Controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan will remain in custody in Romania for a fourth consecutive month, a court has ruled. The brothers have been detained since December and are being investigated on allegations of rape, people trafficking and forming an organised crime group. Both have denied wrongdoing. Mr Tate’s lawyers say he will be held until the end of April. Under Romanian law, the men can be held for up to six months in detention. The brothers’ lawyers told a court in Bucharest prosecutors had brought no new evidence to Wednesday’s hearing. They suggested their clients’ notoriety was contributing to the decision to keep them in custody. Lawyers have long argued keeping the Tates in preventative custody is unnecessarily harsh, when other judicial options – such as house arrest – are available. But, judges have repeatedly disagreed and ruled four times this year to keep the men in preventative detention while investigators compile evidence against them.(BBC)…[+]

Saudi Arabia has released a US citizen from prison more than a year on from his conviction over tweets critical of the government, his family has said. Saad Ibrahim Almadi, 72, who also has Saudi citizenship, was arrested in November 2021 when he arrived in Riyadh to visit his family. He was sentenced in October to 16 years in prison. An appeals court increased the term to 19 years last month. Neither the US nor Saudi authorities have commented on Mr Almadi’s release. His son, Ibrahim, confirmed his father was at a family residence in Riyadh but said it was not clear when he might return to his home in Florida. “All charges have been dropped but we have to fight the travel ban now,” Ibrahim told Reuters news agency. Mr Almadi was found guilty by a court of trying to destabilise the kingdom and of supporting and funding terrorism. He was also issued with a 16-year travel ban.(BBC)…[+]

Police in major US cities are preparing for potential unrest in case ex-President Donald Trump is arrested this week as part of a hush-money inquiry. Authorities in New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles are ramping up their law enforcement presence. A Manhattan prosecutor may charge Mr Trump over how he declared a payment to a porn star to keep quiet about an alleged affair. It would be the first criminal case brought against a former US president. Steel barricades were being erected on Monday outside the Manhattan Criminal Court, where Mr Trump could be charged, fingerprinted and photographed if charges are filed this week, as US media widely anticipate. Increased police presence has also been seen outside Trump Tower in the city. Every member of the New York Police Department (NYPD), including plainclothes detectives, has been ordered to wear their full uniform on Tuesday and is being placed on standby to mobilise, a police source told CBS, the BBC’s US partner.(BBC)…[+]

Journalists across Ecuador have been targeted by explosive devices sent through the post. One presenter, Lenin Artieda, was injured when he opened the envelope in the middle of the newsroom. He said the explosive device looked like a USB drive. He plugged it into his computer and it detonated. The Ecuadorean attorney-general’s department confirmed it had opened a terrorism investigation into the letters on Monday. It did not name the specific news outlets targeted. However, at least five different organisations across Ecuador were sent the letters. The government has condemned the attacks, describing freedom of expression as “a right that must be respected”. “Any attempt to intimidate journalism and freedom of expression is a loathsome action that should be punished with all the rigour of justice,” it said in a statement. The interior minister, Juan Zapata, said the devices were all sent from the same town. Three were sent to media outlets in Guayaquil and two to the capital, Quito. While Mr Artieda was injured by the device, others sent through the post failed to explode or were never opened. Police carried out a controlled detonation of one of the devices sent to TC Television, prosecutors confirmed. Ecuador’s head of forensic science said they contained “military-type” explosives.(BBC)…[+]