearly triple entry fees for tourists, the government has said, spurring criticism from the key tourism sector that the higher levy will deter visitors.

The government said in a statement on Tuesday it would increase the international visitor and conservation and tourism fees starting on 1 October to NZ$100 ($61.85) from NZ$35 to “ensure visitors contribute to public services and high-quality experiences while visiting New Zealand”.

Australians and travellers from most Pacific nations are exempt from the levy.

Like many popular global tourism spots, New Zealand has struggled with the impact of tourists on the natural environment, with infrastructure stretched by the large numbers. The $35 fee was introduced in July 2019, but this was not sufficient to cover the costs associated with so many visitors.

The government said the fee was competitive and it was confident New Zealand would continue to be seen as an attractive visitor destination.

The tourism minister, Matt Doocey, said the levy ensures “international visitors contribute to high-value conservation areas and projects, such as supporting biodiversity in national parks”.

However, the country’s Tourism Industry Association believes the higher fees will discourage visitors, especially as the sector, once New Zealand’s biggest export earner, is still struggling to recover from strict border closures implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“New Zealand’s tourism recovery is falling behind the rest of the world, and this will further dent our global competitiveness,” said Rebecca Ingram, the association’s chief executive.

More than 3.2 million tourists visited New Zealand last year, including 1.3 million Australians.

The top markets that will be affected by the tourism levy include the US, China, UK, India, South Korea and Germany, which together contributed one million tourists last year.

Data from Stats NZ released on Tuesday showed that travel export receipts for the year ended 30 June were at NZ$14.96bn, down 5% from prior to the pandemic. Visitor numbers, according to the bureau, are roughly 80% of levels before the border closures.

The New Zealand government has also recently increased the costs of visitor visas and there is a proposal to increase charges on regional airports.

It is “a triple-whammy for our sector, which is trying to work hard for New Zealand’s economic recovery”, Billie Moore, NZ Airports chief executive, said.

Reuters and Australian Associated Press contributed to this report

New Zealand will nearly triple entry fees for tourists, the government has said, spurring criticism from the key tourism sector that the higher levy will deter visitors.

The government said in a statement on Tuesday it would increase the international visitor and conservation and tourism fees starting on 1 October to NZ$100 ($61.85) from NZ$35 to “ensure visitors contribute to public services and high-quality experiences while visiting New Zealand”.

Australians and travellers from most Pacific nations are exempt from the levy.

Like many popular global tourism spots, New Zealand has struggled with the impact of tourists on the natural environment, with infrastructure stretched by the large numbers. The $35 fee was introduced in July 2019, but this was not sufficient to cover the costs associated with so many visitors.

The government said the fee was competitive and it was confident New Zealand would continue to be seen as an attractive visitor destination.

The tourism minister, Matt Doocey, said the levy ensures “international visitors contribute to high-value conservation areas and projects, such as supporting biodiversity in national parks”.

However, the country’s Tourism Industry Association believes the higher fees will discourage visitors, especially as the sector, once New Zealand’s biggest export earner, is still struggling to recover from strict border closures implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“New Zealand’s tourism recovery is falling behind the rest of the world, and this will further dent our global competitiveness,” said Rebecca Ingram, the association’s chief executive.

More than 3.2 million tourists visited New Zealand last year, including 1.3 million Australians.

The top markets that will be affected by the tourism levy include the US, China, UK, India, South Korea and Germany, which together contributed one million tourists last year.

Data from Stats NZ released on Tuesday showed that travel export receipts for the year ended 30 June were at NZ$14.96bn, down 5% from prior to the pandemic. Visitor numbers, according to the bureau, are roughly 80% of levels before the border closures.

The New Zealand government has also recently increased the costs of visitor visas and there is a proposal to increase charges on regional airports.

It is “a triple-whammy for our sector, which is trying to work hard for New Zealand’s economic recovery”, Billie Moore, NZ Airports chief executive, said.

Reuters and Australian Associated Press contributed to this report

• Residential buildings were on fire in Lviv, said its mayor, as Ukraine’s military said Russia had launched missiles and drones on Wednesday morning against the western Ukrainian city as well as the capital, Kyiv. Neighbouring Poland activated aircraft on Wednesday for the third time in eight days “due to the observed activity of the long-range aviation of the Russian Federation carrying out strikes”, said its military command.

• It came as Ukrainians reeled from Russian missiles hitting a military training institute and a nearby hospital in the city of Poltava, killing at least 51 people and injuring more than 200 others, on Tuesday. Shaun Walker and Peter Beaumont write that one of the deadliest attacks of the war took place about 200 miles (320km) south-east of Kyiv, far from the frontlines. In the aftermath, bodies, some in uniforms, lay on the ground covered in dust and debris. Service personnel were among the casualties at the Military Institute of Communications, the officials confirmed.

• A reshuffle of Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government began on Tuesday as several Ukrainian ministers resigned ahead of their expected replacement, while a presidential aide was dismissed. Iryna Vereshchuk, a deputy prime minister and minister for reintegration, wrote online: “Rebooting … after almost three years in the government, [I submitted my] resignation today. I thank the president for his trust, thank you to the prime minister and members of the government for their cooperation … Thanks to the team of the ministry of reintegration for their work and dedication!”

• Zelensky said in his evening address that changes would be made to strengthen the government. “The autumn will be extremely important for Ukraine. And our state institutions must be set up so that Ukraine achieves all the results that we need … We must strengthen some areas in the government, and personnel decisions have been prepared.” David Arakhamia, the head of the ruling Servant of the People party’s parliamentary faction, said on Tuesday: “As promised, a major government reset can be expected this week. More than 50% of the cabinet of ministers’ staff will be changed. Tomorrow we will have a day of dismissals, and the day after that a day of appointments.”

• Oleksandr Kamyshin, the minister for weapons production, also resigned in anticipation of another defence role. Olha Stefanishyna, another deputy PM, stood down, along with others. Zelenskiy by decree dismissed Rostyslav Shurma, one of his deputy chiefs of staff, who held an economic portfolio.

• Vladimir Putin freely visited Mongolia amid pageantry despite an international criminal court warrant that should lead automatically to his arrest. Pjotr Sauer writes that Putin received a red-carpet welcome and attended talks where Mongolia’s president, Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh, said the two nations’ relations were “developing in all directions”. Amid widespread international condemnation, Ukraine called for Mongolia to face “consequences”.

• The situations are different at the Zaporizhzhia and Kursk nuclear power plants, Rafael Grossi, head of the UN nuclear energy agency, has said. Grossi said he discussed with Zelenskiy the safety of Russia’s Kursk plant. Ukraine has partly occupied Kursk oblast but the plant remains in Russian hands; whereas Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine was taken over by the Russian military after the 2022 invasion. Regarding Kursk, Grossi said: “I think it’s very clear for him [Zelenskiy]. He understands very well and I don’t think he disagrees at all on the fact that nuclear power plants should never be attacked.”

• Grossi, due to visit Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday, said its situation was “very fragile”. “Some days we have some stability, and then there is an end, an issue, a drone impact, or like today we had one of the two existing power lines down, which means that the station is again on the verge of being on a blackout. Blackout – no power. No power – no cooling. No cooling – maybe you have a disaster.” Russian news agencies reported on Monday that a power supply line at Zaporizhzhia automatically disconnected. Ukraine said Russian attacks had damaged one of the two external overhead lines connecting the plant to the Ukrainian power grid. Russia has not commented on that charge.

• Grossi said he had accepted a Ukrainian request to expand inspections to include electricity substations providing power to Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. “This is a new dimension, an important dimension I hope, of our support here, which we discussed and agreed with President Zelenskiy just now.”

• Ukraine’s foreign ministry has denounced what it says are Russian efforts to “accuse Ukraine of alleged provocations against nuclear safety”. It said Russia had intensified a “disinformation campaign to distract attention from its own criminal acts” at Zaporizhzhia.

The son of the late Republican senator John McCain – whose war record was disparaged by Donald Trump – has added his voice to criticism of the former president’s controversial Arlington cemetery visit, accusing him of violating a sacred burial site for political purposes.

First Lieutenant Jimmy McCain, an intelligence officer in the 158th infantry regiment of the national guard, said Trump’s behaviour at the cemetery – America’s most revered burial ground for fallen military personnel and military heroes – was in line with previous acts of disrespect.

He told CNN that Trump’s attitude to military service has driven him away from the Republican party of his father, adding that he had changed his registered voter affiliation to Democrat and planned to vote for Kamala Harris in the forthcoming presidential election.

Trump’s reputation for disdaining military personnel is rooted in his first presidential run in 2016, when he said McCain Sr, who died in 2018, did not deserve the war hero status accorded to him because he had been captured during the Vietnam war.

He has since been reported to have called US soldiers buried at a first world war cemetery in France “suckers” and “losers” and questioned the value of the Congressional Medal of Honor, generally given for acts of military heroism.

McCain said the shift in his political affiliation had been party influenced by Trump’s comments about his father. “Hearing things [from Trump] like, he was a loser because he was captured – I don’t think I could ever overlook that,” he said.

But he also suggested Trump had effectively violated the service of fallen soldiers in last week’s episode. “These men and women that are laying in the ground there have no choice,” said McCain, whose grandfather and great-grandfather are buried at Arlington.

The Republican presidential nominee has drawn broad condemnation and a rebuke from the US army after a visit to the cemetery ostensibly to mark the third anniversary of a suicide bombing that killed 13 American servicemen during the US pullout from Afghanistan in 2021 devolved into a campaign photo opportunity.

Members of Trump’s campaign staff reportedly pushed aside a female cemetery worker when she tried to enforce federal regulations prohibiting taking camera and film equipment into section 60, the facility area reserved for those killed in the Afghan and Iraq campaigns.

Pictures and footage were subsequently published of a smiling Trump giving the thumbs up while posing alongside some of the fallen servicemen’s family members, who had invited him. The graves of other personnel – whose families did not give permission – can be clearly seen in the background. Some of them have condemned the visit.

Trump has defended it and released supportive statements from relatives of six of the armed forces members killed in the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing.

On a statement on his Truth Social site on Wednesday, he went further, accusing Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, of making up the story and claiming there had been no altercation.

“There was no conflict or ‘fighting’ at Arlington National Cemetery last week,” he wrote. “It was a made up story by Comrade Kamala and her misinformation squad. She made it all up to make up for the fact that she and Sleepy Joe [Biden] have BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS for the INCOMPETENT AFGHANISTAN Withdrawal.”

But speaking to CNN, McCain suggested Trump’s actions were driven by feelings of insecurity about his own lack of military service experience.

“It was a violation,” he said. “I just think that for anyone who’s done a lot of time in their uniform, they just understand that inherently – that it’s not about you there. It’s about these people who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the name of their country.”

“Many of these men and women who served their country chose to do something greater than themselves. They woke up one morning, they signed on the dotted line, they put their right hand up and they chose to serve their country. And that’s an experience that Donald Trump has not had. And I think that might be something that he thinks about a lot.”

The son of the late Republican senator John McCain – whose war record was disparaged by Donald Trump – has added his voice to criticism of the former president’s controversial Arlington cemetery visit, accusing him of violating a sacred burial site for political purposes.

First Lieutenant Jimmy McCain, an intelligence officer in the 158th infantry regiment of the national guard, said Trump’s behaviour at the cemetery – America’s most revered burial ground for fallen military personnel and military heroes – was in line with previous acts of disrespect.

He told CNN that Trump’s attitude to military service has driven him away from the Republican party of his father, adding that he had changed his registered voter affiliation to Democrat and planned to vote for Kamala Harris in the forthcoming presidential election.

Trump’s reputation for disdaining military personnel is rooted in his first presidential run in 2016, when he said McCain Sr, who died in 2018, did not deserve the war hero status accorded to him because he had been captured during the Vietnam war.

He has since been reported to have called US soldiers buried at a first world war cemetery in France “suckers” and “losers” and questioned the value of the Congressional Medal of Honor, generally given for acts of military heroism.

McCain said the shift in his political affiliation had been party influenced by Trump’s comments about his father. “Hearing things [from Trump] like, he was a loser because he was captured – I don’t think I could ever overlook that,” he said.

But he also suggested Trump had effectively violated the service of fallen soldiers in last week’s episode. “These men and women that are laying in the ground there have no choice,” said McCain, whose grandfather and great-grandfather are buried at Arlington.

The Republican presidential nominee has drawn broad condemnation and a rebuke from the US army after a visit to the cemetery ostensibly to mark the third anniversary of a suicide bombing that killed 13 American servicemen during the US pullout from Afghanistan in 2021 devolved into a campaign photo opportunity.

Members of Trump’s campaign staff reportedly pushed aside a female cemetery worker when she tried to enforce federal regulations prohibiting taking camera and film equipment into section 60, the facility area reserved for those killed in the Afghan and Iraq campaigns.

Pictures and footage were subsequently published of a smiling Trump giving the thumbs up while posing alongside some of the fallen servicemen’s family members, who had invited him. The graves of other personnel – whose families did not give permission – can be clearly seen in the background. Some of them have condemned the visit.

Trump has defended it and released supportive statements from relatives of six of the armed forces members killed in the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing.

On a statement on his Truth Social site on Wednesday, he went further, accusing Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, of making up the story and claiming there had been no altercation.

“There was no conflict or ‘fighting’ at Arlington National Cemetery last week,” he wrote. “It was a made up story by Comrade Kamala and her misinformation squad. She made it all up to make up for the fact that she and Sleepy Joe [Biden] have BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS for the INCOMPETENT AFGHANISTAN Withdrawal.”

But speaking to CNN, McCain suggested Trump’s actions were driven by feelings of insecurity about his own lack of military service experience.

“It was a violation,” he said. “I just think that for anyone who’s done a lot of time in their uniform, they just understand that inherently – that it’s not about you there. It’s about these people who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the name of their country.”

“Many of these men and women who served their country chose to do something greater than themselves. They woke up one morning, they signed on the dotted line, they put their right hand up and they chose to serve their country. And that’s an experience that Donald Trump has not had. And I think that might be something that he thinks about a lot.”

Six children and a pregnant woman are among at least 12 people who died after a boat carrying dozens of asylum seekers to the UK was “ripped open” in one of the worst Channel tragedies since the small boats crisis began.

In a major test for Keir Starmer’s government, which is facing demands from charities to open up safe routes for those wanting to come to the UK, the French authorities said that 10 of those who had lost their lives were female and many are believed to be from Eritrea.

The French interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said more than 50 people had been rescued including two who are in a critical condition from the “terrible shipwreck” off Cap Gris-Nez on Tuesday morning. Only eight of the 70 passengers were wearing lifejackets, according to French officials.

The incident, in which everyone on board was plunged into the sea, is believed to have caused the second highest number of fatalities to befall people while attempting to reach the UK since the small boats crisis began.

After the latest fatalities, the prime minister is facing calls to open legal routes so that potential refugees are not forced to take such desperate journeys before claiming asylum in the UK. In a further development, Darmanin called for a new migration treaty to be negotiated between the UK and EU to ease the path for asylum seekers.

Yvette Cooper described the incident as “horrifying and deeply tragic”, as she said “vital” efforts to dismantle “dangerous and criminal smuggler gangs” and to boost border security “must proceed apace”.

Cooper said she was in touch with the French government and was being kept updated on the situation. “Our hearts go out to the loved ones of all those who have lost their lives and all those who have been seriously injured,” she said.

The French authorities were called to the incident when a dinghy was reported to have got into trouble off Le Portel on the northern French coast, about 28 miles south-west of Calais.

All of the people on board ended up in the water, many of whom were not wearing lifejackets, according to the French coastguard. It is understood the shipwreck took place in French waters and UK search and rescue vessels are on standby.

The Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor Guirec Le Bras said that at least 12 people died – including six minors and 10 females. He added that those killed were “primarily of Eritrean origin”, but that officials “do not have consolidated details that would allow us to specify the exact nationalities”.

Frédéric Cuvillier, the mayor of Boulogne-sur-Mer, told the BBC that a pregnant woman was among the victims.

In the past week more than 2,000 people seeking asylum have arrived in the UK on small boats. More than 600 arrived on 28 August in 10 boats, while 351 arrived on 2 September in six vessels.

The latest tragedy comes after two people died on 11 August and another 50 were rescued as they attempted to cross the waters. On 19 July one person died after being rescued from the Channel; another person died a few days earlier when a boat carrying 72 people deflated.

Charities have demanded safe routes for asylum seekers from France so that the vast majority of claimants do not have to set foot in a small boat. Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the number of deaths this year in the Channel was “shockingly high”.

“Enforcement alone is not the solution,” he warned. “Heightened security and policing measures on the French coast have led to increasingly perilous crossings, launching from more dangerous locations and in flimsy, overcrowded vessels.

“In addition to taking action against the criminal gangs themselves, the government must develop a plan to improve and expand safe routes for those seeking safety. People risk their lives out of desperation, fleeing violence and persecution in countries like Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan in search of safety.

“We must create effective and humane pathways for those seeking refuge to reduce the need for dangerous crossings and prevent further tragedies,” he added.

Amnesty International UK said: “No amount of ‘smash the gangs’ policing and government rhetoric is going to stop these disasters from unfolding time and again if the needs of people exploited by those gangs remain unaddressed.”

Safe Passage International said: “Today’s tragedy must be the last. We must not accept this government’s refusal to prioritise opening new safe routes.”

In 2023, the UK agreed to pay around £476m over three years to the French government to police the sea border. Speaking from Boulogne-sur-Mer, Darmanin claimed the UK still only “pays a fraction” of what the French government spends on preventing migrant deaths on the Channel.

“We need a treaty – a migration treaty between the UK and the European Union – because the people who go now [are] people from the heart of Africa who want to go to the UK,” he told reporters.

The Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and currents are strong, making crossing on small boats dangerous. People smugglers typically overload rickety dinghies, often leaving them barely afloat trying to reach British shores.

The worst maritime disaster in the Channel for 30 years took place on 24 November 2021, when 31 people died. They had repeatedly made SOS calls to French and UK emergency services, but no help was sent.

More than 30 people have now died in Channel crossings this year. Last year, 12 people are thought to have died or were recorded as missing.

The International Organisation for Migration, which records Channel crossing deaths as part of its Missing Migrant Project, estimates 226 people, including 35 children, are missing or have died after attempting the crossing as of January this year.

Labour has promised to crack down on small boat crossings by “smashing the gangs” of people smugglers who organise small boats from the European continent, echoing pledges of the previous Conservative government.

Responding to calls for safe routes, the border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, claimed there are already some safe routes available to asylum seekers.

“Unfortunately, there are also … more people who want to come, than there are safe or legal routes that we could ever set up,” she said. “So the way of stopping this is actually to deal with the people-smuggling gangs and the exploitation of vulnerable people that they are facilitating.”

Alice Guo, a fugitive former mayor in the Philippines accused of having links to Chinese criminal syndicates, has been arrested in Indonesia, Manila’s justice ministry has said in a statement.

Guo, also known as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, is wanted by the Philippine Senate for refusing to attend a congressional probe on her alleged criminal ties. She has denied the accusations, insisting she is a natural-born Philippine citizen facing “malicious accusations”.

The arrest was verified by the Philippines immigrations department, the justice ministry said, adding that Guo was “in the custody of the Indonesian police at Jatanras Mabes Polri”.

Guo was arrested close to midnight on Tuesday in Tangerang city in Jakarta, Indonesia, the department said.

Philippine law enforcement agencies, including the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), last month jointly filed multiple counts of money laundering against Guo and 35 others before the Department of Justice. The AMLC has alleged that Guo and her co-conspirators laundered over 100m pesos ($1.8m) in proceeds from criminal activities.

Guo, who was removed from office as mayor of Bamban town in Tarlac province, had allegedly fled the country in July, travelling to Malaysia and Singapore, then Indonesia in August using her Philippine passport, the Philippine anti-crime agency has said.

A Senate probe into her affairs began in May after authorities raided a casino in Bamban town in March, uncovering what law enforcement officials said were scams being perpetrated from a facility build on land partially owned by the mayor.

Authorities found about 1,000 workers, including victims of human trafficking, along with luxury villas, high-end cars, and expensive cognac.

Guo’s whereabouts had been unknown for some time and was the subject of a senate arrest warrant due to her non-attendance at a hearing. Her lawyer said she had been traumatised by the hearings, including the reaction on social media, where her responses have been widely mocked.

At a previous hearing before senators Guo seemed unable to answer questions about her childhood, which she said she spent growing up on a pig farm in Bamban and being homeschooled by a teacher named Rubilyn. Schooling records found by a senator also seemed to contradict her claims about where she was educated.

The mayor struggled to provide concrete information regarding her childhood, leading the president to say in May: “We’re puzzled – where did she come from?”

The election commission then found that the fingerprints on her election records matched those of a Chinese citizen. One senator levied allegations during the hearings that Guo could be a Chinese spy or a criminal.

Guo has said she was not a spy but a natural-born Philippine national who was born as “the lovechild” of a Chinese man and his wife’s helper, who was a Filipina.

Elton John has been left with “only limited vision” after a “severe eye infection”, the 77-year-old singer has announced.

He revealed he was healing from the infection in one eye, but said his recovery would take “some time”. In a post on Instagram, John said: “Over the summer, I’ve been dealing with a severe eye infection that has unfortunately left me with only limited vision in one eye.

“I am healing, but it’s an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye. I am so grateful for the excellent team of doctors and nurses and my family, who have taken such good care of me over the last several weeks.

“I have been quietly spending the summer recuperating at home, and am feeling positive about the progress I have made in my healing and recovery so far.”

Numerous stars replied to the post wishing the singer well, including the fashion designer Donatella Versace, the radio presenter Bob Harris and the actor Layton Williams.

Versace said: “Take your time and recover, Elton. We’ll be here waiting for your return when you’re healthy and ready.”

Harris posted: “Sending you much love Elton.”

It was recently announced that the documentary film Elton John: Never Too Late would have its European premiere at this year’s BFI London film festival.

John, who was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour at a ceremony in November 2021, is known for hits including Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting, I’m Still Standing and Your Song. In 2019, he was played by the Kingsman actor Taron Egerton in a film about his life called Rocketman.

Canada is taking steps, both official and unofficial, to curb the number of people coming to the country, highlighting the way in which immigration has become a political flashpoint ahead of a federal election.

According to figures obtained by Reuters, the ratio of refused visitor visa applications to approved ones was higher in recent months than at any point since the height of the pandemic. Immigration officials rejected more applications than they approved in January, February, May and June 2024.

At the same time, the number of approved study and work permits dropped. And in July, Canada refused entry to nearly 6,000 foreign travellers, including students, workers and tourists – the most since at least January 2019. Reuters reported the shift appears to be informal, and not dictated by a change in policy.

Recent polling has shown a sharp change in how Canadians perceive of immigration, amid a mounting cost of living crisis. One immigration lawyer in Nova Scotia said the firm has seen an increase in rejections – and mounting hostility towards the firm’s clients.

“These are things people have said to us – about barring people from coming here or kicking them out – they likely wouldn’t have felt comfortable saying a few years ago. But now they say it to us, knowing exactly what sort of work we do.”

Last week, the immigration minister, Marc Miller, said his ministry would reassess the number of people applying for permanent residency.

“Now it’s time to take a look at them and put real options on the table for the prime minister and for other cabinet ministers to look at, and not cosmetic changes simply to deal with public opinion. Real significant change,” Miller told CTV News.

That same week, the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said his government would scale back the controversial temporary foreign workers following a surge in applications. The program was recently condemned by a UN special rapporteur for being a “breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery”.

Last year, employers were approved to hire 239,646 temporary foreign workers – more than double the 108,988 hired in 2018, according to Employment and Social Development Canada.

Employers are increasingly using the program to fill positions in new sectors, including in fast food and construction. For example, the number of people hired for low-wage jobs in the healthcare sector is up more than 15,000% since 2018.

Trudeau said employers in sectors where the unemployment rate is 6% or higher, will not be able to hire low-wage TFW, with an exception granted for “food security sectors” like agriculture and food and fish processing. His government has also approved a carve out for the construction and healthcare sectors.

The prime minister also mused about reducing the number of permanent residents Canada accepts each year, dramatically upending years of increased immigration levels under his tenure.

“Canada remains a place that is positive in its support for immigration, but also responsible in the way we integrate and make sure there’s pathways to success for everyone who comes to Canada,” he told reporters last week following a cabinet retreat.

With a federal election due within the next year, political leaders have sparred over immigration, with the Conservatives, who lead in the polls, accusing Trudeau’s government of letting in too many people too quickly.

Trudeau and Miller have defended the need for elevated immigration as critical part of Canada’s economic growth strategy, but both have conceded the volume of immigrants – in addition to a lack of federal and provincial investment in infrastructure – has contributed to a mounting crisis.

In late 2023, the federal government said it would freeze permanent resident targets over the next three years to ensure inflows were “sustainable”. There is an aim to bring in 485,000 permanent residents in 2024, and 500,000 in both 2025 and 2026. Those projected numbers are a more than 50% increase from the 296,000 permanent residents welcomed in 2016.

The Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, whose party has a sizeable lead in the polls, said last week the “radical and out of control” Liberal government has “destroyed our immigration system”.

Poilievre said Trudeau was growing the population at a rate far faster than houses were being build and pledged if victorious in the election, his party would tie Canada’s population growth rate to a level below the number of houses built.