Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate head to US after travel ban is lifted in Romania

A travel ban was lifted on influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are both charged with human trafficking in Romania, and they are headed to the United States, officials said Thursday. (AFP/File)
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Updated 27 February 2025
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Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate head to US after travel ban is lifted in Romania

  • The brothers are avid supporters of President Donald Trump
  • The case hasn’t been closed, and there is also a separate legal case against the brothers in Romania

FLORIDA: A travel ban was lifted on influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are both charged with human trafficking in Romania, and they are headed to the United States, officials said Thursday.
The brothers are avid supporters of President Donald Trump and have millions of online followers. It wasn’t clear under what conditions the Tates were allowed to leave Romania, or where in the United States they were headed.
Andrew Tate, 38, and Tristan Tate, 36 are dual US-British citizens.
Andrew Tate is a former professional kickboxer and self-described misogynist who has amassed more than 10 million followers on X. He also runs an online academy where he says he teaches young men how to get rich and attract women. Tristan Tate is also a former kickboxer.
The Tates are avid supporters of President Donald Trump.
What are they charged with in Romania?
The Tate brothers and two Romanian women were arrested in Bucharest in late 2022.
The Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism alleged the four defendants formed a criminal group in 2021 “in order to commit the crime of human trafficking” in Romania as well as the United States and Britain.
They were initially formally indicted last year. In April, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that a trial could start but didn’t set a date.
In December, a court in Bucharest ruled that the case against the Tates and the two Romanian women couldn’t go to trial because of multiple legal and procedural irregularities on the part of the prosecutors.
The case hasn’t been closed, and there is also a separate legal case against the brothers in Romania.
Andrew Tate has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors in Romania have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. But they were charged with forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, among other charges.
What led to the travel ban being lifted?
DIICOT, Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, said in a statement Thursday that prosecutors approved a “request to modify the obligation preventing the defendants from leaving Romania,” but that judicial control measures remained in place. The agency didn’t say who had made the request.
The control measures include the requirement to “appear before judicial authorities whenever summoned,” the statement read.
The agency said the Tates were “warned that deliberately violating these obligations may result in judicial control being replaced with a stricter deprivation of liberty measure.”
Their departure came after Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu said this month that a US official in the current Trump administration had expressed interest in the brothers’ legal case in Romania at the Munich Security Conference. The minister insisted it didn’t amount to pressure.


Old Delhi iftars revive Mughal heritage, one course at a time

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Old Delhi iftars revive Mughal heritage, one course at a time

  • Dastarkhwan-e-Jahaanuma iftars have been held in Old Delhi since 2017
  • Muslim and non-Muslim participants arrive from across India and abroad

NEW DELHI: On a rooftop in Delhi’s historic walled city, guests from across India sit on cushions around a low table overlooking Jama Masjid, waiting for its sunset call to prayer — the signal to start a special iftar that will take them back four centuries, to the Mughal era, if only for a while.

Mughals ruled the Indian subcontinent between the 16th and 19th centuries. Originally from Central Asia, they carried traditions borrowed from Arabs, Persians and Ottomans, which they merged with the various local Indian styles — a fusion that marked the global revival of Islamic architecture and culture.

Jama Masjid is one of the most iconic examples of the Mughal style — a scenic background to the curated iftars that bring 40 to 50 people from across India to share a meal, knowledge and experience.

“People getting together from different walks of life, different parts of the country, different religions, different cultures coming together — it was absolutely and completely amazing,” said Arvind Sirohi, who took part in the event with his wife.

“Lovely storytelling, amazing food, and end of the day, right next to Jama Masjid in Old Delhi. The ambience, the environment, the atmosphere came together so beautifully.”

The community-led iftar experience is called Dastarkhwan-e-Jahaanuma — from Urdu words meaning a “spread of food” and “showing the world.”

For Veena Sirohi, it did exactly what the name promised by bringing together people from different communities, different parts of India, and abroad.

“I think that’s a great way of synthesizing different cultures, bringing people together, bringing the human aspect of what we all are ... we are actually all one,” she told Arab News.

“And we had some wonderful comperes who told us about … the history of Ramadan, what goes behind it, how the food is curated, and how each and every item has a specific place in the menu.”

Served in gilded bowls and plates from traditional Indian crockery, with rose petals dotting the dastarkhwan cloth, the dishes were some of the festive Ramadan delicacies, offering a taste of Mughal culinary heritage.

Among them was mutanjan, or fragrant rice cooked with ghee, sugar, saffron, cardamom, and studded with nuts, which for many Indian Muslims is traditionally the first dish to break the fast.

It was followed by shabde, a rich, slow-cooked aromatic meat stew or the Delhi biryani — a fragrant, mildly spiced saffron rice and meat dish, where marinated chicken or mutton is layered with basmati rice and cooked slowly.

The hearty feast closed with nihari, a hearty stew simmered overnight with spices and bone marrow, which emerged in the 18th century and was originally eaten by Mughal royals for breakfast.

“These are the traditional dishes which are not usually available in the market, but are specially prepared by the bawarchees (cooks) of Old Delhi. Some of the dishes are occasional dishes,” said Abu Sufiyan Khan, the founder of Tales of City, the cultural experience company that has been curating Dastarkhwan-e-Jahaanuma since 2017.

The special iftars are hosted once a week throughout the fasting month, usually on weekends. There are variations in dishes served as they come from different kitchens, as Tales of City collaborates with various local artisans and cooks.

“We are curating this with different experts and every time the menu changes,” Khan said.

“We bring all these dishes onto a single dastarkhwan, and we share this meal with the people coming from all over India to break bread together in the holy month of Ramadan, know each other, learn about each other’s culture, and create a dialogue space where we can have more meaningful conversations and an opportunity to get to know each other.”

Those who take part, like Ayandrali Dutta, a food critic, appreciate everything about the experience, especially as it takes place in Old Delhi, where the vibe is always “jovial, lively, in all positive ways” during Ramadan.

“You get to meet interesting people, you get to hear interesting stories ... It’s a great initiative to show what Ramadan is, what kind of food is eaten, talk about the cultures between Lucknow and Delhi and other parts of the country. And it just brings a lot of happiness,” she said.

“I loved it. My heart is happy, my belly is full. Nothing else I can ask for.”