Police raid Andrew Tate’s home in Romania as new allegations emerge involving minors

Police raid Andrew Tate’s home in Romania as new allegations emerge involving minors
An armed gendarme wearing a balaclava stands outside the residence of Andrew Tate during a police search raid, on the outskirts of Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo)
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Updated 21 August 2024
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Police raid Andrew Tate’s home in Romania as new allegations emerge involving minors

Police raid Andrew Tate’s home in Romania as new allegations emerge involving minors
  • Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, said it was searching four homes in Bucharest and nearby Ilfov county
  • Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, 36, both former kickboxers and dual British-US citizens who have amassed millions of social media followers, were arrested in 2022 near Bucharest

BUCHAREST, Romania: Masked police officers in Romania carried out fresh raids early Wednesday at the home of divisive Internet influencer Andrew Tate, who is awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, said it was searching four homes in Bucharest and nearby Ilfov county, investigating allegations of human trafficking, the trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, influencing statements and money laundering. The agency added that hearings will later be held at its headquarters.
Tate’s spokesperson, Mateea Petrescu, said in response to the raids that “although the charges in the search warrant are not yet fully clarified, they include suspicions of human trafficking and money laundering” and added that his legal team is present. Petrescu did not address the allegations involving minors.
Dozens of police officers and forensic personnel were scouring Tate’s large property on the edge of the capital Bucharest. “During the entire criminal process, the investigated persons benefit from the procedural rights and guarantees provided by the Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as the presumption of innocence,” DIICOT noted in its statement.
The 37-year-old Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, 36, both former kickboxers and dual British-US citizens who have amassed millions of social media followers, were arrested in 2022 near Bucharest along with two Romanian women. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four last year. They have denied the allegations.
In April, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that the prosecutors’ case file against the four met the legal criteria and that a trial could start but did not set a date for it to begin. That ruling came after the legal case had been discussed for months in the preliminary chamber stages, a process in which the defendants can challenge prosecutors’ evidence and case file.
After the Tate brothers’ arrest in 2022, they were held for three months in police detention before being moved to house arrest. They were later restricted to the Bucharest and Ilfov counties, and later to all of Romania.
Last month, a court overturned an earlier decision that allowed the Tate brothers to leave Romania as they await trial. The earlier court ruled on July 5 that they could leave the country as long as they remained within the 27-member European Union. The decision was final.
Andrew Tate, who is known for expressing misogynistic views online and has amassed 9.9 million followers on the social media platform X, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. He was previously banned from various social media platforms for misogynistic views and hate speech.
In March, the Tate brothers also appeared at the Bucharest Court of Appeal in a separate case, after British authorities issued arrest warrants over allegations of sexual aggression in a UK case dating back to 2012-2015. The appeals court granted the British request to extradite the the Tates to the UK, but only after legal proceedings in Romania have concluded.


Sudden US aid withdrawal risking millions of lives: UNAIDS chief

Sudden US aid withdrawal risking millions of lives: UNAIDS chief
Updated 4 sec ago
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Sudden US aid withdrawal risking millions of lives: UNAIDS chief

Sudden US aid withdrawal risking millions of lives: UNAIDS chief
GENEVA: The sudden halt to US foreign aid funding has been “devastating,” the UNAIDS chief said Monday, warning that without more funding, millions more will die and the global AIDS pandemic will resurge.
Without more funding, “there will be an additional... 6.3 million AIDS-related deaths” in the next four years, UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima told reporters in Geneva, cautioning that “in the longer term, we see the AIDS pandemic resurging, and resurging globally.”

Mob ransacks Indian comedy venue after parody of politician

Mob ransacks Indian comedy venue after parody of politician
Updated 42 min 26 sec ago
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Mob ransacks Indian comedy venue after parody of politician

Mob ransacks Indian comedy venue after parody of politician
  • Kunal Kamra, one of India’s leading comics, is known for his acerbic commentary on Indian politics.
  • Latest performance included parody song referring to Eknath Shinde in the state government as a “traitor.”

MUMBAI, INDIA: A mob ransacked a club in India’s financial capital after a stand-up comedian ridiculed one of the city’s leading politicians from the stage, prompting a police investigation into the performer.
Kunal Kamra, one of India’s leading comics, is known for his acerbic commentary on Indian politics.
His Sunday performance in Mumbai included a parody song referring to Eknath Shinde, the number two figure in the state government, as a “traitor.”
Soon after the show finished, supporters from Shinde’s Shiv Sena party stormed The Habitat comedy venue and began wreaking havoc.
Footage widely shared on social media showed dozens of men throwing chairs, smashing light fittings and breaking apart paintings mounted on the wall.
At least 20 people were being sought in relation to the vandalism at the club, local media reported.
The Habitat said in a Monday social media post that it was shutting its doors until it determined the “best way to provide a platform for free expression” without putting the venue “in jeopardy.”
Police were attempting to locate Kamra after an official complaint was registered against him for making defamatory remarks.
Maharashtra state chief minister — and Shinde’s boss — Devendra Fadnavis said the comedian “should apologize” and that “insult of leaders cannot be tolerated.”
“Everyone has a right to perform stand-up comedy. But freedom should not be unrestrained behavior... Action will be taken against him as per the law,” The Indian Express quoted him as saying.
The “traitor” remark was a reference to Shinde’s decision to switch his political allegiance in 2022, precipitating a weeklong political crisis in the state that forced the resignation of the then-chief minister.
Kamra has yet to publicly comment on the incident, but the backlash against him is not the first time that an Indian comic has come under fire from supporters of politicians.
In 2021, Muslim comedian Munawar Faruqui was held in prison for more than a month after being accused of insulting Hindu gods and goddesses.
He later canceled three shows in Mumbai after a Hindu activist group threatened to set the venue on fire.
 


US trade officials to visit India for trade talks from Tuesday

US trade officials to visit India for trade talks from Tuesday
Updated 24 March 2025
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US trade officials to visit India for trade talks from Tuesday

US trade officials to visit India for trade talks from Tuesday
  • Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch will lead the group
  • President Trump’s plans to impose reciprocal tariffs from April 2 are causing alarm among Indian exporters

NEW DELHI: A delegation of officials from the United States will visit India from March 25 to 29 for trade talks with Indian officials, a US embassy spokesperson said on Monday.

Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch will lead the group. “This visit reflects the United States’ continued commitment to advancing a productive and balanced trade relationship with India,” the spokesperson said.

Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal spent nearly a week in the United States earlier this month where he held trade discussions, and as US President Donald Trump’s plans to impose reciprocal tariffs from April 2 causing alarm among Indian exporters. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US last month, both nations agreed to work on the first phase of a trade deal by autumn 2025, with a target of reaching $500 billion in bilateral trade by 2030. India and the US are engaged in discussions to resolve tariff-related issues, and finalize a framework for a bilateral trade pact, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman for India’s external affairs ministry, said last week.

“We value our ongoing engagement with the Government of India on trade and investment matters and look forward to continuing these discussions in a constructive, equitable, and forward-looking manner,” the US embassy spokesperson said.


UN seeks nearly $1 billion in aid for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

UN seeks nearly $1 billion in aid for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
Updated 24 March 2025
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UN seeks nearly $1 billion in aid for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

UN seeks nearly $1 billion in aid for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
  • UN and its more than 100 partners launching a 2025-26 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya crisis
  • Around a million members of the persecuted and mostly Muslim minority live in squalid relief camps in Bangladesh

GENEVA: The UN said Monday it and partners were seeking nearly $1 billion to provide life-saving aid this year for some 1.5 million Rohingya refugees and their hosts in Bangladesh.
The United Nations said that it and more than 100 partners were launching a 2025-26 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya crisis, amid “dwindling financial resources and competing global crises.”
The appeal, it said in a statement, “seeks $934.5 million in its first year to reach some 1.48 million people including Rohingya refugees and host communities.”
Around a million members of the persecuted and mostly Muslim minority live in squalid relief camps in Bangladesh, most of whom arrived after fleeing the 2017 military crackdown in neighboring Myanmar.
“In its eighth year, the Rohingya humanitarian crisis remains largely out of the international spotlight, but needs remain urgent,” Monday’s statement said.
It stressed that “any funding shortfalls in critical areas, including reductions to food assistance, cooking fuel or basic shelter, will have dire consequences for this highly vulnerable population.”
It could, it added, “force many to resort to desperate measures, such as embarking on dangerous boat journeys to seek safety.”
The UN said that more than half of the refugee population in the camps are women and girls, “who face a higher risk of gender-based violence and exploitation.”
And it highlighted that a third of the refugees are aged between 10 and 24, warning that “without access to formal education, adequate skills building and self- reliance opportunities, their futures remain on hold.”
“Until the situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine State is peaceful and conducive to returning safely and voluntarily, the international community must continue to fund life-saving assistance to refugees in the camps.”


China says it has not received any asylum application from Philippines’ Duterte

China says it has not received any asylum application from Philippines’ Duterte
Updated 24 March 2025
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China says it has not received any asylum application from Philippines’ Duterte

China says it has not received any asylum application from Philippines’ Duterte
  • Philippines’ former President Rodrigo Duterte’s trip to Hong Kong was for his personal holidays

BEIJING: China has not received any application for asylum from Philippines’ former President Rodrigo Duterte and his family, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday.
Duterte’s trip to Hong Kong was for his personal holidays, ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press conference.
The former president was arrested on March 11 at Manila’s main airport on his arrival from Hong Kong at the request of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as part of its probe into a “war on drugs” that defined his presidency.