Andrew Tate and brother’s travel restrictions lifted, Romanian officials say
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.
Romanian media reports said the two had left the country aboard a private jet headed to the United States.
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 charges.
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.
(LONDON and ROME) — Pope Francis’s health condition has shown slight improvement in the last 24 hours, according to the Vatican.
The slight renal insufficiency the pope had in recent days has subsided and a Tuesday CAT scan of the chest showed a normal evolution of the pulmonary inflammatory picture.
The blood chemistry and blood cell count tests carried out today have confirmed the pope’s improvement, but he remains on high-flow oxygen therapy and did not have any asthmatic-like respiratory crises.
“Although there has been a slight improvement, the prognosis remains guarded,” the Vatican said Wednesday.
The pope received the Eucharist on Wednesday morning and the afternoon was dedicated to work activities, the Vatican said.
The pope spent another “quiet night” in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he has been recovering from a bout with bronchitis since Feb. 14, the Vatican said early Wednesday.
Pope Francis’ condition remains “critical but stable,” Vatican officials said in a brief update on Tuesday.
“There have been no acute respiratory episodes and hemodynamic parameters continue to be stable. In the evening, he underwent a scheduled CT scan for radiological monitoring of the bilateral pneumonia. The prognosis remains uncertain,” the Vatican said Tuesday.
Vatican officials said Sunday he remained in critical condition but officials said that he had shown a “slight improvement” on Monday.
Further updates on the pontiff’s condition are expected on Wednesday.
The Pacific island nation of Kiribati was the first country to ring in 2025, with its 133,500 citizens celebrating the new year at 5 a.m. ET on Tuesday. The Micronesian nation was soon followed into 2025 by the Chatham Islands in New Zealand at 5:15 a.m. ET.
Auckland, New Zealand
New Zealand’s capital Wellington and its largest city of Auckland — both located on the country’s North Island — welcomed 2025 at 6 a.m. ET. Fireworks lit up the Auckland skyline as massed crowds watched.
Sydney
Residents of the western Australian city of Sydney enjoyed a fireworks display three hours ahead of midnight local time, which is 8 a.m. ET.
The famed Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House provided a familiar backdrop for New Year’s revelers in the country’s largest city.
Tokyo
The words “Happy New Year” lit up a building in Tokyo as Japan ushered in 2025.
Seoul
In South Korea, people gathered at midnight to honor the victims of this weekend’s plane crash at South Korea’s Muan International Airport that killed 179 of the 181 people on board.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong said goodbye to 2024 with an epic fireworks display at 11 a.m. ET.
Beijing
Partyers posed with light-up sticks in Beijing at 11 a.m. ET.
The Philippines
The buildings were as bright as the fireworks in Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
(LONDON) — Egypt plans to “present a comprehensive vision for the reconstruction” of the Gaza Strip that does not require the displacement of Palestinians, the country’s foreign ministry said.
Cairo said it will work with President Donald Trump’s administration “to achieve a comprehensive and just peace in the region by reaching a just settlement of the Palestinian cause that upholds the rights of the region’s peoples,” the statement posted to X on Tuesday said.
Cairo’s reconstruction proposal will ensure “the Palestinian people remain in their homeland” and will align “with their legitimate and legal rights,” the statement said.
Any solution should “avoid endangering the gains of peace in the region” and address “the root cause of the conflict by ending Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and implementing the two-state solution as the only path to stability and coexistence among the region’s peoples,” the ministry added.
Egypt’s proposal comes as Arab states scramble to respond to Trump’s proposal for the U.S. to “take over” and “clean out” Gaza, relocating its 2 million people and reconstructing the territory devastated by the war between Israel and Hamas since October 2023.
A source told ABC News on Wednesday that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will meet in Riyadh to discuss how to address Trump’s Gaza displacement proposal. The source said the talks will likely take place later next week before the Arab Summit in Cairo on Feb. 27.
Trump has suggested that regional partners like Jordan, Egypt or Saudi Arabia should rehome displaced Palestinians, whom he said would not be allowed to return to Gaza. Regional leaders have rejected the proposal.
“I don’t have to threaten that, I don’t think. I think we’re above that. I do believe we’re above that,” Trump said Tuesday. The president’s comments came after Abdullah announced in the Oval Office that Jordan would take in 2,000 sick children from Gaza, but didn’t commit to anything beyond that.
Abdullah told Trump during a meeting at the White House on Tuesday that Arab states were putting together their own post-war plan for Gaza. The king will join other Arab leaders at a special summit in Egypt later this month to discuss Cairo’s counterproposal to Trump’s resettlement plan.
The king later said he reiterated to Trump Jordan’s “steadfast position” against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza. “This is the unified Arab position,” he said in a post to X.
Saudi Arabia has also pushed back on Trump’s controversial plan, with its foreign ministry saying last week there would be no normalization deal with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“The establishment of the Palestinian state is a firm, unwavering position,” the ministry said in a statement posted on X.
De facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “has affirmed this position in a clear and explicit manner that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances,” the statement added.
Hamas, meanwhile, rejected Trump’s plan as “absurd.” In a statement, the group said the president’s comments “reflect a profound ignorance about Palestine and the region. Gaza is not a piece of real estate to be bought and sold; it is an inseparable part of our occupied Palestinian land.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threw his weight behind Trump’s proposal, describing it as “a totally different vision, a much better one for the state of Israel.”
Netanyahu — who met with Trump at the White House last week — described the plan as “revolutionary, creative — and we’re discussing it. He is very determined to carry it out. It opens up many opportunities for us.”
The prime minister’s security cabinet met for several hours on Tuesday to discuss Trump’s Gaza plan. An Israeli official told ABC News that all members expressed support for what they called Trump’s “revolutionary vision for the future of Gaza.”
Netanyahu and his cabinet also discussed Hamas’ Monday announcement that it would delay the planned release of a group of Israeli hostages. Hamas said the delay was a response to alleged repeated Israeli violations of the ceasefire deal signed in January.
The delay prompted Trump’s threat that “all hell is going to break out” if all remaining Gaza hostages were not released by Saturday at noon. The Israeli official said the country’s security cabinet was in full support of Trump’s remarks.
“If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will be terminated, and the [Israel Defense Forces] will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Trump later told reporters of the deadline, “It’s going to be a big moment. We’ll see what happens. I don’t expect much happening with these people, but we’ll see what happens.”
ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy, Morgan Winsor, Sarah Kolinovsky, Will Gretsky, Joe Simonetti and Jordana Miller contributed to this report.
