The online influencer’s trial date has not yet been set

A Bucharest court has moved to proceed with the trial of Andrew Tate, the Anglo-American social media influencer who has been charged with rape, human trafficking, and running a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

Tate, 37, and his brother Tristan were arrested in December 2022. Both men were indicted last June, along with two Romanian women alleged to have been their accomplices. They have denied all allegations.

The Tates have challenged the indictment in the preliminary chamber stage. On Friday, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled it would allow the case to go forward, but has not set a trial date.

“The ruling issued by the preliminary chamber judge lacks legal basis and reasoning,” said Eugen Vidineac, one of the lawyers for the Tate brothers. “We have filed a strong appeal as we believe the ruling to be unlawful.”

Another attorney, Ioan Gliga, told AP that the arguments challenging the criminal investigation and the indictments “did not receive the necessary attention in the preliminary hearing,” but that the Tates’ defense was confident that the appeals court will rule in their favor.

READ MORE: Andrew Tate and brother arrested in Romania

The brothers were jailed for three months before being moved to house arrest. Since then, the courts have allowed them to move around Romania but denied their petition to travel within the EU.

Last month, Romania agreed to extradite the Tates to the UK over allegations of “sexual aggression” dating back to 2012-2015, but only after the domestic legal proceedings have concluded.

Interceptor missiles will reportedly be sent, as there are no launchers to spare

Madrid will send Kiev missiles for the Patriot air defense system, due to intense pressure from the EU and NATO, the daily El Pais has reported, citing government sources.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has demanded six US-made launchers from NATO, one of them being a Spanish system currently deployed to the Turkish-Syrian border, according to the outlet. Madrid has refused, but will instead transfer “a small number” of missiles to Kiev instead.

Spain operates only three Patriot batteries, purchased in used condition from Germany between 2004 and 2014. One of them has been deployed near the Turkish city of Adana since 2013, while the other two are in Valencia. One of those is actually being used to train Ukrainian soldiers in operating the system, El Pais said.

The newspaper’s sources did not say how many missiles Spain intended to send, only that Madrid keeps a “war reserve” of about fifty and that they are very expensive, costing about a million euros apiece. Spain is also planning to refurbish ten more Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks and send them to Ukraine, in addition to the ten delivered last year.

The Spanish Defense Ministry wants to buy four of the newest Patriot models, the PAC-3. Last October, the US greenlit the potential sale, valued at €2.6 billion ($2.78 billion), but the government in Madrid has not yet approved the contract. Under the best circumstances, the new batteries would not be available until 2028 at the earliest.

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Supplying other air defense systems to Ukraine is “problematic,” according to the outlet, because Spain has none to spare. Madrid only has four NASAMS batteries, with one permanently stationed in Latvia and another on rotation in Estonia. Ammunition for the 12 Hawk launchers provided to Ukraine has long run out, as it is not being manufactured anymore. The Spanish government has already agreed to prioritize deliveries of domestically produced ammunition to Kiev, over replenishing the “almost empty” army arsenals, said El Pais.

Germany has just announced it would send another Patriot battery – the third so far – to Ukraine, while the Netherlands said it would be willing to fund the purchase of interceptors from third countries. Greece has been under pressure to send some of its Patriot launchers as well, though Athens has not yet given in.

Pressure on the European members of the US-led bloc has lessened somewhat after the US Congress passed the $61 billion bill to fund Ukraine, according to the Spanish daily.

Russia has repeatedly said that new deliveries of weapons to Ukraine won’t change the battlefield dynamic and will only result in more needless Ukrainian deaths. 

London’s espionage chief claims foreign states, particularly China, have been targeting UK universities

Academics and researchers at British universities will be vetted by the nation’s security services amid government plans to crackdown on alleged Chinese espionage, according to The Times.

The measures were reportedly announced following a meeting on Thursday between MI5 Director General Ken McCallum and the vice-chancellors of two dozen leading universities, including those from Oxford and Cambridge.

McCallum reportedly warned the vice-chancellors that hostile states are actively targeting universities to steal technology that can “deliver their authoritarian, military and commercial priorities.”

According to the M15 chief, a secret review into the vulnerabilities of the UK’s higher education sector has shown that countries like China were deploying both “overt and covert mechanisms” to “acquire intellectual property and steal advantage.”

Consultations are now underway on a new system of government vetting that would see academics who have access to sensitive research face background checks by security services, according to the report.

The government will also be looking at new funding for higher education institutions to increase security around sensitive sites. Universities could also reportedly be required to consult with the security services when entering into funding partnerships and collaborations with foreign institutions.

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Alicia Kearns, chairwoman of the foreign affairs select committee, said in a post on X that academia has for “too long” pretended it has “no role to play in our national security” and could operate “free from geo-strategic realities.”

“Significant evidence indicates a systematic attempt by the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate British academia and exfiltrate critical research, capabilities and technologies,” she said.

Beijing has repeatedly denied any espionage-related accusations, branding them as “malicious smears.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said this week during a news briefing: “We would like to reiterate that the claim that China could be stealing UK intelligence is a groundless accusation and malicious smear, and we firmly oppose that accusation. Such malicious manipulation aimed at China should stop.”

MI5 had previously identified more than 50 Chinese college students enrolled at UK universities which it said were linked to the People’s Liberation Army, who have left the country in recent years as a result of a crackdown on what the spy agency described as the theft of defense-related technology and other sensitive research materials.

قالت مصادر إن هناك تقدما ملحوظا في مفاوضات الهدنة بقطاع غزة، فيما أبلغت تل أبيب القاهرة بأنها “جادة” في اعتزامها الهجوم على رفح وأن المفاوضات الحالية هي الفرصة الأخيرة قبل الهجوم.

وقد وصل وفد أمني مصري إلى تل أبيب اليوم الجمعة يضم مختصين لمناقشة الإطار الشامل لوقف إطلاق النار بغزة.

ونقلت فضائية “اكسترا نيوز” المصرية عن المصدر المصري قوله أن هناك تقدما ملحوظا فى تقريب وجهات النظر بين الوفدين المصري والإسرائيلي بشأن الوصول إلى هدنة بقطاع غزة.

وقال مسؤول إسرائيلي كبير إن تل أبيب أبلغت الوفد المصري “أننا جادون للغاية بشأن عملية واسعة النطاق في رفح، ونجتمع معا في أيام حاسمة لاتخاذ قرارات في شأن صفقة الرهائن”، يحسب قناة “كان” العبرية.

إقرأ المزيد

وأشار مصدر أمني إسرائيلي إلى أن “هناك اقتراحا يمكننا المضي قدما فيه، فالمصريون يريدون إغلاق الأمر”، حسبما نقلت صحيفة “يديعوت أحرنوت” العبرية التي وصفت المفاوضات مع الوفد المصري بـ”الجيدة جدا، وانها جرت بروح طيبة وعملية، وأن هناك تقدما في جميع المعايير”.

ونقلت يديعوت أحرنوت عن مصادر قولها أن “المصريين يظهرون رغبة كبيرة في ممارسة الضغط على حماس ودفع الصفقة، على خلفية مقترحات خطيرة للغاية من وجهة نظر إسرائيل للتقدم في رفح”.

وقالت المصادر إن إسرائيل أوضحت في المحادثات أنها جادة جدا بشأن عملية في رفح، وقد تمت تعبئة قوات الاحتياط وتدريب الوحدات القتالية.

وأشاروا إلى أن إسرائيل أوضحت لمصر أن “الوقت لا يصبر وأنها لن تسمح لحماس بالتلاعب والمماطلة لمنع الدخول إلى رفح”، مشيرة إلى أن إسرائيل تصر على اتفاق يشمل إطلاق سراح ما لا يقل عن 33 أسيرا إسرائيليا من قطاع غزة.

وذكرت صحيفة “واشنطن بوست” الأميركية أن الاقتراح المصري الجديد يدعو لإطلاق سراح الأسرى الإسرائيليين على مرحلتين بفارق 10 أشهر مقابل أسرى فلسطينيين، ووقفا لإطلاق النار يستمر لمدة عامين.

إقرأ المزيد

وأكد الوفد الإسرائيلي خلال الاجتماع مع المسؤولين المصريين”نحن مستعدون لإعطاء فرصة حقيقية أخيرة لمحادثات التفاوض قبل العمل العسكري في رفح”، بحسب وسائل اعلام إسرائيلية ذكرت أن هذه ستكون الفرصة الأخيرة للتوصل لاتفاق قبل الهجوم على رفح.  

وأوضح الوفد الإسرائيلي للوفد الأمني ​​المصري أنه إذا لم يتم إحراز تقدم في المفاوضات، فإن الجيش الإسرائيلي سيهاجم رفح.

وأكد الوفد الإسرائيلي للوفد المصري أن هناك موعدا نهائيا للتحرك في رفح وأنهم لن يوافقوا على جولة أخرى من المحادثات.

وأبلغت حماس الجانب المصري بأنها لن تقبل بأي اتفاق أو صيغة لا تتضمن وقف إطلاق النار وانسحاب قوات الجيش الإسرائيلي من قطاع غزة.

وقالت مصادر مصرية لصحيفة “وول ستريت جورنال” في وقت سابق اليوم إن فرص نجاح المفاوضات ضئيلة، لكنها تأمل أن تتمكن الولايات المتحدة ودول أخرى من الضغط على إسرائيل حتى لا تتحرك في اتجاه رفح.

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Paris is reportedly seeking to use the Greek Crotale air defense system during the summer Olympics

The French government has made an official request to borrow an air defense system from Greece for the duration of the Paris Olympics, Greek daily Kathimerini has reported, citing well-informed sources.

France has been calling on its international allies to help enhance security for the summer games, which will run from July 26 to August 11. Around 45,000 French police and gendarmes, 18,000 troops, and up to 22,000 private security guards are expected to work at the event.

A request for the transfer of a Crotale short-range surface-to-air missile system from the Greek Air Force has been submitted, Kathimerini reported on Thursday. Diplomatic talks for the transfer began last November, the newspaper said, with no developments until now.

The Crotale system is French-built and has been used by the Greek Air Force since 2003. It has a firing range of 11-20 kilometers and a maximum engagement altitude of 6km, which Kathimerini said was “ideal” for France’s needs.

According to the outlet’s sources, France has been insisting that while it intends to provide anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine, it needs allied assistance to ensure the defense of critical infrastructure in Paris during the Olympics.

The French request to Greece is “clearly yet another very indirect suggestion to Athens to ‘unlock’ part of its anti-aircraft defense, in the general European effort to strengthen Kiev,” Kathimerini wrote.

EU governments have been under growing pressure to supply more protective systems to Kiev, particularly countries such as Greece and Spain that have such systems in their arsenals.

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Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said late on Thursday that the country cannot offer its air defense systems – which include Patriots and the S-300 – to Ukraine. “We were asked and we explained why we cannot do it,” Mitsotakis told Skai TV, adding that these systems are “critical to our deterrent capability.”

“We have already provided tangible assistance to Ukraine and its people,” he added, saying that no action would be taken “that could even remotely endanger our nation’s deterrent capabilities or air defense.”

According to a report by the Financial Times, European leaders during a summit in Brussels last week personally urged Mitsotakis and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to supply air defense systems to Ukraine.

The US is expected to put further pressure on Greece on Friday during a planned teleconference on assistance to Ukraine.