Andrew Tate and brother flying to Florida after Romanian travel restrictions lifted, source says
Andrew Tate (left) and his brother Tristan Tate are pictured inside The Court of Appeal in Bucharest, Romania, on December 10, 2024. (Photo by DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP v
(LONDON) — Romania’s organized crime agency issued a statement Thursday saying court restrictions prohibiting controversial influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate from leaving Romania while awaiting trial have now been lifted, clearing the way for them to fly.
The pair are flying to Florida aboard a private jet after being allowed to leave Romania, according to a source close to the brothers.
The charges against the Tates remain in force, and they will be expected to return to Romania for court appearances, said the statement from the agency, Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism, or DIICOT.
The brothers have been confined to Romania since late 2022 when they were arrested on human trafficking, sexual abuse, money laundering and forming an organized criminal group.
They were charged in 2023 and have denied the allegations.
The Tates’ departure follows reports Trump administration officials had lobbied Romania to lift a travel ban on them while they are awaiting trial.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(OTTAWA, Canada) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that he intends to resign as Liberal Party leader and prime minister once a new party leader is determined.
“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide, competitive process,” he said Monday from Rideau Cottage in Ottawa.
“I’m a fighter. Every bone in my body has always told me to fight because I care deeply about Canadians. I care deeply about this country, and I will always be motivated by what is in the best interest of Canadians,” the prime minister said.
The development comes a month after Canada’s deputy prime minister and finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, resigned from Trudeau’s Cabinet, a sign of apparent turmoil in his government. Trudeau, 53, the leader of the Liberal Party, began serving as the 23rd prime minister of Canada in 2015.
In a letter to the prime minister announcing her resignation, Freeland cited her differences with Trudeau over how to deal with President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threat.
“Our country today faces a grave challenge,” Freeland wrote in the letter, which she shared on social media. “The incoming administration in the United States is pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism, including a threat of 25 percent tariffs.”
“We need to take that threat extremely seriously,” she continued, with actions that included the need for Canada to push back and resist “costly political gimmicks” and “building a true Team Canada response.”
Trump has proposed new tariffs on imports from Canada — the United States’ third largest supplier of agricultural products, according to the Department of Agriculture — as well as China and Mexico.
Trudeau traveled to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Florida, last month to meet with the president-elect. Trudeau told reporters at the time that his conversation with Trump was “excellent” but did not respond to any additional questions.
In her letter last month, Freeland said Trudeau told her he no longer wanted her to serve as finance minister and offered her another position in the Cabinet.
“Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the Cabinet,” she said in the letter, which noted that she looks forward to continuing to work with her colleagues as a Liberal member of Parliament and plans to run again for her seat in Toronto in the next federal election.
Dominic LeBlanc, the minister of intergovernmental affairs, will now also serve as the new finance minister after Freeland stepped down from the role.
Her resignation comes as Trudeau’s housing minister, Sean Fraser, also announced he will not seek reelection for personal reasons, saying he wants to spend more time with his family.
The next federal election must be held by Oct. 20.
Support for Trudeau’s party has declined steadily for months, with the Liberals currently at their lowest level of support in years, according to CBC News. The Conservative Party holds a 21-point lead over the Liberals leading up to the federal election, according to CBC News.
Trudeau’s father, former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, served as the prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984, before retiring from politics before the next election.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(KYIV, UKRAINE) — Ukraine’s parliament has passed a resolution affirming the legitimacy of Volodymyr Zelenskyy as president and confirming that elections are not possible until after the war ends.
The resolution is a rebuff to U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who have both suggested Zelenskyy is illegitimate because he has not held elections during the war with Russia.
Zelenskyy said on Sunday he would step down if it meant peace for his country, adding he would also do so if it meant Ukraine would be granted NATO membership.
The parliament noted on Tuesday that Zelenskyy was elected in legitimate elections and his mandate is not in doubt. It also said that no elections can be held until the lifting of martial law after the coming of a “just and lasting peace.”
Zelenskyy was elected in a landslide in 2019, but his term expired last May. Ukraine is under martial law which under its constitution forbids the holding of elections.
Most Ukrainians, including major opposition parties, agree that holding credible elections now amidst the war is not possible because millions are abroad as refugees, hundreds of thousands are fighting.
An election could also be an opportunity for Russia to divide the country while it is trying to defend itself.
Members of parliament passed the resolution on Tuesday in a second attempt, after an initial vote on Monday failed to achieve sufficient support.
Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament representing Zelenskyy’s party, told ABC News that Monday’s vote failed because too few of the president’s faction were present.
“It was Monday, when many members of parliament hadn’t come from their districts yet,” he said. By Tuesday, enough MPs were in attendance for the vote to pass comfortably.
ABC News’ David Brennan contributed to this report.
(GAZA) — Palestinians in Gaza and abroad are rejecting a proposal by President Donald Trump that the United States “take over” the Gaza Strip and lead the redevelopment of the war-ravaged territory.
Palestinians interviewed by ABC News said they yearn to rebuild Gaza for themselves, the only place they say they have or will ever call home.
“This is not going to be accepted by any Palestinian, we will reject this totally,” said Abu Anton Al-Zabadi. “And if Trump is interested in the wellbeing of the Israeli people, America is a great country, it’s powerful and has lots of land — and if he wants to take in the Israelis to the U.S., he can do so. But this is our land, this is our homeland and this will never be accepted by any Palestinian. We are staying here.”
Tens of thousands of homes and cultural centers have been destroyed — including schools, churches, mosques and stadiums — and entire neighborhoods have been turned to rubble amid the monthslong Israeli retaliation following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel. More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed with thousands more wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
In a news conference Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said he hoped to “level the site” and rebuild it, after earlier saying Palestinians living there should leave and go to other areas or countries.
“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” Trump said. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site. Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out.”
Some human rights groups have accused Israel of committing genocide and ethnic cleansing in carrying out its war with Hamas. Some of the Palestinians ABC News spoke to fear Trump’s comments about relocating Gazans are an extension of an effort to permanently displace them.
Many have lived or have been connected to Gaza for generations, recalling memories of swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, lounging on the beach with their families and visiting some of the world’s oldest historical sites found in Gaza before the war and bloodshed. It’s where they grew up, went to school and raised their families.
Some Palestinians had refused to leave Gaza despite the Israel-Hamas war and said they don’t plan on following Trump’s whims about casting them aside now, either.
“This is a very difficult decision for the people of Gaza, since they have lived through nearly 15 months of terror, killing, displacement and migration,” said Fouad Hatem Al Kurdi, a Jabalia Camp Resident. “Despite that, they stayed in their land and did not leave. After 15 months of suffering, no one will leave here … I live here, I know my work, I know how to build it, I know everything here.”
“It is impossible for anyone to leave their country and sell their country, despite the steadfastness and pain we have experienced,” said Muhammad Zarouk, a resident of Al-Shati Camp. “I will not leave, it is impossible. I will sacrifice my blood in order to stay here in my land.”
“Either I die in Gaza or I live in Gaza,” Amer Al-Sawafiri, another Palestinian in Gaza told ABC News. “Those who were displaced suffered a lot … I cannot leave my country and my family. Where will I go?”
“As for me, my children and my family, we will stand firm,” said Ilham Al-Durra, a Palestinian in Gaza. “I will not leave. This is my land, my country, I will not leave.”
Palestinian refugee Hani Almadhoun told ABC News he lost two brothers in the war, one who was a co-founder of the Gaza Soup Kitchen that provided food for Gazans amid the threat of famine during the Israel-Hamas war.
Almadhoun said his focus now is still on ensuring that people have food, medical care, and other necessities amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Rebuilding Gaza is not yet the focus for those on the ground, he said.
“We just recently relocated the grave of my brother from another place, because the cemetery was all destroyed. So even in death, we’re not finding peace,” said Almadhoun. “My family is trying to do as much as we can, and it’s sad because this needs a lot larger humanitarian response, and that’s not been fully authorized. We’re not even talking about rebuilding yet.”
He said he hopes one day Gazans achieve “economic development and stability.”
Yousef Aljamal, a Palestinian refugee residing in Turkey, left Gaza eight years ago and plans to return once he’s able. He said he’s not shocked by Trump’s rhetoric, pointing to other comments the U.S. president has made about taking over the Panama Canal and Greenland.
“Will his plan materialize on the ground?” Aljamal said. “I think the only people who can stop this plan is the people of Gaza. They are determined to stop his plan. They do not want to go anywhere.”
Tala Herzallah, a 22-year-old student in Gaza, told ABC News that Trump’s comments felt like a slap in the face after everything Palestinians have endured for over a year.
“‘Just leave your homeland, leave your country for us to rebuild it in a way that we see is good for us, not for you'” she characterized Trump’s remarks. “I can’t understand how this can be considered justice,” said Herzallah.
