Anger and vitriol took center stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, as Donald Trump and a cabal of campaign surrogates held a rally marked by racist comments, coarse insults, and dangerous threats about immigrants.

Nine days out from the election, Trump used the rally in New York to repeat his claim that he is fighting “the enemy within” and again promised to launch “the largest deportation program in American history”, amid incoherent ramblings about ending a phone call with a “very, very important person” so he could watch one of Elon Musk’s rockets land.

The event at Madison Square Garden, in the center of Manhattan, had drawn comparisons to an infamous Nazi rally held at the arena in 1939. Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ running mate, said there was a “direct parallel” between the two events, and the Democratic National Committee projected images on the outside of the building on Sunday repeating claims from Trump’s former chief-of-staff that Trump had “praised Hitler”.

There was certainly a dark tone throughout the hours-long rally, with one speaker describing Puerto Rico, home to 3.2m US citizens, as an “island of garbage”; Tucker Carlson mocking Harris’ racial identity; a radio host describing Hillary Clinton as a “sick bastard”; and a crucifix-wielding childhood friend of Trump’s declaring that Harris is “the antichrist”.

The Puerto Rico comments, made by Tony Hinchliffe, a podcaster with a history of racist remarks, were immediately criticized by the Harris-Walz campaign. Ricky Martin, the Puerto Rican popstar who has more than 18m followers on Instagram, wrote in a post: “This is what they think of us. Vote for @kamalaharris.”

Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez in a statement said “this joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”

But that could prove problematic in Pennsylvania, where the majority of the swing state’s 580,000 eligible Latino voters are of Puerto Rican descent. Both campaigns have been trying to appeal to Latino voters in the final weeks of the campaign, and Harris had visited a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia earlier on Sunday, where she outlined plans to introduce an “economic opportunity taskforce” for Puerto Rico.

The pugnacious mood didn’t change once Trump began speaking, as the former president quickly repeated his pledge to “launch the largest deportation program in American history”.

Trump continued his frequent rants about immigration and claimed that a “savage Venezuelan prison gang” had “taken over Times Square”, which will come as a surprise to anyone who has recently visited the New York landmark. The former president also stated, wrongly, that the Biden administration did not have money to respond to a recent hurricane in North Carolina because “they spent all of their money bringing in illegal immigrants, flying them in by beautiful jet planes”.

Trump’s usual dystopian threats were on offer, as the 78-year-old expanded on his claims about “the enemy within” – a group of political opponents that he has said he will set the military on if elected.

“We’re just not running against Kamala. I think a lot of our politicians here tonight know this. She means nothing, she’s purely a vessel that’s all she is,” Trump said.

“We’re running against something far bigger than Joe or Kamala and far more powerful than them, which is a massive, vicious radical-left machine that runs today’s Democrat party. They’re just vessels.”

Trump’s appearance at Madison Square Garden – home to the New York Knicks and Rangers, and venue for countless legendary acts including Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and John Lennon’s last concert appearance before his murder – marks the culmination of his peculiar love-hate flirtation with his native city. Despite the fact that he has no chance of winning New York state – Harris is 15 points ahead in the Five Thirty Eight tracker poll – this was his third rally here this year.

In May he made an audacious attempt to woo Black and Latino voters in the south Bronx, just a few miles from his childhood home in Queens. Then in September, he pitched up in the New York City suburbs in Long Island.

What Trump intends by staging this trilogy of seemingly pointless electoral appearances is unclear. He has used his rambling speeches to take a nostalgic walk down memory lane to what he sees as the golden days of his life as a New York real estate magnate.

But he has also portrayed New York City in the most dark and dystopian terms, as a rat-infested haven for drug addicts, gangs and “illegal aliens” housed in luxury apartments while military veterans shiver on the sidewalks. His toxic language is perhaps a reflection of his bitterness towards the city of his birth, which in separate court cases has convicted him of 34 felonies, found his company the Trump Organization guilty of criminal tax fraud, and found him personally liable for sexual abuse.

On Sunday Trump again criticized his home town, claiming that the Biden administration had forced “hundreds of thousands of really rough people” into the city and telling New Yorkers, despite police saying crime has declined: “Your crime is through the roof. Everything is through the roof.”

The pugnacious tone had been set earlier in the afternoon, when several of the opening speakers made obscenity-laced and hate-filled remarks.

Hinchcliffe’s comments about Puerto Rico – he also made lewd sexual innuendos about Latina women – were met with big laughs from the crowd. A comment from radio personality Sid Rosenberg that Hillary Clinton is a “sick bastard” was similarly well received, as was Rosenberg’s claim that “the fucking illegals get everything they want”.

David Rem, a Republican politician who the Trump campaign described as a childhood friend of the former president, called Harris “the devil” and “the antichrist”, to loud cheers. Rem later took a crucifix out of his pocket and announced that he was running for New York City mayor.

As soon as Trump announced his intention to stage a rally at Madison Square Garden just days before the election, critics leapt to point out historical parallels with one of the most notorious events in New York history. On 20 February 1939, just seven months before Germany invaded Poland, the pro-Hitler German American Bund held a mass Nazi rally in the exact same arena.

The organizers chose George Washington’s birthday as the date to parade their vision of an Aryan Christian country dedicated to white supremacy and American patriotism. They erected a giant portrait of Washington, which they flanked with swastika flags alongside the stars and stripes.

More than 20,000 American Nazi sympathisers attended, many dressed in storm trooper uniforms and giving the Sieg Heil salute. The “Führer” of the American Bund, Fritz Kuhn, told the crowd that America would be “returned to the people who founded it”, and decried the “Jewish controlled press”.

Hillary Clinton had noted the similarities between the two events in an interview with CNN last week, and at a rally in Nevada earlier on Sunday, Walz was happy to continue the comparison.

“Donald Trump’s got this big rally going at Madison Square Garden,” Walz said.

“There’s a direct parallel to a big rally that happened in the mid-1930s at Madison Square Garden. And don’t think that he doesn’t know for one second exactly what they’re doing there.”

The Trump campaign reacted furiously to the accusations, describing Clinton’s comments as “disgusting”. One of the few people to reference the 1939 rally on Sunday was Hulk Hogan, who emerged to wrestling music, spent several seconds struggling to rip off his shirt, then claimed: “I don’t see no stinkin’ Nazis in here”.

After a night of fire and fury, it will be up to the American voters to decide.

Donald Trump reveled in what advisers called his happy place at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, as he enveloped himself in the adulation ahead of the final stretch of campaigning until the November election.

The capacity rally at the Garden – something Trump had talked about for years – was essentially a reboot of the Republican national convention this summer, widely seen as Trump’s most confident moment.

Trump had the more polished speakers from the convention double down on crude and xenophobic rhetoric, while he had Hulk Hogan rip his shirt on stage again, and got Melania Trump to appear again.

The rally was a safe space for Trump and the campaign to lean into their most caustic impulses: speakers falsely saying Kamala Harris allowed migrants to “rape and kill” Americans or questioning whether Harris was Black or “Samoan-Malaysian”.

There was nothing about trying to broaden his base. The rhetoric of Trump and his speakers was designed to give the crowd what they wanted to hear, doubling down on immigration rhetoric which Trump thinks his supporters love to hear the most.

That disinterest to reach undecided voters by moderating the rhetoric also underscored the confidence of the Trump team with fewer than nine days until the election – they have long seen their path to victory as juicing turnout.

The Trump team in recent days have in hushed whispers suggested privately they might even get close to winning the popular vote, which Trump lost in 2016, describing him as a comeback story with momentum on his side.

Here are the key takeaways from perhaps Trump’s final major rally before election day:

Kamala Harris addressed a boisterous crowd in North Philadelphia on Sunday, promising supporters that she would win a seemingly deadlocked presidential race with just nine days left before election day.

“Nine days left in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime, and we know this is going to be a tight race until the very end,” the vice-president told hundreds of supporters. “And make no mistake: we will win.”

Echoing a message that she has hammered at every campaign stop in recent weeks, Harris framed the election as a choice between “two extremely different visions for our nation”. Harris accused Donald Trump of waging a selfish campaign of vengeance while she and her supporters work toward a better future for all Americans.

“We have an opportunity before us to turn the page on the fear and the divisiveness that have characterized our politics for a decade because of Donald Trump,” Harris said. “We have the ability to turn the page on that same old tired playbook because we are exhausted with it, and we are ready to chart a new way forward.”

Harris took the stage after visiting a predominantly Black church and a barbershop in western Philadelphia, underscoring how important the city will be in her electoral strategy. Harris’ ability to turn out Democrats in Philadelphia will be key to winning Pennsylvania, which could serve as the tipping point state in the electoral college.

“There is too much on the line, and we must not wake up the day after the election and have any regrets about what we could have done in these next nine days,” Harris said. “The election is here, and the choice, Philly, is truly in your hands. The path to victory runs right through all of the leaders who are here.”

Cherelle Parker, the mayor of Philadelphia, was among several prominent Democrats who introduced the vice-president at the rally. Parker, the first Black woman to serve as the city’s mayor, asked attendees to remember what it felt like to see Trump win in 2016 and urged them to do everything they can to prevent that from happening again. She reminded them that Joe Biden won Pennsylvania by just 1.2 points in 2020, four years after Trump carried the state by 0.7 points.

“Guess what the difference was between that 2016 vote and that 2020 vote?” Parker said. “More people came out to vote in the city of Philadelphia and our neighboring counties.”

The rally offered at least one warning sign for Harris, however. Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted the beginning of Harris’ remarks, prompting boos from fellow attendees before the demonstrators were escorted out.

Harris did not shy away from addressing the protesters and instead turned her full attention to the war in Gaza, telling the crowd: “We can and we must seize this opportunity to end this war and bring the hostages home, and I will do everything in my power to meet that end.”

The stakes of the election came up repeatedly in conversations with attendees of the rally, with many saying they felt the weight of their responsibility as voters in a battleground state. Brenda Exon, a 60-year-old voter from Wallingford known as the “Philly Pride Lady,” attended the rally wearing her “timeline to liberty” apron, which tells the story of Philadelphia from the founding of Pennsylvania to the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the civil rights movement.

“Our Philly story is our nation’s story, and that’s what we’re fighting for really. We don’t want Donald Trump to take this away,” Exon said. “We’re coming up on our 250th [anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence], and who should be president celebrating that in 2026? Kamala Harris.”

Despite the polls showing a neck-and-neck race, Harris’ supporters in Philadelphia seemed confident that she would emerge victorious. Jacob Roberts, a 26-year-old voter from West Chester who has already cast his ballot for Harris, said the enthusiasm for Trump seemed dimmer in Pennsylvania this year.

“I’m seeing a lot of Kamala yard signs around,” Roberts said. “I actually just drove out to western Pennsylvania. I didn’t see a lot of Trump signs on barns or anything, so I think we’re looking good.”

Asked whether he was disappointed to miss some of the Philadelphia Eagles football game to attend Harris’ rally, Roberts said it was well worth it, adding: “This is our country we’re talking about.”

Puerto Rican stars star Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin have thrown their support behind Kamala Harrison the same day that a comedian appearing at Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”.

On Sunday international reggaeton star Bad Bunny- whose official name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio – shared a video of the Democratic presidential nominee to his more than 45 million followers on Instagram. His support could be a boost for the Harris campaign as it tries to bolster its support with Latino and Puerto Rican voters.

Bad Bunny signalled his support for Harris moments after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made the remarks about Puerto Rico at the Trump rally in New York. Hinchcliffe also made crude remarks about Latinos.

The comment was immediately criticised by the Harris-Walz campaign. Ricky Martin, another Puerto Rican pop star, wrote in a post to his 18m followers on Instagram: “This is what they think of us. Vote for @kamalaharris.”

Later, Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez in a statement said: “this joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”

Other Latino singers who had already expressed support for Harris – including Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony – also shared the video from Democratic candidate.

Bad Bunny has won three Grammy awards and was the most streamed artist on Spotify in 2020, 2021 and 2022, only surpassed by Taylor Swift in 2023. He was named artist of the year by Apple Music in 2022.

The artist has increasingly waded into politics, especially in his native Puerto Rico, where he purchased billboards in protest of the pro-statehood New Progressive party and has been critical of the electric system, which was leveled by Hurricane Mario.

The video he shared on Sunday shows Harris saying: “There’s so much at stake in this election for Puerto Rican voters and for Puerto Rico.”

He then shared another part of the clip where Harris says: “I will never forget what Donald Trump did and what he did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and a competent leader,” she says.

Puerto Rican voters are crucial to both Trump and Harris, and Trump has recently been making inroads with the group. In Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, the majority of the 580,000 eligible Latino voters are of Puerto Rican descent.

Harris on Sunday visited a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia where she outlined plans to introduce an “economic opportunity taskforce” for Puerto Rico.

She also recognized the need to urgently rebuild Puerto Rico’s energy grid, promising to work with local leaders to ensure all Puerto Ricans have access to reliable electricity, and cut red tape to ensure disaster recovery funds are used quickly and effectively.

A year after the storm, public health experts estimated that nearly 3,000 perished because of the effects of Hurricane Maria.

Trump’s actions and policies towards the island have repeatedly drawn criticism. He repeatedly questioned the number of casualties, saying it rose “like magic”. His visit to the island after the hurricane elicited controversy such as when he tossed paper towels. His administration released $13bn in assistance years later, just weeks before the 2020 presidential election. And a federal government watchdog found that officials hampered an investigation into delays in aid delivery.

Bad Bunny also shared a part of the clip showing Harris saying that Trump “abandoned the island, tried to block aid after back-to-back devastating hurricanes and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults”.

A representative for the artist confirmed his endorsement.

Japan’s political future was shrouded in uncertainty on Monday after voters punished the ruling coalition over rising prices and a funding scandal, paving the way for days of wrangling as party leaders try to form a government.

The Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and its longtime junior coalition partner Komeito failed to secure a majority in the lower house on a bruising night in which the main opposition Constitutional Democratic party (CDP) made significant gains.

The result – which left no single party with a clear mandate – is the LDP’s worst performance since 2009, when it was cast into the wilderness for three years before mounting a comeback under the leadership of Shinzo Abe.

A chastened prime minister Shigeru Ishiba, who was due to give an address on Monday afternoon, said voters had issued a “severe judgment” against the LDP.

They had “expressed their strong desire for the LDP to do some reflection and become a party that acts in line with the people’s will”, he told the public broadcaster NHK.

Uncertainty over whether the coalition can reach a deal with a third party and secure a working majority sent the yen to a three-month low against the dollar on Monday as investors braced for a period of political and economic uncertainty.

The LDP and Komeito won a combined 215 seats, down from 279 and well below the 233 they needed to retain their majority. Two cabinet members lost their seats, as did several other candidates implicated in a slush fund scandal that has battered the LDP’s approval ratings in recent months. The biggest winner was the CDP with 148 seats, up from 98.

Having seen his snap election gamble fail spectacularly Ishiba must now attempt to cobble together a three-party coalition that could include MPs from the centre-right Democratic party for the People or the populist Japan Innovation party.

Few analysts expect the opposition parties, which range from conservatives to communists, to unite to form an alternative coalition given their policy differences.

But the CDP’s leader, Yoshihiko Noda, said the result was proof that the LDP-Komeito coalition could not continue. “This is not the end, but the beginning,” Noda told a press conference, adding that his party would work with other opposition parties to aim for a change of government.

Under Japan’s constitution, the parties now have 30 days to put together a coalition, but pressure is expected to mount on senior politicians to act quickly. The gridlock comes as a time of uncertainty for Japan’s economy, growing concern over China and North Korea, and just days before the U.S. presidential election.

There will be questions, too, about the decision by Ishiba, who became prime minister only a month ago, to call an early election while his party was embroiled in a major funding scandal.

“Whether or not Ishiba resigns as LDP leader today, it seems unlikely that he will survive to lead a new government as prime minister … although it is possible he could stay on as caretaker,” said Tobias Harris, founder of the political risk advisory firm Japan Foresight.

Masakazu Tokura, the chair of Japan’s most influential business lobby, called for a quick return to political stability for the sake of the economy. “We strongly hope for policy-oriented politics through the establishment of a stable government centred on the LDP-Komeito coalition,” he said in a statement.

Approximately 70 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in the past day, health officials in Gaza said, as Israel’s renewed campaign in the north of the strip shows no sign of slowing despite the revival of ceasefire talks after a three-month-long hiatus.

Separately, one person was killed when a truck rammed into a bus stop in Ramat Hasharon, north of Tel Aviv, on Sunday, in what Israeli police are treating as a suspected terrorist attack. About 40 people were injured to varying degrees, some seriously, and were taken to nearby hospitals, police said.

The Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad praised the suspected attack but did not claim it.

The driver of the truck was a Palestinian citizen of Israel, police said, and was “neutralised” by passersby carrying firearms.

Also on Sunday, the Israeli military said a Palestinian man was killed after he tried to stab a group of soldiers in the occupied West Bank town of Hizma.

Information about the situation in northern Gaza has become increasingly sporadic and difficult to verify as Israel’s new ground and aerial assault focusing on Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun enters its fourth week.

Internet and phone services have been down for hours at a time, and civil defence workers have been unable to reach the sites of recent strikes due to Israeli forces’ ever-tightening siege and attacks on their crews.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) withdrew from Kamal Adwan hospital, one of only three still operating in the area, on Sunday morning after raiding the compound a day earlier. Staff said dozens of male health workers and some patients had been detained.

The death toll from an Israeli airstrike on Beit Lahia on Saturday evening rose to 40 on Sunday, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Another strike on houses in Jabaliya on Sunday morning killed 20 people, and 11 more people were killed in the bombing of a school turned shelter in the Shati area of Gaza City, the health ministry in the previously Hamas-controlled territory said.

In statements, the IDF said they had “eliminated over 40 terrorists” in Jabaliya, and they disputed the death toll in Beit Lahiya, which they said did not align with the “precise munitions” used.

Israel launched a new ground and aerial offensive on northern Gaza on 6 October that it says is necessary to mop up Hamas cells that have regrouped. Sweeping evacuation orders for the 400,000 people who the UN estimates still live there, the blockage of aid and food deliveries and the targeting of civilian infrastructure such as hospitals have led rights groups to accuse Israel of the war crime of seeking to forcibly displace the remaining population.

Israel has denied it is systematically removing Palestinians from the area or using food as a weapon, both of which are illegal under international law.

In a statement on Sunday, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, called the plight of civilians trapped by the fighting in north Gaza “unbearable”.

His office said: “The secretary general is shocked by the harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction in the north, with civilians trapped under rubble, the sick and wounded going without life-saving healthcare and families lacking food and shelter.”

The head of the Mossad, David Barnea, was expected to travel to Qatar on Sunday for meetings aimed at restarting ceasefire and hostage release negotiations. The indirect talks, mediated by Qatar, the US and Egypt, broke down after the death of Hamas’s leader Ismail Haniyeh in a bombing in Iran believed to have been carried out by Israel. Hostilities with Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah have since overshadowed the peace process in Gaza.

The killing of Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the 7 October 2023 attack, in the strip this month was presented by the international community as an opportunity to restart negotiations. Sinwar, who had the last word on Hamas’s position, had repeatedly blocked progress towards a deal.

Later on Sunday, family members of the approximately 100 Israeli hostages who remain captive in Gaza disrupted a speech by Benjamin Netanyahu at a televised memorial event for victims of the Hamas attack, forcing the Israeli prime minister to stop his address.

Many in Israel blame Netanyahu for the intelligence and response failures of 7 October and accuse him of dragging his heels on a deal in Gaza to bring the hostages home for political reasons.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese health ministry said that at least 21 people were killed on Sunday in Israeli strikes on three different areas in southern Lebanon.

Nine people were killed and 38 wounded in a strike on Haret Saida, near the port city of Sidon, the ministry said, with at least seven others including a nurse and three rescuers killed in the southern village of Ain Baal, and five in Burj al-Shemali.

Israel’s military claimed on Sunday it had killed 70 Hezbollah fighters, and it issued a new wave of evacuation orders to villages that it said hosted Hezbollah military infrastructure.

It also announced that five Israeli soldiers had been killed in the fighting in Lebanon, and another had died from wounds sustained in north Gaza.

Iran’s leadership has said it is weighing a response to this weekend’s Israeli airstrikes, as the country called on the UN security council to meet on Monday.

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said Tehran was not looking for a war but would respond “appropriately” to Israel’s strikes.

“We do not seek war but we will defend the rights of our nation and country,” Pezeshkian told a cabinet meeting on Sunday. He added: “We will give an appropriate response to the aggression of the Zionist regime.”

It is not clear whether Pezeshkian was indicating that Iran would contemplate a direct military response, could step up efforts to arm regional proxies including Hezbollah, or would consider other diplomatic protests in response to Saturday’s airstrikes.

His remarks came amid a debate in Iran on whether the Israeli attack, more limited than some had predicted, warrants a military response and if the country will be seen as weak if it does nothing.

The US has said it is concerned that the cycle of tit-for-tat strikes between the Middle East’s largest military powers could lead to a full-scale regional war.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Sunday in his first response to the attack that the “evil committed by the Zionist regime two nights ago should neither be downplayed nor exaggerated”.

Khamenei said Iran’s power should be demonstrated to Israel, adding: “It is up to the authorities to determine how to convey the power and will of the Iranian people to the Israeli regime and to take actions that serve the interests of this nation and country.”

His remarks suggest there is no immediate military response planned, as Iran weighs its options.

Shortly after the attack, Tehran played it down, saying it had caused limited damage, and Joe Biden called for a halt to escalation.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, condemned the attacks, which Israel launched in retaliation for a barrage of ballistic missiles fired by Iran this month, and called for the UN security council to convene on Monday.

“The Israeli regime’s actions constitute a grave threat to international peace and security and further destabilise an already fragile region,” Araqchi said in a letter to the 15-member council on Saturday.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, in alignment with the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and under international law, reserves its inherent right to legal and legitimate response to these criminal attacks at the appropriate time,” he wrote.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a speech on Sunday: “The air force attacked throughout Iran. We hit hard Iran’s defence capabilities and its ability to produce missiles that are aimed at us. The attack in Iran was precise and powerful, and it achieved all its objectives.”

According to anonymous officials quoted in the New York Times, Israel’s attack destroyed air defence systems set up to protect several critical oil and petrochemical refineries and a large gasfield. According to the report, the air defences attacked included those around the Bandar Imam Khomeini petrochemical complex and the neighbouring port of Bandar Imam Khomeini.

Earlier, Pezeshkian had limited his remarks to mourning the loss of four Iranian soldiers killed in the Israeli attack. In a statement, he added: “Enemies of Iran should know these brave people are standing fearlessly in defence of their land and will respond to any stupidity with tact and intelligence.”

Javad Zarif, a former foreign minister and current strategic adviser to the government, also made no direct threat of retaliation, saying instead in a lengthy statement: “The west should move away from its outdated and dangerous paradigm. It must condemn Israel’s recent acts of aggression and join Iran in efforts to end the apartheid, genocide and violence in Palestine and Gaza, and in Lebanon. Recognising Iran’s confident resolve for peace is essential; this unique opportunity should not be missed.”

Iran’s mission to the UN in New York, often used as a means of communicating media messages to the west, accused the US of being complicit in the attack since Israeli warplanes attacked Iran from Iraqi airspace. “Iraqi airspace is under the occupation, command and control of the US military. Conclusion: the US complicity in this crime is certain,” it said.

The mission has written to the UN security council to accuse Israel of a breach of Iranian sovereignty.

Araghchi said: “It seems that the truth has been completely proven that without America, Israel does not necessarily have any power in the region, not only in the operation it has done against Iran, but all the operations it has done in Gaza, Lebanon and other places, we believe America has been complicit in all these cases.”

He highlighted the reaction of the countries in the region to the Israeli attack. “Since yesterday [Saturday] until now, we are regularly receiving messages from different countries, the statements they issued, the level of condemnation from different countries both in the region. It is really remarkable that it took place at this international level.”

Iran has to weigh the likely diplomatic damage to its improving relations with its Arab partners of mounting a further attack, the impact on its ailing economy, and the likelihood that a further Israeli strike would cause considerably more damage than Friday’s softening-up exercise.

Public support for Iran’s costly foreign policy is fragile, the latest polling conducted by the Middle East Institute shows.

Israel’s reputation as a democracy would be “deeply harmed” if the Knesset pressed ahead with bills this week that would end all Israeli government cooperation with the Palestinian relief agency Unrwa, the UK’s Middle East minister has said.

Hamish Falconer said such a move at a time when the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was catastrophic and worsening would “neither be in Israel’s interest or realistic”.

His remarks are the strongest criticism yet by a western government minister of the legislation, which could be voted on as early as this week unless the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, intervenes.

He was speaking as a joint statement was released from seven European foreign ministries, including the UK’s, urging Israel to drop the proposed bill, saying: “It is crucial that Unrwa and other UN organisations be fully able to deliver humanitarian aid and their assistance to those who need it most, fulfilling their mandates effectively.”

Falconer demanded that more aid be allowed to enter Gaza and said too many civilians were being killed in Israeli attacks on Hamas in Gaza. He was speaking at a conference in London convened by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Falconer said the measures taken by the Labour government so far did not indicate any decline in Labour support for the state of Israel, but his remarks were as sharp as any delivered by a Labour minister.

He said: “We are deeply concerned by legislation currently under consideration by the Israeli Knesset which would critically undermine Unrwa. It is neither in Israel’s interest nor realistic.

“Given the agency’s vital role in delivering aid and essential services at a time when more aid should be getting into Gaza, it is deeply harmful to Israel’s international reputation as a democratic country that its lawmakers are taking steps that would make the delivering of food, water, medicines and healthcare more difficult.”

He added: “The international community are clear that Unrwa and other humanitarian organisations must be fully able to deliver aid.”

Many Israelis regard Unrwa as too closely linked with Hamas and also committed to the Palestinian refugees’ right of return.

Falconer, who has recently been to the Egypt-Gaza border, said humanitarian access to Gaza remained wholly inadequate. “I saw for myself thousands of trucks waiting to cross the border,” he said. “Some had been there for months. There were warehouses full of life-saving items – medical equipment, sleeping bags and tarpaulin for the winter. There have been repeated attacks on humanitarian convoys and the level of aid getting in is far too low.”

He challenged Israel’s military tactics inside Gaza, saying: “Hamas is a brutal terrorist organisation, it hides behind Gazan civilians, but all parties must do everything possible to protect civilians and fully respect international humanitarian law.”

He said Israel “must protect civilians even if it means making difficult choices. All too often in the pursuit of Hamas we have seen civilians pay the price. The Israeli government must take all necessary precautions to avoid civilian casualties, to ensure aid can flow into Gaza and freely through all humanitarian land routes.”

Falconer also said: “As long as there is little accountability for settler violence, the government will consider further actions.”

Warning that the risk of further escalation could not be exaggerated, he called for calmer heads to prevail and urged Iran not to retaliate for Saturday’s Israeli attack. The death of the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar presented an opportunity for a new chapter, he said, and no military solution existed to the crisis.

Speaking at the same event via video link, the former UK prime minister Tony Blair said: “Hamas cannot be allowed to continue to govern Gaza, and Israel will need to pull back to allow the development of a different governance structure for Gaza that would then enable reconstruction to take place.”

Blair said he knew that many in Israel doubted Gaza could ever be run differently, and many assumed a “higher level of support for Hamas than exists in reality”.

He said polls commissioned in August by the Tony Blair Institute showed that the most popular choice was an administration of Gaza representatives with international oversight and linked to the Palestinian Authority. He said the poll showed that in the West Bank there was strong agreement behind moderate to deep reform of the Palestinian Authority.

The former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert told the conference that Israeli opposition parties needed to show courage by speaking out in favour of a two-state solution as they knew it was the only alternative to more blood and killings.

He was speaking alongside Nasser al-Kidwa, a former Palestinian foreign minister and nephew of Yasser Arafat. The two men have published a peace plan for the Palestinian conflict and it was the first time Kidwa had spoken at an Israeli-organised event.

Olmert, who dodged questions about whether he was returning to frontline politics, said of the two-state solution: “No one is prepared to say this publicly, openly, because they do not have the guts to speak out. They know there is no other solution. Presently they are afraid to spell it out when soldiers are being killed on a daily basis.”

He said his job was “to say not what was popular, but what was true”.

Their joint proposal calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, a full withdrawal of troops from the territory, a release of all hostages held by Hamas, and Palestinian elections within 36 months.

Georgia’s pro-western opposition has called on the country to protest on Monday against the disputed parliamentary victory of the ruling, Russia-aligned Georgian Dream (GD) party.

GD retained power in Saturday’s pivotal election that dealt a significant blow to the country’s long-held aspirations for EU membership, amid allegations of voter intimidation and coercion.

The opposition refused to concede defeat and accused the ruling party of a “constitutional coup”, setting the stage for a potential political crisis that could further polarise the Caucasus country.

At a press conference organised by the opposition on Sunday evening, Georgia’s pro-EU president, Salome Zourabichvili, declared that she did not recognise the election results and asserted that the country had fallen victim to a “Russian special operation”.

Zourabichvili, whose role is largely ceremonial, called on Georgians to protest against the results on Monday evening. “This was a total rigging, a total robbery of your votes,” she said.

The electoral commission announced on Sunday that GD secured 54% of the vote, winning 89 seats in the parliament – one fewer than in 2020. Four pro-western opposition parties collectively won a total of 61 seats.

The result thwarts the opposition’s hopes for a pro-western coalition of four blocs and in effect stalls the country’s aspirations for EU integration.

Voters in the country of almost 4 million people had headed to the polls on Saturday in a watershed election to decide whether the increasingly authoritarian GD, which has been in power since 2012 and steered the country into a conservative course away from the west and closer to Russia, should get another four-year term.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the shadowy billionaire founder of GD, claimed victory shortly after polls closed in what has been called the most consequential election since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

“It is a rare case in the world that the same party achieves such success in such a difficult situation – this is a good indicator of the talent of the Georgian people,” said Ivanishvili, widely considered to be the country’s most powerful figure.

For the past three decades, Georgia has maintained strong pro-western aspirations, with polls showing up to 80% of its people favour joining the EU. In recent years, however, the government has increasingly shifted away from the west in favour of Russia, showing reluctance to condemn Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

An international observer mission on Sunday said the conduct of the election was evidence of “democratic backsliding” in the country.

A preliminary report by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said it “noted reports of intimidation, coercion and pressure on voters, particularly on public sector employees and other groups, raising concerns about the ability of some voters to cast their vote without fear of retribution”.

However, it stopped short of saying the elections had been stolen or falsified – a claim the opposition reiterated on Sunday.

On Saturday morning, several videos circulated online appearing to show ballot stuffing and voter intimidation at various polling stations across Georgia.

Electoral commission data showed GD winning by suspiciously big margins of up to 90% in some rural areas, though it underperformed in bigger cities.

Western officials have expressed concern over reports of election fraud, though they too have used cautious language and refrained from calling for a boycott of the results. The European Council president, Charles Michel, on Sunday pushed for a swift and transparent investigation into alleged irregularities during the election.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken joined calls from observers for a full probe into reports of election-related violations.

“Going forward, we encourage Georgia’s political leaders to respect the rule of law, repeal legislation that undermines fundamental freedoms, and address deficiencies in the electoral process together,” Blinken said in a statement.

It remains unclear if the opposition will be able to galvanise enough support in the coming days. Last spring, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Tbilisi to protest a controversial “foreign agents” bill that critics argued was designed to stifle the country’s media and NGOs. Those protests gradually faded after a police crackdown and a series of arrests.

The election result suggests GD retains support from a core group of Georgian voters, particularly in industrial heartlands and conservative, poorer regions where economic progress has been slow and the appeal of Europe feels distant and faint.

GD received congratulations from several foreign leaders including Hungary’s hard-right prime minister, Viktor Orbán, a longtime ally of Ivanishvili, who is scheduled to visit Tbilisi on Tuesday.

GD has been accused by critics at home and abroad of plans to move the country in an authoritarian direction after Ivanishvili vowed to ban all the leading opposition parties and remove opposition lawmakers if his party was re-elected.

The party was facing an unprecedented union of four pro-western opposition forces that had vowed to form a coalition government to oust it from power and put Georgia back on track to join the EU.

The biggest opposition force is the centre-right UNM, a party founded by Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president who is in prison on charges of abuse of power that his allies say are politically motivated. From jail, Saakashvili called on Georgians to take the streets.

In the aftermath of the elections, voters in Tbilisi seemed divided over the country’s future course. Ana Machaidze, a 25-year-old student, said: “We have lost our country today. I don’t know what to do next. I hope we can take to the streets, but if we lose, maybe I will live abroad.”

Support for the pro-western opposition groups generally came from urban and younger voters, who envision their political future with the EU.

Irakli Shengelia, 56, a restaurant worker, said he was glad GD would remain in power because the party guaranteed “peace and stability” with Russia.

The government, aligned with the deeply conservative and influential Orthodox church, has sought to galvanise anti-liberal sentiments by campaigning on “family values” and criticising what it portrays as western excesses.

In the summer, the parliament passed legislation imposing sweeping restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights – a move that critics say mirrored laws enacted in neighbouring Russia, where authorities have implemented a series of repressive measures against sexual minorities.

In Russia, the election results were widely welcomed. As the results trickled in, state propaganda celebrated the outcome, with Margarita Simonyan, the influential editor-in-chief of the state media outlet RT, declaring that “the Georgians had won”.

Georgia’s pro-western opposition has called on the country to protest on Monday against the disputed parliamentary victory of the ruling, Russia-aligned Georgian Dream (GD) party.

GD retained power in Saturday’s pivotal election that dealt a significant blow to the country’s long-held aspirations for EU membership, amid allegations of voter intimidation and coercion.

The opposition refused to concede defeat and accused the ruling party of a “constitutional coup”, setting the stage for a potential political crisis that could further polarise the Caucasus country.

At a press conference organised by the opposition on Sunday evening, Georgia’s pro-EU president, Salome Zourabichvili, declared that she did not recognise the election results and asserted that the country had fallen victim to a “Russian special operation”.

Zourabichvili, whose role is largely ceremonial, called on Georgians to protest against the results on Monday evening. “This was a total rigging, a total robbery of your votes,” she said.

The electoral commission announced on Sunday that GD secured 54% of the vote, winning 89 seats in the parliament – one fewer than in 2020. Four pro-western opposition parties collectively won a total of 61 seats.

The result thwarts the opposition’s hopes for a pro-western coalition of four blocs and in effect stalls the country’s aspirations for EU integration.

Voters in the country of almost 4 million people had headed to the polls on Saturday in a watershed election to decide whether the increasingly authoritarian GD, which has been in power since 2012 and steered the country into a conservative course away from the west and closer to Russia, should get another four-year term.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the shadowy billionaire founder of GD, claimed victory shortly after polls closed in what has been called the most consequential election since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

“It is a rare case in the world that the same party achieves such success in such a difficult situation – this is a good indicator of the talent of the Georgian people,” said Ivanishvili, widely considered to be the country’s most powerful figure.

For the past three decades, Georgia has maintained strong pro-western aspirations, with polls showing up to 80% of its people favour joining the EU. In recent years, however, the government has increasingly shifted away from the west in favour of Russia, showing reluctance to condemn Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

An international observer mission on Sunday said the conduct of the election was evidence of “democratic backsliding” in the country.

A preliminary report by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said it “noted reports of intimidation, coercion and pressure on voters, particularly on public sector employees and other groups, raising concerns about the ability of some voters to cast their vote without fear of retribution”.

However, it stopped short of saying the elections had been stolen or falsified – a claim the opposition reiterated on Sunday.

On Saturday morning, several videos circulated online appearing to show ballot stuffing and voter intimidation at various polling stations across Georgia.

Electoral commission data showed GD winning by suspiciously big margins of up to 90% in some rural areas, though it underperformed in bigger cities.

Western officials have expressed concern over reports of election fraud, though they too have used cautious language and refrained from calling for a boycott of the results. The European Council president, Charles Michel, on Sunday pushed for a swift and transparent investigation into alleged irregularities during the election.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken joined calls from observers for a full probe into reports of election-related violations.

“Going forward, we encourage Georgia’s political leaders to respect the rule of law, repeal legislation that undermines fundamental freedoms, and address deficiencies in the electoral process together,” Blinken said in a statement.

It remains unclear if the opposition will be able to galvanise enough support in the coming days. Last spring, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Tbilisi to protest a controversial “foreign agents” bill that critics argued was designed to stifle the country’s media and NGOs. Those protests gradually faded after a police crackdown and a series of arrests.

The election result suggests GD retains support from a core group of Georgian voters, particularly in industrial heartlands and conservative, poorer regions where economic progress has been slow and the appeal of Europe feels distant and faint.

GD received congratulations from several foreign leaders including Hungary’s hard-right prime minister, Viktor Orbán, a longtime ally of Ivanishvili, who is scheduled to visit Tbilisi on Tuesday.

GD has been accused by critics at home and abroad of plans to move the country in an authoritarian direction after Ivanishvili vowed to ban all the leading opposition parties and remove opposition lawmakers if his party was re-elected.

The party was facing an unprecedented union of four pro-western opposition forces that had vowed to form a coalition government to oust it from power and put Georgia back on track to join the EU.

The biggest opposition force is the centre-right UNM, a party founded by Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president who is in prison on charges of abuse of power that his allies say are politically motivated. From jail, Saakashvili called on Georgians to take the streets.

In the aftermath of the elections, voters in Tbilisi seemed divided over the country’s future course. Ana Machaidze, a 25-year-old student, said: “We have lost our country today. I don’t know what to do next. I hope we can take to the streets, but if we lose, maybe I will live abroad.”

Support for the pro-western opposition groups generally came from urban and younger voters, who envision their political future with the EU.

Irakli Shengelia, 56, a restaurant worker, said he was glad GD would remain in power because the party guaranteed “peace and stability” with Russia.

The government, aligned with the deeply conservative and influential Orthodox church, has sought to galvanise anti-liberal sentiments by campaigning on “family values” and criticising what it portrays as western excesses.

In the summer, the parliament passed legislation imposing sweeping restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights – a move that critics say mirrored laws enacted in neighbouring Russia, where authorities have implemented a series of repressive measures against sexual minorities.

In Russia, the election results were widely welcomed. As the results trickled in, state propaganda celebrated the outcome, with Margarita Simonyan, the influential editor-in-chief of the state media outlet RT, declaring that “the Georgians had won”.

The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court allegedly responded to a formal complaint of sexual misconduct by trying to persuade the alleged victim to deny the claims, the Guardian has been told.

Multiple ICC staff with knowledge of the allegations against Karim Khan said the prosecutor and another official close to him repeatedly urged the woman to disavow claims about his behaviour towards her.

The alleged attempts to deter the woman from formally pursuing the claims took place in phone calls and in person, and came after Khan learned court authorities had been made aware of allegations of misconduct, four sources said.

At the time, the chief prosecutor had been advised to avoid one-on-one contact with the alleged victim after an aborted internal inquiry into the matter.

Contacted by the Guardian for comment, Khan denied asking the woman to withdraw any allegations. His lawyers said: “Our client denies the whole of the allegations and we are most concerned the exposure of a confidential and closed internal matter is designed to undermine his high-profile ongoing work at a delicate time.”

After reports of alleged sexual misconduct began to circulate in the media in recent days, Khan denied the claims in a public statement that said he and the court had been “subject to a wide range of attacks and threats”. In anonymous briefings, court officials close to the prosecutor have suggested he may have been the target of a smear campaign.

“There is no truth to suggestions of such misconduct,” Khan’s statement said. “I have worked in diverse contexts for 30 years and there has never been such a complaint lodged against me by anyone.”

The woman at the heart of the allegations – who ICC colleagues describe as a well-regarded lawyer in her 30s who worked directly for Khan – has declined requests for comment.

But multiple sources familiar with the situation said she told colleagues she declined the alleged requests to disavow the claims. She believed the alleged approaches by Khan and another ICC official were part of an attempt to make her say that the claims against the prosecutor had been fabricated, the sources added.

According to a document seen by the Guardian, the accusations against Khan, 54, include unwanted sexual touching and “abuse” over an extended period. They include an alleged incident in which he is said to have “pressed his tongue” into the woman’s ear. Khan denies such allegations of misconduct.

Four ICC sources familiar with the allegations said they also include coercive sexual behaviour and abuse of authority.

The Guardian has interviewed 11 current and former ICC officials familiar with the case, as well as diplomatic sources and friends of the alleged victim. All declined to be identified because they were not authorised to discuss the allegations, or because they wanted to protect the woman.

Multiple sources said misreporting about the allegations and efforts to politicise the situation have been deeply distressing for the woman, who is said to have initially held back on pursuing a complaint against Khan over concerns about reprisals, and fears it could be exploited by Israel or opponents of the court.

Sources who know the alleged victim said she has been left traumatised by the situation and is “experiencing severe emotional distress”.

“She never wanted any of this,” one person close to her said. “But the complaint filed against her wishes, followed by Khan’s denials and attempts to suppress the allegations, have forced her into a very difficult position.”

The public emergence of the allegations comes at an intensely sensitive moment for the ICC, a court of last resort that prosecutes individuals accused of atrocities.

A panel of three ICC judges is weighing politically explosive requests by Khan to issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza.

The ICC, which is headquartered in The Hague, now faces an unprecedented crisis amid growing internal strife over the handling of the allegations and apparent attempts by the court’s opponents to weaponise them.

Critics of the court have seized upon the allegations, which Khan first learned about weeks before his announcement in May requesting arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence minister and three Hamas leaders.

Khan has stopped short of explicitly accusing Israel of being behind the allegations, but in his statement denying misconduct he noted that he and the court have been the target of “a wide range of recent attacks and threats” in recent months.

The Guardian revealed earlier this year how Israel’s intelligence agencies ran a decade-long campaign against the ICC that included threats and attempts to smear senior staff. Against this backdrop, ICC officials close to Khan are strongly hinting the allegations may be part of a smear campaign by Israel.

However, in a months-long investigation into the allegations against Khan, the Guardian has found no evidence that Israel, or any other country, had any involvement in the underlying allegations – although there does appear to have been a subsequent effort by anonymous actors to brief journalists and post leaks online.

Online leaks

Last week, as leaks about Khan’s alleged conduct began to appear, press reports and social media posts minimised and misconstrued the allegations, according to sources familiar with the alleged victim’s accounts.

References to allegations contained within a report by a so-called “whistleblower”, they said, included inaccuracies. Several media organisations received, and then published, the same incomplete information.

The Guardian can reveal a more detailed picture of the allegations and of the complex sequence of events that ultimately led to aspects of the claims leaking online and into the pages of rightwing media outlets.

According to three sources familiar with the situation, the allegations of sexual misconduct relate to Khan’s behaviour towards the woman between a period of approximately April 2023 and April 2024.

“The allegations do not relate to a single or a couple of incidents, but misconduct taking place over a period of several months,” one ICC source said.

The alleged victim told colleagues that, after initial concerns about how Khan had sought to hold her hand while on a work trip in London, the prosecutor is alleged to have made repeated attempts to initiate unwanted sexual contact.

The alleged incidents are said to have escalated over time and occurred in his office at the ICC’s headquarters, in hotel rooms on overseas work trips, as well as at his home in The Hague.

Three sources said the woman reported to colleagues detailed descriptions of alleged unwanted sexual touching, including occasions when Khan would allegedly grope her and put his tongue in her ear.

According to an ICC document describing the allegations, she reported that she tried to make excuses to avoid being alone with Khan, but attempts to distance herself from him would lead to negative consequences in the workplace.

After returning from an overseas work trip with the prosecutor in April, the woman spoke in confidence to two close colleagues after they noticed she was upset and gave a detailed account of Khan’s alleged conduct.

The alleged victim told colleagues at the time that she was reluctant to pursue a formal complaint as she feared that doing so could have negative consequences for her, her family and the work of the international court.

Within days of confiding in the two colleagues, however, Khan and the ICC’s independent oversight mechanism (IOM), a watchdog that investigates alleged misconduct, had been made aware of the claims.

Khan was told one evening in early May that serious allegations would soon be shared with the IOM when a small group of staff from his office approached him, according to multiple people familiar with the events.

The meeting, which took place at Khan’s home in The Hague, occurred without the woman’s knowledge or consent. “The alleged victim was kept in the dark,” one source said.

Investigation

Three days after Khan was given advance warning of the allegations, IOM investigators hastily summoned the alleged victim to a hotel in The Hague, informing her they had received a report of alleged misconduct.

According to a record of the meeting, the woman told investigators she had been blind-sided by their approach and had serious concerns about their handling of the situation.

ICC sources said the alleged victim had previously expressed concerns about the competence of the IOM, a body that was not wholly trusted by female staff at the court.

Two days after meeting with the alleged victim, the IOM decided against opening a full investigation into the claims. The body recently said in its annual report the woman “declined to pursue a formal complaint” even after it was suggested an investigation could be “referred to an external entity”.

However, records relating to the investigation seen by the Guardian suggest the woman agreed to meet the IOM for a second time, shortly before investigators closed the matter. An external investigation was not offered at that stage, the records suggest.

In a recent statement about the IOM investigation, the court’s governing body said that, following a conversation with the alleged victim, “the IOM was not in a position to proceed with an investigation at that stage. Measures to safeguard everyone’s rights were recommended”.

Two sources said those recommendations, which were sent to Khan in writing, included that he minimise contact with the woman and avoid spending time with her alone, at night or while travelling on work trips.

However, after the alleged victim returned to work, the prosecutor discussed the situation with her in several in-person meetings and calls, sources said. Another official within his office also encouraged her to distance herself from the claims, telling her that Khan was “very scared” and “nervous” the allegations would eventually leak.

Between May and September, according to three sources, Khan and the other official close to him encouraged the alleged victim to write a letter disavowing the allegations against the prosecutor.

At one stage, the official is said to have told her that if she wrote such a letter it would normalise her working relationship with the prosecutor. He allegedly advised her to state in writing: “I have never said this. He never assaulted me”.

The official is understood to dispute the suggestion he discussed the matter with the alleged victim. Lawyers for Khan also denied the episode. “We confirm that neither our client, nor any person acting on his behalf, or who reports to him, asked for any such letter to be written, nor did they ask the person to withdraw any allegations,” they said.

“Our client has fully complied with internal processes and allowed these matters to be handled in an impartial manner by authorities independent of him.”

‘New theory’

Last week, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board, which adopts a conservative and pro-Israel line, published a leak of information about the allegations based on the questionable “whistleblower” report that has been circulated to the media.

The newspaper speculated on what it called “a new theory”: that Khan sought arrest warrants against Netanyahu to divert attention from sexual misconduct allegations that threatened to precipitate his resignation.

One official with knowledge of the ICC’s Palestine investigation described that suggestion as “inaccurate”. Another well-placed source pointed out that the key decisions to seek arrest warrants for senior Israeli and Hamas figures had already been made by the time Khan was informed of the misconduct complaint.

By that stage, the source said, applications for the warrants were already in the process of being drafted.

Multiple current and former ICC officials expressed concerns that Israel and its allies would seek to exploit the controversy surrounding the embattled chief prosecutor, with little regard for due process for the woman at the centre of the situation.

Many staff within the court are understood to be supportive of Khan’s decision to request the arrest warrants and applauded him for asserting the independence of the court in the face of significant political pressure.

But many in the same workforce also have deep concerns about the accusations he is facing and the court’s handling of the situation. Last week, the ICC’s staff union called for a “prompt, independent investigation led by an external panel free from any potential conflict of interest”.

Khan has said he would be willing, if asked, to cooperate with a new inquiry.

In a statement, a spokesperson for his office added: “It is essential, in particular in the context in which the [prosecutor] is presently operating, that any reports of this nature are addressed in a formal independent process, protecting the rights of all persons.”

On Friday, the Associated Press reported the woman at the centre of the allegations is now in touch with the assembly of states parties (ASP), the court’s governing body which has the ultimate say about Khan’s future. A diplomatic source said the ASP had yet to initiate a new investigation.

That investigation may be the next step in the process, resulting in Khan facing a second formal inquiry that would be expected to question the prosecutor and alleged victim about the allegations, and conduct other investigative work, prior to reaching any conclusion about Khan’s innocence or guilt.

In a statement issued last week, the ASP’s president, Päivi Kaukoranta, said “any reports of misconduct are taken very seriously”. She asked people to respect the integrity and confidentiality of internal processes, “including any further possible steps as necessary”.

The high carbon emissions of the world’s richest 1% are worsening hunger, poverty and excess deaths, a report has found.

Owing to luxury yachts, private jets and investments in polluting industries, the consumption of the world’s wealthiest people is also making it increasingly difficult to limit global heating to 1.5C.

If everyone on Earth emitted planet-warming gases at the same rate as the average billionaire, the remaining carbon budget to stay within 1.5C would be gone in less than two days, the Oxfam analysis said, rather than current estimates of four years if carbon emissions remain as they are today.

Preceding a budget in the UK, a presidential election in the US and the Cop29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, the anti-poverty group’s examination of carbon inequality calls on governments to tax the super-rich in order to curtail excessive consumption and generate revenue for the transition to clean energy, and to compensate those worst affected by global heating.

Oxfam’s research found that the world’s fifty richest billionaires produce on average more carbon emissions in under three hours than the average British person does in their entire lifetime. On average, they take 184 private jet flights in a single year, spending 425 hours in the air. This produced as much carbon as the average person in the world would in 300 years. Their luxury yachts emitted as much carbon as the average person would in 860 years.

The Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s two private jets spent nearly 25 days in the air over a 12-month period and released as much carbon as a US Amazon employee would emit in 207 years.

Two jets of Elon Musk, the second richest person in the world and Tesla chief, jointly discharged as much CO₂ in the same period as 834 years’ worth of emissions generated by an average person.

Meanwhile, the three yachts of the Walton family, heirs of the Walmart retail chain, had a combined carbon footprint in one year of 18,000 tonnes – an amount similar to that of 1,714 Walmart shopworkers.

Ahead of the Labour government’s first budget statement on Wednesday, Oxfam is calling on the UK chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to increase taxes on “climate-polluting extreme wealth”, starting with private jets and superyachts, to raise funds which could be used to tackle the climate crisis.

In response, a UK Treasury spokesperson said “We do not comment on speculation around tax changes outside of fiscal events”.

The Oxfam researchers developed a methodology for calculating the emissions from yachts that included data on the size of the vessel, engine specifications, fuel type, hours at sea and even generators for hot tubs and air conditioning for helicopter hangars.

“One of the key findings for us is that superyachts are by far the most polluting toy that a billionaire can own, except perhaps for a rocket ship,” said Alex Maitland, one of the authors of the report.

Far more destructive still are the greenhouse gas emissions from the investments of the ultra-rich, which are 340 times higher than the CO₂ from their yachts and jets.

On average, the portfolios of the 50 billionaires in the study were almost twice as polluting as an investment in the main US stock index. Almost 40% of their shareholdings were in emissions-intensive industries such as oil, mining, shipping and cement. Many of these companies also hire lobbyists and marketing professionals to delay or disrupt action on the climate.

Oxfam says investment is also the area that has the greatest potential for positive change because, unlike most poor and middle-income people, billionaires have a choice about how to use their money. If they were to switch their holdings into low-carbon-intensity funds, their investment emissions would be 13 times lower.

The report also projects the deadly consequences of carbon inequality: in the coming century, 1.5 million excess deaths will be caused by the consumption emissions of the richest 1% – those with incomes of at least $140,000 (£108,000) – between 2015–19.

It says the past three decades of consumption emissions of this wealthy group have caused global economic output to fall by $2.9tn and crop losses equivalent to the calorific needs of 14.5 million people a year.

Chiara Liguori, Oxfam’s senior climate justice policy adviser, said: “The evidence is clear: the extreme emissions of the richest, from their luxury lifestyles and even more from their polluting investments, are fuelling inequality, hunger and threatening lives.

“It’s not just unfair that their reckless pollution is fuelling the very crisis threatening our collective future – it’s lethal.”

The findings are the latest in a series of annual carbon inequality reports by Oxfam and the Stockholm Environment Institute.

As the Guardian reported last year, the wealthiest 1% – who tend to live climate-insulated, air-conditioned lives, mostly in the global north – produce as much carbon pollution as the 5 billion people who make up the poorest and most vulnerable two-thirds of the human population, who predominantly live in poorer countries in the global south.

The latest report stresses the need to address the climate and inequality crises alongside carbon taxes on high-emitting industries, higher income taxes on the super-rich and restrictions on the use of private jets and luxury yachts.

Liguori said: “This report shows that fairer taxes on extreme wealth are crucial to accelerate climate action and fight inequality – starting with private jets and super-yachts.

“It’s clear these luxury toys aren’t just symbols of excess; they’re a direct threat to people and the planet.”

The multi-billionaire owner of the Washington Post, Jeff Bezos, continued facing criticism throughout the weekend because executives from his aerospace company met with Donald Trump on the same day the newspaper prevented its editorial team from publishing an endorsement of his opponent in the US presidential election.

Senior news and opinion leaders at the Washington Post flew to Miami in late September 2024 to meet with Bezos, who had reservations about the paper issuing an endorsement in the 5 November election, the New York Times reported.

Amazon and the space exploration company Blue Origin are among Bezos-owned businesses that still compete for lucrative federal government contracts.

And the Post on Friday announced it would not endorse a candidate in the 5 November election after its editorial board had already drafted its endorsement of Kamala Harris.

Friday’s announcement did not mention Amazon or Blue Origin. But within hours, high-ranking officials of the latter company briefly met with Trump after a campaign speech in Austin, Texas, as the Republican nominee seeks a second presidency.

Trump met with Blue Origin chief executive officer David Limp and vice-president of government relations Megan Mitchell, the Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, CNN reported that the Amazon CEO, Andy Jassy, had also recently reached out to speak with the former president by phone.

Those reported overtures were eviscerated by Washington Post editor-at-large and longtime columnist Robert Kagan, who resigned on Friday. On Saturday, he argued that the meeting Blue Origin executives had with Trump would not have taken place if the Post had endorsed the Democratic vice-president as it planned.

“Trump waited to make sure that Bezos did what he said he was going to do – and then met with the Blue Origin people,” Kagan told the Daily Beast on Saturday. “Which tells us that there was an actual deal made, meaning that Bezos communicated, or through his people, communicated directly with Trump, and they set up this quid pro quo.”

The Post’s publisher Will Lewis, hired by Bezos in January, defended the paper’s owner by claiming the decision to spike the Harris endorsement was his. But that has done little to defuse criticism from within the newspaper’s ranks as well as the wave of subscription cancelations that has met the institution.

Eighteen opinion columnists at the Washington Post signed a dissenting column against the decision, calling it “a terrible mistake”. The paper has already made endorsements this election cycle, including in a US senate seat race in Maryland. The Washington Post endorsed Hillary Clinton when Trump won the presidency in 2016. It endorsed Joe Biden when Trump lost in 2020, despite Trump’s pledges to retaliate against anyone who opposed him.

In their criticism of the Post’s decision on Friday, former and current employees cite the dangers to democracy posed by Trump, who has openly expressed his admiration for authoritarian rule amid his appeals for voters to return him to office.

The former Washington Post journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, who broke the Watergate story, called the decision “disappointing, especially this late in the electoral process”.

The former Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron said in a post on X, “This is cowardice with democracy as its casualty”.

The cartoon team at the paper published a dark formless image protesting against the non-endorsement decision, playing on the “democracy dies in darkness” slogan that the Post adopted in 2017, five years after its purchase by Bezos.

High-profile readers, including the bestselling author Stephen King as well as the former congresswoman and vocal Trump critic Liz Cheney, announced the cancellation of their Washington Post subscriptions with many others in protest.

The Post’s non-endorsement came shortly after the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times, Patrick Soon-Shiong, refused to allow the editorial board publish an endorsement of Harris.

Many pointed out how the stances from the Post and the LA Times seems to fit the definition of “anticipatory obedience” as spelled out in On Tyranny, Tim Snyder’s bestselling guide to authoritarianism. Snyder defines the term as “giving over your power to the aspiring authoritarian” before the authoritarian is in position to compel that handover.

Bezos is the second wealthiest person in the world behind Elon Musk, who has become a prominent supporter of Trump’s campaign for a second presidency. He bought the Washington Post in 2013 for $250m.

In 2021, Bezos stepped down as CEO of Amazon, claiming during a podcast interview that he intended to devote more time to Blue Origin.

The New York Times reported Bezos had begun to get more involved in the paper in 2023 as it faced significant financial losses, a stream of employee departures and low morale.

His pick of Lewis as publisher in January seemingly did little to help morale at the paper. Employees and devotees of the paper were worried that Lewis was brought on to the Post despite allegations that he “fraudulently obtained phone and company records in newspaper articles” as a journalist in London, as the New York Times reported.

Nonetheless, in a memo to newsroom leaders in June 2024, Bezos wrote, “The journalistic standards and ethics at the Post will not change.”

The multi-billionaire owner of the Washington Post, Jeff Bezos, continued facing criticism throughout the weekend because executives from his aerospace company met with Donald Trump on the same day the newspaper prevented its editorial team from publishing an endorsement of his opponent in the US presidential election.

Senior news and opinion leaders at the Washington Post flew to Miami in late September 2024 to meet with Bezos, who had reservations about the paper issuing an endorsement in the 5 November election, the New York Times reported.

Amazon and the space exploration company Blue Origin are among Bezos-owned businesses that still compete for lucrative federal government contracts.

And the Post on Friday announced it would not endorse a candidate in the 5 November election after its editorial board had already drafted its endorsement of Kamala Harris.

Friday’s announcement did not mention Amazon or Blue Origin. But within hours, high-ranking officials of the latter company briefly met with Trump after a campaign speech in Austin, Texas, as the Republican nominee seeks a second presidency.

Trump met with Blue Origin chief executive officer David Limp and vice-president of government relations Megan Mitchell, the Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, CNN reported that the Amazon CEO, Andy Jassy, had also recently reached out to speak with the former president by phone.

Those reported overtures were eviscerated by Washington Post editor-at-large and longtime columnist Robert Kagan, who resigned on Friday. On Saturday, he argued that the meeting Blue Origin executives had with Trump would not have taken place if the Post had endorsed the Democratic vice-president as it planned.

“Trump waited to make sure that Bezos did what he said he was going to do – and then met with the Blue Origin people,” Kagan told the Daily Beast on Saturday. “Which tells us that there was an actual deal made, meaning that Bezos communicated, or through his people, communicated directly with Trump, and they set up this quid pro quo.”

The Post’s publisher Will Lewis, hired by Bezos in January, defended the paper’s owner by claiming the decision to spike the Harris endorsement was his. But that has done little to defuse criticism from within the newspaper’s ranks as well as the wave of subscription cancelations that has met the institution.

Eighteen opinion columnists at the Washington Post signed a dissenting column against the decision, calling it “a terrible mistake”. The paper has already made endorsements this election cycle, including in a US senate seat race in Maryland. The Washington Post endorsed Hillary Clinton when Trump won the presidency in 2016. It endorsed Joe Biden when Trump lost in 2020, despite Trump’s pledges to retaliate against anyone who opposed him.

In their criticism of the Post’s decision on Friday, former and current employees cite the dangers to democracy posed by Trump, who has openly expressed his admiration for authoritarian rule amid his appeals for voters to return him to office.

The former Washington Post journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, who broke the Watergate story, called the decision “disappointing, especially this late in the electoral process”.

The former Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron said in a post on X, “This is cowardice with democracy as its casualty”.

The cartoon team at the paper published a dark formless image protesting against the non-endorsement decision, playing on the “democracy dies in darkness” slogan that the Post adopted in 2017, five years after its purchase by Bezos.

High-profile readers, including the bestselling author Stephen King as well as the former congresswoman and vocal Trump critic Liz Cheney, announced the cancellation of their Washington Post subscriptions with many others in protest.

The Post’s non-endorsement came shortly after the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times, Patrick Soon-Shiong, refused to allow the editorial board publish an endorsement of Harris.

Many pointed out how the stances from the Post and the LA Times seems to fit the definition of “anticipatory obedience” as spelled out in On Tyranny, Tim Snyder’s bestselling guide to authoritarianism. Snyder defines the term as “giving over your power to the aspiring authoritarian” before the authoritarian is in position to compel that handover.

Bezos is the second wealthiest person in the world behind Elon Musk, who has become a prominent supporter of Trump’s campaign for a second presidency. He bought the Washington Post in 2013 for $250m.

In 2021, Bezos stepped down as CEO of Amazon, claiming during a podcast interview that he intended to devote more time to Blue Origin.

The New York Times reported Bezos had begun to get more involved in the paper in 2023 as it faced significant financial losses, a stream of employee departures and low morale.

His pick of Lewis as publisher in January seemingly did little to help morale at the paper. Employees and devotees of the paper were worried that Lewis was brought on to the Post despite allegations that he “fraudulently obtained phone and company records in newspaper articles” as a journalist in London, as the New York Times reported.

Nonetheless, in a memo to newsroom leaders in June 2024, Bezos wrote, “The journalistic standards and ethics at the Post will not change.”

Labour has suspended the whip from the MP Mike Amesbury after footage appeared to show him punching a man to the ground, the party said.

A video published by the Mail appeared to show Amesbury, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, hitting the man in the face and knocking him to the floor, before standing over him and aiming six more blows at his head.

The security camera footage also showed Amesbury shouting: “You won’t threaten me again, will you?”

A Labour spokesperson said: “Mike Amesbury MP has been assisting Cheshire police with their inquiries following an incident on Friday night. As these inquiries are now ongoing, the Labour party has administratively suspended Mr Amesbury’s membership of the Labour party pending an investigation.”

The move means he will not be counted as a Labour MP until further notice.

Amesbury said in a statement on Saturday night: “Last night I was involved in an incident that took place after I felt threatened on the street following an evening with friends. This morning I contacted Cheshire police myself to report what happened during this incident.

“I will not be making further comment but will, of course, cooperate with any inquiries if required by Cheshire police.”

Cheshire police confirmed a 55-year-old man had been voluntarily interviewed under caution in relation to the incident after officers were called to reports of an attack in the town of Frodsham at 2.48am on Saturday. “He has since been released pending further inquiries,” the force said.

Amesbury becomes the eighth MP to have the Labour whip suspended since the election in July, though the first to suffer such a fate because of allegations over their personal behaviour. The party suspended the whip from seven others in July after they defied the government in a vote over removing the two-child benefit cap.

Amesbury’s suspension came 24 hours after footage first circulated of the aftermath of the event, which showed him shouting while bystanders expressed shock at what had happened. That video shows a bystander pushing Amesbury away, while someone else says he is the local MP who has “smacked somebody on the floor”.

A Labour spokesperson said after that initial video: “We are aware of an incident that took place last night. We understand that Mike Amesbury MP approached Cheshire police to report what happened this morning himself and that he will cooperate with any inquiries they have.”

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said on Sunday morning: “Mike Amesbury is cooperating fully with the police. He’s gone forward himself to the police, and it is right that the police now look into this matter, investigate and decide what action, if any, is required.”

The party decided to toughen its stance after the publication of the second video, which showed details of the altercation itself.

The footage shows Amesbury talking to the man at 2.15am in Frodsham. It did not record the conversation between the two men, though the images appear to show it was not confrontational until shortly after the man looks to one side, at which point Amesbury punches him with enough force to knock him to the ground. The MP then stands over the other man, hitting him repeatedly as a third man tries to prise him away.

Amesbury was a shadow minister in the housing department before the election but was not given a government job after the party came to power. He won his seat with a majority of nearly 15,000 ahead of the second-placed party, Reform UK.

Bolivia’s former leader Evo Morales has accused the government of his one-time ally Luis Arce of trying to kill him after his car was struck by bullets in an early-morning ambush on Sunday, threatening to ignite a political crisis in the Andean nation.

Morales, whose supporters have been organising road blockades for weeks to support the legally embattled former president, posted a video on Facebook that showed him in the front passenger seat and bullet holes in the car’s windshield.

“Elite agents of the Bolivian State attempted to take my life today,” Morales wrote on social media.

Arce, in a social media post, condemned any use of violence in politics and called for an immediate and thorough investigation.

Earlier on Sunday, Arce’s deputy security minister promised an investigation into any report “whether it is true or a lie”.

The incident occurred at a time when Bolivia is gripped by tensions. Morales supporters have blocked key highways for two weeks, impeding delivery of food and fuel around the country, and clashed with security forces trying to clear the obstacles.

Arce’s government on Saturday accused Morales of “destabilising” the country and trying to “interrupt democratic order”.

Morales’ claims drew statements of support on Sunday from regional leftist allies, including Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro’s foreign minister and former Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

A statement from a Morales-aligned bloc of the socialist MAS political party, itself with divided loyalties between Morales and Arce, said his convoy was ambushed near a military barracks by two vehicles with heavily armed men dressed in black.

Video shared with Reuters showed a frantic chase, during which Morales switched cars and his driver was injured. Reuters could not independently verify the contents of the video or the claims made by Morales and his allies.

A spokesperson for Morales said the former president would hold a press conference later on Sunday and “present evidence connecting the government as the author in the attempt to assassinate Evo Morales”.

In a radio interview after the incident, Morales said two vehicles intercepted him on the road and fired upon his car, adding that a bullet passed “centimetres” from his head. The MAS statement said a bullet hit the arm of the second vehicle’s driver and another grazed his head.

“If Luis Arce did not give the order for this attempted murder, he should immediately dismiss and prosecute Eduardo del Castillo and Edmundo Novillo, (Arce’s) government and defense ministers, along with all the police officers who participated,” Morales later wrote on social media.

Bolivia’s deputy security minister Roberto Ríos told journalists that police had not carried out any operation against Morales.

Morales, who served three terms as president, resigned in 2019 after a disputed election plunged the country into turmoil. Arce, his former economy minister, was elected the following year.

Arce is expected to run for re-election in 2025. Morales said he wants to be a candidate next year, splitting the once-hegemonic MAS party into opposing camps which support the current and former presidents.

The statement from the Morales-aligned MAS faction called the attack “evidence that we are facing a fascist government” and said the assailants were seen entering the military barracks and subsequently boarding a helicopter waiting on the airstrip.

Ahead of next year’s elections, Bolivia is grappling with dwindling natural gas production, drained foreign currency reserves and rising inflation, which is increasing pressure on the ruling party and leading to increasingly messy political infighting.

Morales is also facing allegations that he had relationships with minors. He was formally summoned by regional prosecutors to testify in the case but did not appear, and now faces an arrest warrant. Morales has denied the accusations.

A woman missing for more than a week in the Snowy Mountains region has been found alive four days after she was reportedly bitten by a snake.

A search was launched for Lovisa “Kiki” Sjoberg, 48, on Monday 21 October after she was last seen driving a grey SUV in the Kosciuszko national park the previous Tuesday.

“About 4.50pm today … the woman was located injured by a National Parks and Wildlife Service officer on the Nungar Creek Trail at Kiandra,” New South Wales police said in a statement on Sunday.

“She was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics for exposure and what is believed to be a snake bite, before she was taken to Cooma district hospital in a stable condition.”

NSW police said Sjoberg had been in the elements and believed she had been bitten by a copperhead snake four days ago.

The snake’s “venom is powerfully neurotoxic, haemolytic and cytotoxic, and a bite from an adult of any of the species may be potentially fatal without medical assistance,” according to the Australian Museum.

The police force had previously said the 48-year-old photographer was known to frequent the Kiandra area and national parks around the Snowy Mountains.

The wide-scale search involved officers from the Monaro police district with assistance from the mounted unit, the dog unit, the SES, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Rural Fire Service and a Surf Life Saving helicopter. Members of the public also assisted.

“Police would like to thank those involved in the multi-agency search,” NSW police said on Sunday.

Timothée Chalamet made a surprise appearance at his own lookalike contest in lower Manhattan on Sunday, a crowded event that drew an order to disperse from police and at least one arrest.

Flanked by bodyguards, the actor posed for photos with his high-cheeked, curly haired doppelgängers, some of whom had dressed as Willy Wonka and Paul Atreides – characters that Chalamet has played in Wonka and the Dune movies. At times, adoring fans heaped their attention on the lookalikes, apparently thinking they were face-to-face with the real Chalamet.

The event, advertised on flyers around New York, was one of several lookalike competitions hosted by YouTube personality Anthony Po. As word spread on social media, thousands of people RSVP’d to the event, which promised $50 to the winner.

But minutes after the competition began – and before the actor made his entrance – police ordered the large group to disperse from Washington Square Park, and organizers were slapped with a $500 fine for an “unpermitted costume contest”. At least one contestant was taken away in handcuffs, though police did not immediately say why.

“It started off as a silly joke and now it’s turned pandemonium,” said Paige Nguyen, a producer for the YouTube creator.

Most of the wannabe-Chalamets and spectators relocated to a new park.

On a makeshift stage, the look-alikes were asked about their romantic plans with Kylie Jenner. Jenner and Chalamet are said to be a couple. They were also asked to demonstrate French proficiency and what they’d do to make the world a better place.

Eventually, the audience picked a winner: Miles Mitchell, a Staten Island resident and college senior. Dressed in a purple Willy Wonka outfit, he tossed candy from a briefcase to throngs of young admirers.

“I’m excited and I’m also overwhelmed,” Mitchell said. “There were so many good lookalikes. It was really a toss-up.”