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Romanian authorities have launched an investigation into British-American influencer Tristan Tate over allegations he broke election laws by posting political content on social media during the country's recent presidential elections.

The probe, confirmed by police sources, is centred on a social media post that Tate is alleged to have shared on election day and included direct or implicit political messaging, which is illegal in Romania.

Tate, 36, is the younger brother of controversial influencer Andrew Tate, 38, a self-described misogynist. The pair have a combined social media following of over 13 million.

Both are being investigated by Romanian authorities in a separate case in relation to a number of charges, which they deny.

The latest investigation was opened by Ilfov county police after it received an official complaint.

It is alleged that Tate may have tried to influence voters through the social media post, which may constitute offences of foreign election interference and campaigning during restricted periods.

He has been summoned for questioning on Tuesday. Andrew is not involved in this case, according to official sources.

The BBC has contacted Tate's representatives for comment. He has not issued any public statement regarding the investigation.

But in a video post apparently published on X on the day of the election, Tate says he is "not campaigning" and that as "an American man, using an American platform, in Dubai, to talk about political issues" he is "not subject to Romania's 'no campaigning' law".

In recent years, the Tate brothers have built a massive online presence on social media. They have attracted frequent criticism over offensive statements about women.

Both were arrested in Romania in December 2022, with Andrew accused of rape and human trafficking and Tristan suspected of human trafficking.

They both denied the charges and spent several months under house arrest. A year and a half later, in August 2024, they faced new allegations in Romania including sex with a minor and trafficking underage persons, all of which they deny.

They are also facing 21 charges in the UK, including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking.

At the time of an arrest warrant obtained by Bedfordshire Police in March 2024, the Tates said they "categorically reject all charges" and were "very innocent men".

A Romanian court ruled that they could be extradited to the UK only once the separate proceedings against them in Romania concluded.

Prosecutors unexpectedly lifted a two-year travel ban earlier this year, after which the brothers travelled from Romania to the US state of Florida by private jet in February 2025.

They returned to Romania in March 2025, telling reporters that "innocent men don't run from anything".

The family of Zambia's former President Edgar Lungu says he will be buried in South Africa in a private ceremony following a row with the government over the funeral arrangements.

Late on Thursday, President Hakainde Hichilema cut short a period of national mourning after Lungu's family refused to allow his body to be repatriated from South Africa as planned. His funeral had been set for Sunday in Zambia's capital, Lusaka.

The family now says it will announce later when Lungu will be buried in Johannesburg in "dignity and peace".

It will be the first time a former head of state of another country is buried in South Africa.

In his will, Lungu said that Hichilema, his long-time rival, should not attend his funeral.

The government and his family later agreed he would have a state funeral before relations broke down over the precise arrangements.

"We wish to announce that the funeral and burial of our beloved Dr Edgar Chagwa Lungu will take place here in South Africa, in accordance with the family's wishes for a private ceremony," family spokesperson Makebi Zulu said in a statement.

Mr Zulu thanked the South African government for "non-interference" and honouring the family's decision and desire during "this deeply emotional period".

In his address on Thursday, President Hichilema said that Lungu, as a former president, "belongs to the nation of Zambia" and his body should therefore "be buried in Zambia with full honours, and not in any other nation".

However, because of the row, he announced an immediate end to the mourning period, saying the country needed to "resume normal life".

"The government has done everything possible to engage with the family of our departed sixth president," he said.

The national mourning period initially ran from 8 to 14 June but was later extended until 23 June, with flags flying at half-mast and radio stations playing solemn music.

President Hichilema and senior officials had been prepared to receive Lungu's coffin with full military honours on Wednesday.

However, Lungu's family blocked the repatriation of his remains at the last minute, saying the government had reneged on its agreement over the funeral plans.

The opposition Patriotic Front (PF), the party Lungu led until his death, has stood with the family over the funeral plans.

"The government has turned a solemn occasion into a political game," said PF acting president Given Lubinda. "This is not how we treat a former head of state."

Civil society groups have called for an urgent resolution of the matter, with a section of religious leaders saying the stand-off was "hurting the dignity of our country".

"We appeal for humility, dialogue, and a resolution that honours the memory of the former president while keeping the nation united," said Emmanuel Chikoya, head of the Council of Churches in Zambia.

Lungu, who led Zambia from 2015 to 2021, died earlier this month in South Africa where he was receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness.

After six years as head of state, Lungu lost the 2021 election to Hichilema by a large margin. He stepped back from politics but later returned to the fray.

He had ambitions to vie for the presidency again but at the end of last year the Constitutional Court barred him from running, ruling that he had already served the maximum two terms allowed by law.

Despite his disqualification from the presidential election, he remained hugely influential in Zambian politics and did not hold back in his criticism of his successor.

Go toBBCAfrica.comfor more news from the African continent.

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Fashion legend Giorgio Armani will miss his two shows at Milan Fashion Week for the first time in his career.

The 90-year-old Italian designer is "currently recovering at home", his company said in a statement. His recovery follows a brief hospital stay in Milan, Italian media reported.

He had "worked with usual dedication on the collections" and would follow the menswear shows on Saturday and Monday remotely, the company added.

It is thought to be the first time that Armani has missed one of his catwalk events, in a career that spans over five decades. Last year he said he could retire in coming years.

The shows next week will present the Spring-Summer 2026 collections of his self-titled luxury brand.

Armani's long-time collaborator and head of menswear design, Leo Dell'Orco, is now set to give the closing bows.

Armani is said to be in good spirits and is expected to attend the brand's upcoming shows in Paris at the end of June.

Founded in 1975, the brand celebrates its 50th anniversary next month – as Armani also celebrates his 91st birthday.

Armani, also known as 'Re Giorgio' – King Giorgio – has built an empire in the luxury fashion industry.

Born in the northern Italian town of Piacenza in 1934, he studied medicine before embarking on a career in fashion and eventually launching his label with his late partner, Sergio Galeotti.

His fashion house has several different lines which have also expanded into haute couture, ready-to-wear fashion, accessories, beauty products and make-up, jewellery, interior design and luxury hotels in cities such as Milan, Paris, New York, Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai.

The suspect accused of fatally shooting a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband in a gun rampage last week was a doomsday "prepper", according to the FBI.

The wife of the accused, Vance Boelter, told investigators the family was among a small group of Americans who "prepare for major or catastrophic incidents", said a court document.

Boelter, 57, has been charged with killing Democratic House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, last Saturday.

He also seriously wounded Democratic State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Police say there is evidence he was planning to target others.

Police captured Mr Boelter in woods last Sunday after a two-day manhunt.

His wife was pulled over in a traffic stop hours after the shootings. She was taking their four children to stay with friends, according to investigators.

Jenny Boelter told the authorities her husband had warned her in a message that she should flee, documents show.

"The text stated something to the effect of they should prepare for war, they needed to get out of the house and people with guns may be showing up to the house," wrote FBI agent, Terry Getsch, in an affidavit released on Friday.

In her car, investigators found about $10,000 in cash, passports and two guns. Mrs Boelter has not been charged with any crime.

She said her husband had given her a "bailout plan", for what to do if she ever needed to leave the house.

Mrs Boelter also said her husband had a business partner in the north-western US state of Washington and that they ran a security company and "fishing outfit" called "Red Lion" in Congo, Africa.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, has called the shootings an "act of targeted political violence".

According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, Mr Boetler wrote a rambling and incoherent letter addressed to the FBI in which he claimed the state's governor had ordered him to kill Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar as part of a supposed plot for Walz to take her spot in the Senate.

There is no evidence of any such plot.

Klobuchar and Minnesota's other US senator, Tina Smith, along with Walz, were among Democratic politicians on a list of around 70 targets found in Mr Boetler's possession, according to local media.

The suspect disguised himself as a police officer to gain access to the homes of the two US lawmakers he shot, police have said. He was wearing a vest with a Taser and a badge.

Yvette Hoffman, who survived the attack, was released from the hospital on Thursday, while her husband remains in care.

Mrs Hoffman was shot while shielding her daughter, Hope, from gunfire. It was Hope who called 911.

Panama has declared an emergency in its main banana-producing region, after shops were looted and buildings vandalised in ongoing protests over a pension reform.

The government says constitutional rights will be suspended for the next five days in the north-western Bocas del Toro province.

The measure restricts freedom of movement and allows the police to make arrests without a warrant.

Troubles in the region began a month ago, when the local banana workers union joined a nationwide protest against proposed pension cuts and declared a strike.

"In the face of the disruption of order and acts of systematic violence, the state will enforce its constitutional mandate to guarantee peace," said Juan Carlos Orillac, minister of the presidency.

The measure, he added, would allow to "rescue the province" from radicals.

Protests across the Latin American nation erupted back in March over the pension reform.

In Bocas del Toro, the unrest has been largely led by workers at a Chiquita Brands banana plantation.

The confrontation escalated last month after the company sacked thousands of striking employees.

Protesters have been setting up roadblocks in the province, often clashing with police.

Earlier this week, crowds damaged one of Chiquita Brands' facilities as well as a local airport.

Pakistan has announced it plans to nominate US President Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, citing the role that Islamabad says he played in helping to negotiate a ceasefire last month between India and Pakistan.

On X, the Pakistani government said Trump deserved the award "in recognition of his decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership during the recent India-Pakistan crisis".

India has denied the US served as a mediatorto end the fighting last month, and says it does not want any diplomatic intervention from a third party.

Trump has often suggested he should receive the Nobel Peace Prize, whose winner this year will be named in October.

In May, Trump made a surprise announcement of a ceasefire between India and Pakistan following four days of fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Pakistan's government said in its post early on Saturday: "President Trump demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi, which de-escalated a rapidly deteriorating situation.

"This intervention stands as a testament to his role as a genuine peacemaker."

There was no immediate response from Washington or New Delhi.

Trump has repeatedly said that India and Pakistan ended the conflict after a ceasefire brokered by the US, and also that he had used trade as a lever to make them agree.

Pakistan has corroborated US statements about brokering the ceasefire, but India has denied it.

Last month, Trump said he told India and Pakistan that a ceasefire was necessary in order for them to maintain trade with the US.

"I said, 'Come on, we're going to do a lot of trade with you guys [India and Pakistan]. Let's stop it," he told reporters.

The Nobel move was applauded by Mushahid Hussain, a former chair of the Senate Defence Committee in Pakistan's parliament.

"Trump is good for Pakistan," he told Reuters. "If this panders to Trump's ego, so be it. All the European leaders have been sucking up to him big time."

But Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's former ambassador to the US, criticised the move as "unfortunate".

"A man who has backed Israel's genocidal war in Gaza and called Israel's attack on Iran as 'excellent'," she wrote on X.

"It compromises our national dignity," she added.

On Friday, Trump posted onTruth Socialthat he had helped broker negotiations between multiple nations, but despite this: "No, I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do."

Trump entered office vowing to quickly end the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza wars, although peace deals in both conflicts have eluded him so far.

He has frequently criticised Barack Obama for winning a Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 after less than eight months as US president. In 2013, Trump called on the Norwegian Nobel Committee to rescind the award.

A superyacht has been raised from the seabed nearly a year after it sank off the coast of Sicily, killing seven of the 22 people on board.

Italian officials said the luxury yacht – known as the Bayesian – would be held up by a crane for a series of inspections requested by the public prosecutor's office. It will later be fully removed from the water.

The Bayesian was owned by British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, who died in the incident alongside his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and five others.

Last month, an ongoing investigation found that Mr Lynch and the crew were unaware of some of the boat's vulnerabilities – including that wind speeds of over 73mph could topple it.

Footage from the salvage operation shows the hull of the 56m (183ft) vessel – which looks badly damaged and covered in mud – being lifted up by cranes.

In some images, the ship's name can be seen on the stern of the yacht as it is finally lifted above the water.

The vessel is expected to be taken to the nearby port of Termini Imerese on Monday, where Italian prosecutors investigating the sinking are based.

Previous salvage efforts to raise the boatwere delayed after a diver died while working on the operationlast month.

Also in May,an investigation led by the UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) found thatgusts of over 73mph hitting the side of the Bayesian would "likely result" in its capsize. The MAIB used modelling commissioned after the disaster to aid in its preliminary report.

It said winds of over 80mph "violently" hit the vessel during the disaster, causing it to flood within seconds.

The MAIB said its report was based on a "limited amount of verified evidence" as they did not have access to the wreck at the time.

Investigators in the UK and Italy -where criminal investigations are also under way- have said raising the vessel is crucial to fully understanding what happened.

The Bayesian had been anchored off the port of a small fishing village, Porticello, when it sank in the early hours of 19 August last year.

Witnesses at the time recalledwatching it disappear within "a few minutes" during freak weather.

Among the victims were Mr Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah; Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his wife, Judy Bloomer, 71, who were all British nationals.

US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, and Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the vessel, also died in the sinking.

Fifteen people, including Mr Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, were rescued.

At the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, a Russian MP came up to me.

"Are you going to bomb Iran?" he asked.

"I'm not planning to bomb anyone!" I replied.

"He's told what to do by Britain," the man smiled. "And by the deep state."

It was a brief, bizarre conversation. But it showed that in St Petersburg this week there was more on people's minds than just the economy.

On Friday, the Kremlin leader delivered the keynote speech at the forum's plenary session. It focused on the economy.

But it's what the Kremlin leader said in the panel discussion afterwards that made headlines.

"We have an old rule," Putin declared. "Where the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that's ours."

Imagine you're the leader of a country that's hosting an economic forum, seeking foreign investment and cooperation. Boasting about your army seizing foreign lands wouldn't appear to be the most effective way to achieve this.

But that's the point. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the state of the economy has been secondary to the goal of winning the war against Ukraine. That is the Kremlin's overarching priority. True, Russia's economy has been growing, but largely due to massive state spending on the defence sector and military-industrial complex.

And even this war-related growth is now petering out.

Putin didn't sound overly concerned.

"As far as the 'murder' of the Russian economy is concerned, as a famous writer once said – 'rumours of my death are greatly exaggerated,'" the Russian president declared.

But the Russian government is clearly nervous.

At the forum, Russia's Minister for Economic Development, Maxim Reshetnikov, warned that the country's economy was teetering "on the brink of recession".

"We grew for two years at a fairly high pace because unused resources were activated," said Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina. "We need to understand that many of those resources have truly been exhausted."

The St Petersburg International Economic Forum was conceived as a shiny showcase for the Russian economy. A lot of that shine has faded due to the thousands of international sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine. Many Western companies pulled out of Russia.

After all, US President Donald Trump has made it clear he wants better relations with Moscow.

"Today we had breakfast with the American Chamber of Commerce and lots of investors came from the US. We get a sense that lots of American companies want to come back," Kirill Dmitriev, President Putin's envoy on foreign investment, told me. We spoke on the sidelines of the St Petersburg forum.

"I think the American administration understands that dialogue and joint cooperation is better than sanctions that do not work and hurt your businesses."

Western businesses, though, are unlikely to return in large numbers while Russia is waging war on Ukraine.

"I think it's clear you have to have some sort of an end to the conflict before American companies are going to seriously consider going back," said Robert Agee, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia.

"Have you asked the Trump administration to remove some sanctions from Russia?" I asked him.

"We've been to Washington," he replied. "We have made an analysis of the impact of American sanctions on American businesses. We passed that on to the administration."

"Do you accept that the idea of Western businesses returning is controversial in light of the war in Ukraine?" I asked.

"Western businesses have made decisions based on what happened three or four years ago," replied Mr Agee. "And it's up to them to decide whether it's the right time to return."

After more than three years of war and mass sanctions, Russia faces tough economic challenges: high inflation, high interest rates, reports of stagnation, recession. The problems in the economy are now openly discussed and debated.

It's unclear how soon they will be resolved.

The husband of Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has been unexpectedly released from prison in Belarus, along with 13 other political prisoners.

Sergei Tikhanovsky – an opposition activist himself – has been moved to Lithuania and reunited with his wife, who is living in exile in capital Vilnius, after five years in prison.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya announced her husband's release by posting a 10-second video of their first hug since 2020. She said it was "hard to describe" the joy in her heart.

The sudden release came as US special envoy Keith Kellogg visited Minsk, Belarus' capital, on Saturday and held a meeting with the country's authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

In a statement on X, the Lithuanian foreign minister said 14 political prisoners were released and receiving care in Lithuania.

According to Tikhanovskaya's office, five were Belarusian nationals and some were Japanese, Polish and Swedish citizens.

However, Tikhanovksy's release is by far the most prominent.

A colourful, outspoken figure who once had a big following in Belarus on social media, he used to call on people to "stop the cockroach", referring to Lukashenko.

Ignoring the risks from a repressive regime, the video blogger and activist would tour the country to meet people in town squares and villages to hear – and broadcast – their concerns.

In 2020, he was arrested as he began his campaign to challenge Lukashenko for the presidency in that summer's elections.

He was jailed for 18 years in 2021 after a court convicted him of rallying mass protests against Lukashenko, among other charges.

His wife, Tikhanovskaya – a political novice and total unknown – stepped in to run for election in his place.

And when Lukashenko declared another landslide win, her supporters flooded the streets in the biggest protests Belarus has ever known.

They were crushed, ruthlessly, and Tikhanovskaya wasforced into exile.

Maria Kolesnikova, another well-known opposition leader who was jailed after the mass protests of 2020, is still in prison, her sister confirmed.

"No, not this time," she wrote to the BBC when asked whether Maria was among those set free. "Though it's a huge progress. We need more releases and for that – more efforts and negotiations."

In the video posted by Tikhanovskaya on Saturday, Tikhanovsky is smiling broadly but has lost so much weight that he is hard to recognise.

Well-built, even stocky before his arrest, he is now thin. In the video, the jacket he is wearing hangs loosely and his head has been shaved.

Franak Viacorka, senior adviser to Tikhanovskaya, described this as a "big day" and a very unexpected step.

"We didn't expect his release, we were struggling – fighting – for his release, but it was a full surprise," he told the BBC from Lithuania.

"We put his name on all the lists but we didn't believe it was possible."

He said that Tikhanovsky was "the same Sergei" he was before he was jailed.

"I felt the same energy, the same passion, though he was looking very thin," he added.

Tikhanovskaya wrote on X "my husband is free" before thanking US President Donald Trump, Kellogg and "all European allies" for their efforts to get her husband released.

"We're not done – 1,150 political prisoners remain behind bars," she added. "All must be released."

Viacorka said that as far as his team knows, nothing was offered to Belarus in return for Tikhanovsky's release.

"I think he [Lukashenko] is in quite weak situation right now," Viacorka said. "And he wants to improve relationship with the new American administration."

Artyom Shraibman, of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, suggested that the meeting with Kellogg was reward enough for Lukashenko.

"It seems like the US asked for Tikhanovsky to be released as a significant concession in exchange for Kellogg's visit and Lukashenko agreed," he said.

The Belarusian leader has been isolated by Western politicians for many years. Neither his re-election in 2020 or this year were ever officially recognised and Belarus was placed under Western sanctions.

The freeze in relations deepened when Belarus aided Russia in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, allowing troops to cross its territory and missiles to be launched from its land.

"It's a significant diplomatic breakthrough for Lukashenko. It helps to get him out of isolation," Mr Shraibman said.

"I also think Lukashenko will like the opportunity to discuss issues of war and peace with such a top level envoy from the US.

"So in some form, this is a win-win."

It is not clear whether the Trump administration is dangling the prospect of lifting some sanctions, though Lukashenko is certainly angling for that.

But this release does not mean the end of political repression in Belarus. Hundreds more people are still behind bars for nothing more than their opposition to Lukashenko's rule.

Other prisoners have been pardoned and released in recent months, but the repressions have not stopped.

The BBC knows of recent cases of the KGB security service demanding people collaborate with its agents and inform on others, or face arrest. They had to flee the country.

In the case of Tikhanovsky, it appears Lukashenko calculated that he had more to gain geopolitically by releasing a prominent prisoner than he would risk by letting him go.

Forced into exile in Lithuania, it's not clear what role Tikhanovsky and his strong personality will now play within the democratic opposition, where his wife is now the internationally recognised leader.

"It introduces a certain confusion and possibly even some political mess to democratic forces", Mr Shraibman said.

Among the other Belarusians freed on Saturday was 60-year-old Natalia Dulina, a professor of Italian at Minsk Linguistic University who has been in prison since 2022 on political charges.

On her way to a shelter in Lithuania on Saturday – now in forced exile – she told the BBC she had been moved suddenly from her prison on Friday by men in balaclavas and given no explanation.

She said they put a medical mask over her eyes and cuffed her hands before driving her to what she later learned was the KGB prison in Minsk.

"This morning, they put us in another bus – put a black balaclava on all of us, with no holes in it, and we didn't know where they were taking us. It was really unpleasant," Natalia said.

It was only at the border with Lithuania that she knew for sure she was being released.

"It was a total surprise. It still hasn't sunk in," she said.

Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians are estimated to have left their country since the brutal crackdown on widespread opposition protests in 2020.

Tens of thousands of people have been arrested in the country in the past five years for political reasons, according to human rights group Viasna.

At least eight people have died in a hot air balloon accident in Brazil, a state governor has said.

There were 21 people on board the balloon in the city of Praia Grande on Saturday morning, Governor of Santa Catarina Jorginho Mello said in a post on X.

Thirteen people, including the pilot, survived and no one is missing, the state government press office said.

It added that the balloon had crashed near a health centre.

"According to the pilot, who is one of the survivors, a fire started inside the basket, so he started to lower the balloon, and when the balloon was very close to the ground he told people to jump," officer Tiago Luiz Lemos, from the Praia Grande police station, told reporters at the scene.

"They started to jump, but some people did not manage to. The flames started to grow and because of the weight, the balloon began to rise again.

"It later fell because of a loss of suspension."

The state government press office said 13 survivors were taken to nearby hospitals.

In a video also posted on X, Mello, who is on an official mission in China, said he had sent "the entire state structure" to "rescue, help and comfort the families" and was continuing to monitor the situation.

"We are in mourning, what happened is a tragedy," he added.

"We will investigate why this happened. But the important thing now is to do everything possible to reach out to the people and the families."

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva posted on X expressing his "solidarity with the families of the victims".

He said he had placed "the federal government at the disposal of the victims" and that "state and municipal forces " were working on the rescue and care of the survivors.

Praia Grande is in southern Santa Catarina and is a popular tourist destination. The city is known for its ballooning activities.

Additional reporting by Sofia Ferreira Santos