Donald Trump repeated his demand for the suspension – or even elimination – of the federal borrowing limit and continued a political crisis which threatens a US government shutdown, insisting any shutdown should happen under Joe Biden’s watch rather than his own upcoming administration.

After first posting on his Truth Social social media platform that “Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling,” Trump soon escalated his rhetoric to write: “If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under ‘TRUMP.’ This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!”

Trump suffered a serious setback on Thursday when Republicans in Congress failed to pass a pared-down spending bill – one day before a potential government shutdown that could disrupt Christmas travel and deliver a blow to the US economy just a month before Trump returns to the White House.

By a vote of 174-235, the House of Representatives rejected the Trump-backed package, hastily assembled by Republican leaders after the president-elect and his billionaire ally and increasingly close political partner Elon Musk scuttled a prior bipartisan deal.

The rejection of the bill showed that Trump’s grip on the Republican party is not quite as iron-clad as usually thought. The president-elect had furiously urged the package to be passed, including threatening to primary any Republicans who opposed it. But a faction of Republican lawmakers on the right – outraged by lifting government borrowing limits – rebelled.

Critics described the breakdown as an early glimpse of the chaos to come when Trump returns to the White House on 20 January. Musk’s intervention via a volley of tweets on his social media platform X was mocked by Democrats as the work of “President Musk”.

“The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious,” said Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, to reporters. “It’s laughable. Extreme Maga Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown.”

The Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, emerged back on the Hill on Friday morning projecting confidence about a new vote. “We’re expecting votes this morning, so y’all stay tuned, we’ve got a plan,” he told reporters.

When pressed on whether there is a new agreement, Johnson replied, “We’ll see,” a repeat of the two-word phrase he told reporters on Thursday night when asked if another budget bill package was on its way.

Friday is lawmakers’ final day to approve a new federal budget before a government shutdown would begin at midnight.

Kamala Harris cancelled a planned trip to Los Angeles, with Washington on the verge of a shutdown.

Harris had been scheduled to travel to her home state late on Thursday, but instead will remain in the capital, the White House said, after Republicans backed away from a bipartisan compromise to fund the government.

Coming and going outside Johnson’s office Thursday night, House Republicans offered little clarity on a path forward.

Among the 38 Republicans who voted against the Trump-backed debt ceiling package were several members of the conservative, pro-Trump Freedom Caucus. The group included prominent conservatives like Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Chip Roy and Scott Perry, who have historically been strong Trump allies but are drawing a line at lifting government borrowing limits.

Kat Cammack, a Republican congresswoman who voted against the bill, told reporters that “this was not an easy vote for constitutional conservatives”. She added, “we’re going to work through the night and figure out a plan.”

“We are still working diligently. and we are still making progress,” said Lisa McClain, another congresswoman, without offering further details.

“We tried several things today most of our members went for, but the Democrats decided that they want to try and shut it down, but we’re going to keep working,” said Steve Scalise, the Republican majority leader, to reporters.

Meanwhile JD Vance told reporters on Capitol Hill that Democrats voted against the legislation Thursday to avoid a government shutdown “because they didn’t want to give the president negotiating leverage during the first year of his new term”.

The bill would have suspended the nation’s debt ceiling for two years, helping Trump avoid a major negotiation with Democrats early next year.

The incoming vice-president did not mention the 38 Republicans who voted against the bill, denying Johnson a victory as he has tried to appease Trump’s last-minute demands on the debt limit. Trump endorsed the bill shortly before the vote.

“They’ve asked for a shutdown,” Vance said of Democrats. “That’s exactly what they’re going to get.”

The Associated Press contributed to reporting

A government shutdown looms after Republicans in Congress failed on Thursday to pass a pared-down spending bill. The potential shutdown could disrupt Christmas travel and deliver a blow to the US economy just a month before Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Lawmakers face a last-minute scramble to secure a new deal before the Friday midnight deadline – or all nonessential government functions will pause.

Here we answer some key questions about government shutdowns:

What causes a government shutdown?

A US government shutdown occurs when Congress fails to fund the federal government by a specified deadline, in this case 20 December at midnight.

More specifically, the terms of a piece of legislation known as the Antideficiency Act, first passed in 1884, prohibits federal agencies from spending or obligating funds without an act of appropriation – or some alternative form of approval – from Congress.

Congress only announced a stop-gap measure to keep the government open this week. On Tuesday, the House speaker, Mike Johnson, unveiled a bipartisan agreement that would have extended government funding until March. It included assistances for farmers, hurricane relief and a small pay raise for for members of Congress.

But President-elect Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk scuttled that deal, in part by spreading falsehoods about the original plan. Trump called for the suspension – or even elimination – of the federal debt ceiling.

Friday is the final day to approve a new federal budget before a government shutdown would begin.

Can the US still avert a shutdown?

With no clear path forward after the Trump-endorsed proposal failed to pass on Thursday night, the US appears on the verge of a shutdown. But with members of Congress itching to leave Washington for the holidays, and Republicans wary of being blamed for shuttering critical federal operations days before Christmas, there is a strong desire to avoid a protracted shutdown.

“We’re expecting votes this morning, so y’all stay tuned,” Johnson said Friday morning. “We got a plan.”

Asked if he had reached a new agreement, the speaker replied: “We’ll see.”

Both chambers of Congress – the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate – must approve the measure. Leaders have the ability to fast-track a measure through the legislative process, but with such narrow margins any plan that lacks bipartisan support risks being derailed by a handful of defectors.

Even if a deal is reached by Friday morning, it is possible that funding lapses for a period of hours while Congress approves the legislation and sends it to Joe Biden’s desk for a signature.

What happens when a US government shutdown takes place?

Thousands of federal government employees are put on furlough, meaning that they are told not to report for work and go unpaid for the period of the shutdown. Their salaries are paid retroactively when it ends.

Other government workers who perform what are deemed essential services, such as air traffic controllers and law enforcement officials, continue to work but do not get paid until Congress acts to end the shutdown.

Depending on how long it lasts, national parks can either shut entirely or open without certain vital services such as public toilets or attendants. Passport processing can stop, as can research at national health institutes.

How unusual are US government shutdowns?

For the first 200 years of the US’s existence, they did not happen at all. In recent decades, however, they have become an increasingly regular part of the political landscape, as Washington politics has become more polarized and brinkmanship a commonplace political tool. There have been 20 federal funding gaps since 1976, when the US first shifted the start of its fiscal year to 1 October.

Three shutdowns in particular are notable in US political lore:

• A 21-day partial closure in 1995 over a dispute about spending cuts between President Bill Clinton and the Republican speaker, Newt Gingrich, that is widely seen as setting the tone for later partisan congressional struggles

• In 2013, when the government was partially closed for 16 days after another Republican-led Congress tried to use budget negotiations to defund Barack Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare

• A 34-day shutdown, the longest on record, lasting from December 2018 until January 2019, when Trump refused to sign any appropriations bill that did not include $5.7bn funding for a wall along the US border with Mexico. The closure damaged Trump’s poll ratings

How could a shutdown affect the wider economy?

It depends on how long the shutdown lasts. An hours-long shutdown would likely have minimal impact. But a days-long shutdown during one of the busiest travel seasons of the year could lead to costly delays and disruptions. Meanwhile, Medicare and Medicaid claims could take longer to process and federal employees who are not receiving a paycheck may spend less this holiday season. And, depending on the severity of the shutdown and the political fallout it causes, it could send the stock market into turmoil.

Emmanuel Macron swore during a furious exchange with residents of the cyclone-hit islands of Mayotte on Thursday night, telling a jeering crowd in the French territory “if it wasn’t for France, you’d be 10,000 times deeper in shit”.

Cyclone Chido swept through Mayotte, which lies between Madagascar and Mozambique, on 14 December, destroying vital infrastructure and flattening many of the tin-roofed shacks that make up its large slums. Almost a week after its worst storm in 90 years, France’s poorest territory still has shortages of water.

Throughout Thursday, the French president was confronted by angry Mahorais demanding to know why aid had not yet reached them. At one point he told a crowd: “You are happy to be in France. Because if it wasn’t France, I tell you, you would be 10,000 times deeper in shit. There is no other place in the Indian Ocean that has received this much help. That’s a fact.”

On Thursday night, Macron said he was extending his visit to a second day “as a mark of respect, of consideration”.

“I decided to sleep here because I considered that, given what the population is going through, [leaving the same day could have] installed the idea that we come, we look, we leave,” he said.

The heckling continued on Friday. “Seven days and you’re not able to give water to the population,” one man shouted at Macron as he toured the small community of Tsingoni, on the west coast of Mayotte’s main island, Grande-Terre.

“I understand your impatience. You can count on me,” Macron responded, saying that water would be distributed at city halls.

The official death toll, at 31, has remained lower than expected, after officials said they feared thousands could have been killed. Immediate burials, in keeping with Islamic tradition, and the large numbers of undocumented migrants from the nearby Comoros who avoid authorities for fear of being deported, may mean the true number of fatalities is never known.

The cyclone also killed 73 people in northern Mozambique and 13 in Malawi, according to authorities in the south-east African countries.

Mayotte officially has a population of 320,000, but authorities have said there could be 100,000-200,000 more, most from the Comoros and living in the islands’ slums. Mayotte became a part of France in 1841 and voted to stay French in 1974, when the Comoros islands chose independence.

Earlier in the week, the interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, a rightwinger who is vocally anti-immigrant, said Mayotte could not be rebuilt without addressing migration.

In Kaweni, a slum on the edge of the island’s capital, Mamoudzou, Ali Djimoi said eight people who had lived close to him were killed by the cyclone, two of them buried quickly near a mosque.

Mayotte had been “completely abandoned” by the French state, he said. “The water running out the pipes – even if it’s working you can’t drink it, it comes out dirty.”

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

The Iranian government is attempting to salvage some influence with Syria’s new leaders, as Tehran reels from its sudden loss of authority in Damascus after the collapse of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, is already facing multiple domestic and international crises, including power cuts due to a lack of oil supplies, continued tensions over its nuclear programme and a row about a new law that will toughen punishments for women who do not wear the hijab. But it is the sudden loss of influence in Syria after the fall of Assad to rebel groups that is exercising Iranian officials most.

In the short term they want to salvage some influence with the rebels in Damascus. Iranian diplomats insist they were not wedded to Assad, and were disillusioned with his refusal to compromise. The foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said in an interview this week: “We had long ago reached the conclusion that the continuation of governance in Syria would face a fundamental challenge. Government officials were expected to show flexibility towards allowing the opposition to participate in power, but this did not happen.”

He added: “Tehran always had direct contacts with the Syrian opposition delegation. Since 2011, we have been suggesting to Syria the need to begin political talks with those opposition groups that were not affiliated with terrorism.”

At the same time, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson insisted it only entered Syria in 2012 at Assad’s request to help defeat Islamic State. “Our presence was advisory and we were never in Syria to defend a specific group or individual. What was important to us was helping to preserve the territorial integrity and stability of Syria.”

Such explanations have not cut much ice in Damascus. Iran remains one of the few countries criticised by Ahmed al-Sharaa, theHayat Tahrir al-Sham leader.

Many Iranian officials are claiming the current victory lap being enjoyed by Turkey in Syria may be brief as Ankara’s interests will start to diverge from the government led by HTS, a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is designated as a terrorist group by Turkey.

The Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi said: “We must follow the Syrian issue with hope and know that this situation will not continue, because the current rulers of Syria will not remain united with each other”.

The conservative Javan newspaper predicted that “the current honeymoon period in Syria will end due to the diversity of groups, Salafism, economic problems, the lack of security and diversity of actors.”.

Officially Iran blames the US and Israel for Assad’s collapse, but resentment at Ankara’s role is rife, ironically echoing Donald Trump’s claim that Syria has been the victim of an unfriendly takeover by Turkey. In his speech responding to Assad’s downfall the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said a neighbouring state of Syria played a clear role” in shaping events and “continues to do so now”. The Fars news agency published a poster showing the HTS leader in league with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Benjamin Netanyahu and Joe Biden.

Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations questioned whether HTS would remain allies with Turkey for long. It said: “Although Turkey is only one of the main winners of Bashar al-Assad’s fall from power in the short term, Ankara can never bring a government aligned with itself to power in Syria. Even if Tahrir al-Sham attempts to form a stable government in Syria, which is impossible, in the medium term, it will become a major threat to Turkey, which shares an 830-kilometre border with Syria.”

The former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani predicted a bleak future for Syria and Turkey. “In recent weeks, all of Syria’s military power has been destroyed by Israel, and unfortunately, the militants and Turkey did not respond appropriately to Israel. It will take years to rebuild the Syrian army and armed forces.”

Mohsen Baharvand, a former Iranian ambassador to the UK, suggested the Damascus government may find itself overly reliant on Turkey. “If the central government of Syria tries to consolidate its authority and sovereignty through military intervention and assistance from foreign countries – including Turkey – Syria, or key parts of it, will be occupied by Turkey, and Turkey will enter a quagmire from which it will incur heavy human and economic costs.”

He predicted tensions between Turkey and HTS in particular about how to handle the Syrian Kurdish demand in north-east Syria for a form of autonomy. The Turkish-funded Syrian National Army is reportedly ready to mount an offensive against the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces in Kobani, a Kurdish-majority Syrian town on the northern border with Turkey.

Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, said on Wednesday that if the issue were addressed “properly” Ankara would not seek a military intervention. “There is a new administration in Damascus now. I think this is primarily their concern now,” Fidan said.

More broadly, the Syrian reverse is forcing Iran to accelerate a rethink of its foreign policy. The review centres on whether the weakening of its so-called axis of resistance – comprising allied groups in the region – requires Iran to become a nuclear weapon state, or instead strengthen Iran by building better relations in the region.

For years, Iran’s rulers have been saying that “defending Iran must begin from outside its borders.” This hugely costly strategy is largely obsolete, and how Iran explains its Syria reverse will be critical to deciding what replaces that strategy.

Over history, dukes, dictators and Europe’s illustrious elite have walked through the Vasari corridor, a narrow, 750-metre-long elevated passageway crossing the Arno River in Florence.

Now visitors to the Tuscan capital can follow in their footsteps when the newly restored landmark, which connects the Uffizi Galleries with the Pitti Palace and the Boboli gardens, opens on Saturday to the general public for the first time.

The corridor, designed by the Renaissance-era architect Giorgio Vasari, was commissioned in 1565 by Cosimo I de’ Medici, the second duke of Florence, and completed in just five months.

It was built to celebrate the marriage of Cosimo’s son Francesco I to Giovanna d’Austria, but also to ease the commute between his home in the Pitti Palace and the Uffizi, which at the time was the city’s seat of government, while shielding him from the crowds on the Ponte Vecchio as well as potential assassins.

Cosimo’s well-heeled guests could marvel at the wonders of Florence through the 73 small windows lining the route, which also provided the duke with a way to keep a secret watch over the city.

For centuries, the landmark was privy only to those with power. In 1938 the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini showed his guest Adolf Hitler around.

In recent decades it was only open to study groups and, for a few years until its closure for internal restoration works in 2016, rare private tours.

But the pathway can now be accessed by anyone paying an extra €18 on top of the €25 fee to enter the sprawling museums that make up the Uffizi Galleries.

Along the way, visitors will cross over the colourful Ponte Vecchio and walk by what was a sort-of balcony that allowed the Medicis, a political and banking dynasty, to follow mass in Santa Felicita church below without having to mingle with the congregation.

Visitors will also stroll through a courtyard containing a grotto built by another Renaissance architect, Bernardo Buontalenti, before entering the Pitti Palace, which today houses fives museums and the largest collection of paintings by Raphael in the world. They will exit through the Boboli gardens.

Simone Verde, the director of the Uffizi Galleries, said: “It was a corridor of continuous passage between the Pitti Palace and the Uffizi for essentially five centuries. But the idea is not just to open the corridor, which in itself has an importance, but also to show to the public the connection between the various souls of this monumental complex and its collections.”

Before the renovations, which were designed to make the structure safer, including the installation of emergency exits and CCTV, more than 1,000 paintings dating from the 16th century had hung on the walls of the corridor.

For now, the walkway will remain bare, although there are plans for it to be used to exhibit art and relics. But who needs paintings when you can absorb real-life landscapes through its windows?

“The panoramic aspect has certainly always made the passageway interesting,” said Simona Pasquinucci, an art historian and curator at the Uffizi Galleries. “It was interesting for Cosimo to more or less check what was happening in his city from these windows. Back then, the river was much livelier, with all the fisheries, mills and other activities on and around the bridge.”

Pasquinucci said there was evidence to suggest that Medici children played in the passageway.

The Vasari corridor is believed to have been inspired by the Passetto di Borgo, an elevated passage linking Vatican City with Rome’s Castel Saint’Angelo through which Pope Clement VII, a member of the Medici family, escaped during the sack of Rome in 1527.

In turn, it inspired similar structures across Europe, including one linking the old Louvre Palace with the Tuileries Palace in Paris, according to Verde.

The corridor survived several wars. In August 1944, when retreating German troops blew up the bridges of Florence, the Ponte Vecchio, with its passageway, was the only one spared.

In 26 May 1993, parts of the corridor were significantly damaged after a car parked beneath it exploded, killing five people, in an attack organised by Sicily’s Cosa Nostra mafia.

“The intention of the attack wasn’t to destroy the corridor but to demonstrate to the state that the mafia was stronger,” Pasquinucci said.

Gisèle Pelicot is ready to face another trial if needed, her lawyer has said, after two defendants in the mass rape trial lodged appeals and her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, considers appealing against his 20-year prison sentence.

“In any case, she has no fear of it, that is what she told us,” one of her lawyers, Stéphane Babonneau, told France Inter radio on Friday.

He said Gisèle Pelicot had felt a “sense of relief” after the panel of five judges returned guilty verdicts for all of the 51 accused in the trial. “She is very happy to be going home, she is very relieved,” he said.

It was initially the horror of the case that made headlines around the world. Over nearly a decade, Dominique Pelicot had drugged his then wife and recruited strangers online to come to their home and rape her. Throughout it all, he filmed the rapes and kept meticulous records.

But as the trial got under way in September, the strength and resilience of Gisèle Pelicot began to make waves around the world. The 72-year-old grandmother was hailed as a feminist icon while her insistence that shame must change sides was credited with galvanising a global conversation on sexual violence.

On Friday, Emmanuel Macron joined the many people around the world who had paid tribute to Gisèle Pelicot. “Thank you Gisèle Pelicot,” the French president wrote on social media. “Your dignity and your courage have moved and inspired France and the world.”

Babonneau said his client did not want to be seen as an icon. “What she doesn’t want is for other victims to think ‘this lady has extraordinary strength, I couldn’t do that,’” he said. “She doesn’t want to be seen as someone extraordinary. And in reality, she is someone who remains very simple and who has decided to try to live her life in the most normal way.”

Gisèle Pelicot told reporters on Thursday that she respected the decisions of the court, but on Friday her eldest son said he had been left disappointed by many of the sentences.

“As for Dominique Pelicot, I am satisfied with the verdict,” Pelicot’s son David, told the broadcaster BFMTV. But he said he, his sister Caroline and younger brother Florian had been “quite surprised” with the sentences given to the other accused, describing them as less than the national average term for rape. “I am a bit more disappointed concerning what the other accused were given,” he said.

The criticism was echoed across France, by women’s groups, politicians and the supporters of Gisèle Pelicot who had gathered outside the courtroom on Thursday chanting “shame on justice”.

The judges convicted all of the accused men in the mass trial, who ranged in age 26 to 74. Forty-seven were convicted of rape, two of attempted rape and two of sexual assault, and they were handed sentences that ranged from three to 15 years. Several of them had some years suspended.

All of the men were given 10 days from the sentencing to appeal. On Friday, French media reported that the lawyer for Redouan El Farihi, 55, and Ahmed Tbarik, 54, had lodged appeals after they were each found guilty of the rape of Gisèle Pelicot and sentenced to eight years in prison. Both men had insisted throughout the trial that they were not guilty.

After the court’s decision was announced on Thursday, Dominique Pelicot’s lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, said she would consider an appeal.

After a trial that stretched for more than three months, there remain many unanswered questions about the full extent of Dominique Pelicot’s actions, such as whether he also assaulted Caroline, David said. He said his son had filed a complaint against his grandfather for groping, which could result in another trial if admitted by prosecutors.

David said his father would “take his secrets to his grave”.

The videos kept by Dominique Pelicot suggested that more than 80 men were involved, though police were only able to identify and charge 50 of them, hinting that more than two dozen suspects remain at large.

The location of one of the men convicted on Thursday, Hassan Ouamou, remains unknown: he was tried in absentia amid an outstanding international warrant for his arrest, and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Questions are now swirling over whether Pelicot could have been a serial offender for decades. He faces a further investigation for the rape and murder of an estate agent in Paris in 1991 and an attempted rape in 1999, after investigators in Nanterre, outside Paris, reopened two cold cases. Pelicot has denied any involvement.

• Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In France, the France Victimes network can be contacted on 116 006. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

Gisèle Pelicot is ready to face another trial if needed, her lawyer has said, after two defendants in the mass rape trial lodged appeals and her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, considers appealing against his 20-year prison sentence.

“In any case, she has no fear of it, that is what she told us,” one of her lawyers, Stéphane Babonneau, told France Inter radio on Friday.

He said Gisèle Pelicot had felt a “sense of relief” after the panel of five judges returned guilty verdicts for all of the 51 accused in the trial. “She is very happy to be going home, she is very relieved,” he said.

It was initially the horror of the case that made headlines around the world. Over nearly a decade, Dominique Pelicot had drugged his then wife and recruited strangers online to come to their home and rape her. Throughout it all, he filmed the rapes and kept meticulous records.

But as the trial got under way in September, the strength and resilience of Gisèle Pelicot began to make waves around the world. The 72-year-old grandmother was hailed as a feminist icon while her insistence that shame must change sides was credited with galvanising a global conversation on sexual violence.

On Friday, Emmanuel Macron joined the many people around the world who had paid tribute to Gisèle Pelicot. “Thank you Gisèle Pelicot,” the French president wrote on social media. “Your dignity and your courage have moved and inspired France and the world.”

Babonneau said his client did not want to be seen as an icon. “What she doesn’t want is for other victims to think ‘this lady has extraordinary strength, I couldn’t do that,’” he said. “She doesn’t want to be seen as someone extraordinary. And in reality, she is someone who remains very simple and who has decided to try to live her life in the most normal way.”

Gisèle Pelicot told reporters on Thursday that she respected the decisions of the court, but on Friday her eldest son said he had been left disappointed by many of the sentences.

“As for Dominique Pelicot, I am satisfied with the verdict,” Pelicot’s son David, told the broadcaster BFMTV. But he said he, his sister Caroline and younger brother Florian had been “quite surprised” with the sentences given to the other accused, describing them as less than the national average term for rape. “I am a bit more disappointed concerning what the other accused were given,” he said.

The criticism was echoed across France, by women’s groups, politicians and the supporters of Gisèle Pelicot who had gathered outside the courtroom on Thursday chanting “shame on justice”.

The judges convicted all of the accused men in the mass trial, who ranged in age 26 to 74. Forty-seven were convicted of rape, two of attempted rape and two of sexual assault, and they were handed sentences that ranged from three to 15 years. Several of them had some years suspended.

All of the men were given 10 days from the sentencing to appeal. On Friday, French media reported that the lawyer for Redouan El Farihi, 55, and Ahmed Tbarik, 54, had lodged appeals after they were each found guilty of the rape of Gisèle Pelicot and sentenced to eight years in prison. Both men had insisted throughout the trial that they were not guilty.

After the court’s decision was announced on Thursday, Dominique Pelicot’s lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, said she would consider an appeal.

After a trial that stretched for more than three months, there remain many unanswered questions about the full extent of Dominique Pelicot’s actions, such as whether he also assaulted Caroline, David said. He said his son had filed a complaint against his grandfather for groping, which could result in another trial if admitted by prosecutors.

David said his father would “take his secrets to his grave”.

The videos kept by Dominique Pelicot suggested that more than 80 men were involved, though police were only able to identify and charge 50 of them, hinting that more than two dozen suspects remain at large.

The location of one of the men convicted on Thursday, Hassan Ouamou, remains unknown: he was tried in absentia amid an outstanding international warrant for his arrest, and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Questions are now swirling over whether Pelicot could have been a serial offender for decades. He faces a further investigation for the rape and murder of an estate agent in Paris in 1991 and an attempted rape in 1999, after investigators in Nanterre, outside Paris, reopened two cold cases. Pelicot has denied any involvement.

• Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In France, the France Victimes network can be contacted on 116 006. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

At least 30 children have died in Kurram in north-west Pakistan due to drug shortages after the regional government closed key roads in and out of the district in an attempt to quell an outbreak of deadly sectarian violence.

Kurram, which borders Afghanistan in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakthunkwa region, has been a hotbed of sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni Muslims for decades, but since July disputes over farmland have escalated.

The violence flared on 21 November when gunmen ambushed a vehicle convoy and killed 42 people, mostly Shia Muslims. Nobody claimed responsibility for the assault, which triggered retaliatory gunfire and arson by rival groups in several areas.

At least 130 people have been killed since October. People from both groups have stayed at home out of a fear of being attacked.

The regional government has said it will fully open land routes into the district only when armed groups from both sides surrender their heavy weaponry.

Syed Mir Hassan, the medical superintendent at the main hospital in Kurram’s district capital of Parachinar, said at least 30 children had died as a result of medicine shortages.

Locals expressed concern about a mounting humanitarian crisis. “We have a shortage of food, medicines, milk and fuel,” said 25-year-old Ahbaab Ali, from Parachinar.

Ali said he was concerned that peoplewould soon run out of all basic necessities. “The provincial and central governments are not paying any heed to the crisis,” he said.

Kurram’s population of 800,000 is divided roughly between Shia, who live in the north on the Afghan border, and Sunni, who live in the south.

The children’s deaths have prompted criticism of both the provincial government, which is led by the party of the former prime minister, Imran Khan, and the national government, led by the current prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif.

Faisal Edhi, a philanthropist and the head of the renowned Edhi Foundation, which has supplied medicines and food to stranded people in Kurram, said: “People are in dire need of help. Hospitals lack services and supplies have been shut down. I saw hospitals that did not have oxygen or medicines. X-rays and CT scans were malfunctioning. I appeal to the state to make Kurram its top most top priority and find a resolution to the sectarian violence.”

Zahid Hussain, a security analyst and author, said the recent bloodshed was unprecedented.

He said: “There are two factors that make the crisis so deadly: firstly, the rule of the Afghan Taliban in Afghanistan and resurgence of the Pakistani Taliban in the tribal districts and their support for Sunni Muslims, and secondly, Iranian support for Shia muslims in the district, many of whom belong to Iranian militias.”

Various truces have been announced since the latest round of fighting began, as elders from the two sides negotiate a lasting agreement.

Analysts fear that the provincial administration’s inability to quell the violence means it could spill beyond Kurram. c

“The government is trying to resolve the issue through a tribal jirga [a council of elders],” said Hussain. “This shows there is no writ of the state. It is worrisome.”

China’s president, Xi Jinping, has urged the gambling hub of Macau to diversify away from casinos, as he addressed the Chinese territory at the inauguration of its new leader.

Xi was in Macau to mark the 25th anniversary of its return from Portuguese to Chinese rule on 20 December 1999. In the quarter-century since then, Macau has been run as a special administrative region of China, a semi-autonomous territory with a similar legal status to Hong Kong, but it has traditionally been much more pliant to Beijing’s rule than the former British territory. More than half of its 700,000 population have immigrated from China in recent decades.

On Friday, Sam Hou Fai was sworn in as the city’s new chief executive. The senior judge is the city’s first leader to have been born and raised in mainland China, having grown up in south China’s Guangdong province. He is fluent in Portuguese.

Xi said: “At present the overall situation in Macau is stable, but the internal and external environment is undergoing profound changes. Efforts should be made to promote moderate economic diversification [and] focus on cultivating new industries with international competitiveness.”

Despite being more obedient than Hong Kong over the years, Macau has traditionally had a small civil society. For decades there was a small annual vigil each 4 June in memory of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, something that would not be tolerated in mainland China. But after the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, the authorities in Macau tightened restrictions on free expression. In 2021, Macau’s top court, headed by Sam, upheld a ban on the annual vigil.

Macau is the only place in China where gambling is legal. Tourists from mainland China flock to the city to visit its casinos. Last year the industry generated more than $22bn ($17.5bn), and gaming tax accounts for about 80% of the local government’s tax revenue.

The city has also been a hub for money laundering. Since Xi came to power in 2012, he has cracked down on corruption, a policy that has reduced the amount of money flowing through Macau. In 2012, the city’s gambling revenues were much higher than they are today, at $38bn.

Sam, 62, has been president of Macau’s top court since 1999. He was the only candidate approved by Beijing to run in the election for chief executive, which was held in October. On Friday he promised “immediate action” to diversify Macau away from the casino industry.

Russia has fired eight ballistic missiles on Kyiv a day after Vladimir Putin claimed his troops were winning on the battlefield and that his maximalist goals to seize more territory in Ukraine were unchanged.

Several explosions were reported in Kyiv at around 7am on Friday. Ukraine’s air force said it shot down eight Khinzal and Iskander-M missiles, with debris falling in several districts of the city. One person was killed and at least 12 were injured.

Residents woke to the sound of loud booms and air raid sirens. One intercepted missile fell on the Toronto business centre, smashing its top storey and setting fire to cars parked in the street below. A mangled vehicle was tossed over a fence.

The complex was home to Superhumans, a prosthetics and rehabilitation centre for wounded Ukrainian soldiers. Its founder, Andrey Stavnitser, said his office was devastated. “It’s scary to think what would have happened if our glass room had been blown a couple of hours later,” he posted.

The same blast broke stained glass windows in the St Nicholas Roman Catholic church opposite. The church’s facade, rose window and external and internal glazing were damaged. Stairwells leading to its gothic spires, built early in the 20th century, were wrecked.

The Unesco-listed building is the second oldest church in the capital. Windows in the national house of music next door were shattered. Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, at least 1,222 cultural heritage sites have been broken or destroyed, Ukrainian officials said.

The attack caused minor damage to diplomatic buildings, including the Portuguese embassy. The missions of Albania and Montenegro are in the same block.

Paulo Rangel, the Portuguese foreign minister, said: “This was a very intense attack by the Russian Federation. It is absolutely unacceptable for attacks to damage or target diplomatic facilities.”

Touring the devastation on Friday, Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, accused Russia of “genocide” and said: “There is no justification for this.” He said the latest strike showed Putin’s complete indifference to the deaths of women and children. “We need air defences.”

Remains from another missile crashed into the Holosiivskyi district, where one person was killed. Six people were admitted to hospital and rescuers spent the morning putting out fires and clearing up rubble. The attack left 630 buildings without heating and power.

Yuliia Kuznets, of the law firm VB Partners, said: “The morning in Kyiv was truly devastating. The missiles were frighteningly close to our office. The offices of our clients sustained significant damage. Thank goodness it was early morning and not many people were injured.”

Since its all-out attack began, Russia has regularly launched missiles at Ukrainian towns and cities. In recent months it has systematically targeted the power infrastructure in an attempt to demoralise the population and leave it freezing during the winter months.

Friday’s attack featured Khinzal missiles launched by Russian fighter jets, as well as Iskander-Ms fired from ground platforms. North Korean KN-23 missiles – sent by Pyongyang to Moscow earlier this year – may have been deployed as well, Ukraine’s air force said.

Speaking on Thursday at an end-of-year press conference, Putin claimed the war had made Russia “much stronger”. He said he was ready to meet the incoming US president, Donald Trump, to discuss peace proposals. But he repeated his stance that Moscow would keep control of Crimea, plus four Ukrainian regions “annexed” in 2022.

Russia carried out a separate barrage on the southern city of Kherson on Friday. One person was killed and nine others injured during bombardment by heavy artillery and rockets at 8am. Ukraine’s armed forces said they had foiled an attempt by Russian troops to cross the Dnipro River near the city’s ruined Antonivskyi Bridge.

A Ugandan athlete who arrives in London this weekend after running 7,730 miles (12,440km) from South Africa to raise awareness about racism has revealed he suffered repeated abuse on reaching Europe.

Deo Kato set off from Cape Town in July 2023, running steadily north on a 516-day odyssey that has seen him jailed for weeks, laid low with serious illness and having to pass through war zones.

The epic run was conceived by the London-based Kato to highlight the history of human migration and the discrimination faced by many black Africans, a message underlined by the fact he endured daily racism from police and passersby in parts of Europe.

After climbing the equivalent height of 11 Mount Everests during the journey, Kato is due to reach central London on Sunday where he will be joined by hundreds of runners outside Downing Street before completing his route in Hammersmith, west London.

Speaking to the Guardian this week after passing through an overcast Lille, in France, the Ugandan-born runner said that despite some acute lows the overall experience had renewed his faith in humanity. Highlights included a stretch along the Kalahari Highway in Botswana where he was joined by a 15-year-old boy who, Kato said, reminded him of when he was a teenager.

“He was multilingual, speaking three languages, including English. He had spent time in England but moved back to Botswana due to family challenges. We ran together briefly, but it was a moment that warmed my heart.”

Another affirming moment, this time 1,800 miles farther north in Kenya during January, involved a group of children who spontaneously joined Kato for 5 miles as they headed to school. “They wanted to continue running with me,” he said.

On other occasions, however, he almost packed it in. In Uganda, his one-man support crew resigned, leaving him without a support vehicle or help at a time when his funding for the run was almost exhausted. To compound matters, all routes ahead involved either conflict or extreme risk.

“As I looked forward, I noticed conflicts all around me in places such as the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and northern Ethiopia,” said Kato. “Logistically, it felt that there was no possible way of continuing the journey through Africa.”

Another low point arrived more than 5,000 miles later when Kato experienced the racism other Africans have faced in Europe.

“The other time I felt like packing it in was in Croatia because I genuinely felt treated as an illegal immigrant. I didn’t feel welcomed or that I belonged in their society.

“The police stopped me at least four times a day. Sometimes, I caught locals taking photos of me and reporting me to the police,” he said.

“This experience, coupled with everything I was processing from my journey in Africa and other personal challenges, made it intensely difficult to keep moving forward.”

Kato wanted his journey to draw attention to the earliest migration of humans from Africa and challenge the racist notion that people should “go back to where they come from”. Viewed as a whole, he said the run had underlined the positive aspects of migration and its potential to “create a more culturally connected and enriched global society”.

His experiences also led him to believe that humanity will prevail over prejudice. “I think that in the future, we will create a world free from racial discrimination,” he said.

“Although it won’t happen in my lifetime, I believe that my efforts and those of others who are dedicated to this cause are laying the foundations for the next generation to build upon.”

However, he admitted it had also reinforced concerns over the “fortress Europe” approach that the EU is pursuing to prevent migrants from Africa moving north.

“The global north has long-established systems deliberately designed to restrict and criminalise individuals from the global south, particularly Africans.”

Kato’s partner, Alice Light, said the last 18 months had highlighted the best and worst of humanity. “It’s been an unimaginable rollercoaster of highs and lows, of beauty, joy and heartbreak,” she said.

She said the couple had no plans for Christmas. “It has been too unpredictable to make plans but I now know that rest is coming and am grateful for that. I feel immensely proud and blessed to have been on this journey with Deo.”

Kato set off from the Long March to Freedom monument in Cape Town, which commemorates the anti-apartheid struggle, choosing the eastern route through Africa because he wanted to pass through the Ugandan town of Nakulabye, where he grew up, to meet family members he had not seen for years.

Netflix has secured its first major deal in the football market after signing an exclusive broadcast rights agreement to show the 2027 and 2031 editions of the Women’s World Cup live to audiences in the United States and Puerto Rico.

The deal, which Fifa has described as a “landmark media rights deal in women’s football”, means the streaming platform acquire the rights to cover a football competition in full for the first time, and will include coverage in multiple languages. The 2027 tournament is being staged in Brazil from 24 June to 25 July 2027 and will involve 32 teams. The host of the 2031 competition is yet to be determined.

“This is a landmark moment for sports media rights,” said Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino. “As a marquee brand and Fifa’s new long-term partner, Netflix has shown a very strong level of commitment to growing women’s football. This agreement sends a strong message about the real value of the Fifa Women’s World Cup and the global women’s game.”

The chief content officer at Netflix, Bela Bajaria, added: “I’ve seen the fandom for the Fifa Women’s World Cup grow tremendously – from the electric atmosphere in France in 2019 to, most recently, the incredible energy we saw across Australia and New Zealand last year. Bringing this iconic tournament to Netflix isn’t just about streaming matches, it’s also about celebrating the players, the culture and the passion driving the global rise of women’s sport.”

The US broadcasting giant Fox and the Spanish-language terrestrial channel Telemundo had the rights to broadcast the 2023 edition of the World Cup in the USA and Puerto Rico.

As of November 2024, Netflix was reported to have 66.7m subscribers in the United States.