The Malaysian and Indian prime ministers have denied connections with the late convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, after their names appeared in a tranche of files released by the US Department of Justice.
Epstein's global web of influence has been exposed by the documents, which named high-profile political figures, including US President Donald Trump.
US Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche said more than 3 million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images relating to Epstein and fellow sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell were released.
Being named or pictured in the files does not imply wrongdoing or criminal activity.
In a series of emails from 2012, a person whose identity in the documents was redacted spoke with Epstein about then-opposition Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim, who is now prime minister.
"Should we arrange a private meeting for Jes with Anwar Ibrahim?" the person asked Epstein in a likely reference to Jes Staley, who was previously Epstein's private banker.
"If he becomes prime minister of Malaysia he will clean up and it would be a gold mine," the person said of Mr Ibrahim.
"I know Anwar well, always stayed close to him for many years even though everybody said he's finished and can never come back. Looks different now," their email concluded.
Epstein responded, suggesting a meeting with Mr Ibrahim for May of that year and asking whether the Malaysian politician would travel to Europe or the US.
In a later email, as an apparent enticement for Mr Ibrahim to meet, Epstein said Mr Ibrahim should be told filmmaker Woody Allen was with Epstein in Paris and that "many countries are offering him money to ma[k]e a movie in their country".
Mr Ibrahim became prime minister in 2022.
In a social media post on Sunday accompanied by vomit emojis, he addressed being mentioned in the Epstein files.
"Thank God, it's been more than 10 years since those emails," Mr Ibrahim said.
"I have absolutely zero connection to any of the parties exchanging those emails, especially Epstein."
The youth wing of Malaysian opposition party Bersatu had demanded a "full explanation" from Mr Ibrahim to protect the "honour and integrity of the country's leadership institutions".
Other prominent figures named include tech billionaires Bill Gates and Elon Musk, British royals including former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Virgin founder Richard Branson and former US president Bill Clinton.
Epstein claimed Indian PM 'danced and sang' in Israel on his advice
The files also suggested Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought advice from Epstein on arranging a diplomatic visit to Israel in 2017.
"The Indian Prime Minister Modi took advice and danced and sang in Israel for the benefit of the US president," Epstein said in an email from July of that year.
"They had meet a few weeks ago. IT WORKED!"
Mr Modi did visit Israel in 2017, but India's foreign ministry forcefully dismissed the suggestion that Epstein was involved.
"We have seen reports of an email message from the so-called Epstein files that has a reference to the prime minister and his visit to Israel," a Ministry of External Affairs statement said.
"Beyond the fact of the prime minister's official visit to Israel in July 2017, the rest of the allusions in the email are little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal, which deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt."
Opposition figures have seized on the mention of Mr Modi.
General secretary of India's main opposition Congress party K C Venugopal said the files were "a huge wake-up call about the kind of monsters who have access to PM Modi, and how susceptible he is to foreign manipulation".
"Has he met Jeffrey Epstein? Or did he send someone to meet him? What did his conversations [with] Epstein involve?" Mr Venugopal asked on social media.
A senior MP from Mr Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Sudhanshu Trivedi, was quoted by Indian media as telling parliament there was "no mention of a direct email with the prime minister, no direct message, no direct phone calls [with Epstein]".
"The prime minister was in Israel on his official trip," he said.
"Each and every meeting of his was official and there was only one song that was sung there and that was the national song."
