Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate must remain in custody as they fight extradition to the United Kingdom, where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, a federal judge in Miami ruled Wednesday.
U.S. Magistrate Lauren Louis denied a defense motion for release, meaning the Tates will remain jailed during what could be a monthslong extradition process. The Tates failed to demonstrate that they do not present a flight risk or danger to the community or that special circumstances warrant their release, Louis said in her ruling.
“Having failed to meet these three factors, Respondents’ Motion for Release Pending Extradition Proceedings is DENIED," she said in the ruling.
The Tates' legal team said in a statement that the decision to keep them in custody creates a legal contradiction. The brothers are being detained in the United States because of a British extradition request while simultaneously being required to defend themselves against charges in Romania, the statement said.
“They are now facing an extraordinary situation in which they are being held thousands of miles from Romania while Romanian proceedings continue, deadlines approach, an additional indictment is said to be imminent and their own Romanian lawyer says he cannot properly prepare,” the lawyers said.
“No serious person can pretend that this can be reviewed properly through occasional conversations from a federal detention center in another country.”
The attorneys said they are considering whether to appeal the judge's decision.
The Tates have become among the world’s most polarizing internet personalities with their promotion of wealth, male dominance and misogyny through their social media empire. Prosecutors say the brothers are a flight risk because they appear to have money and have bragged about multiple passports.
During a hearing last month in Miami, the brothers denied criminal accusations spanning several countries, blasted their critics and described their brash online personas as characters and not their true personalities. The Tates said they exaggerate their claims of wealth to boost their clout on social media.
The new allegations are the latest in the Tates’ long-running international legal saga spanning the U.S., Britain and Romania. They have been held at the Federal Detention Center in Miami since making a brief court appearance two days after their July 18 arrest.
Lawyers for the Tates asked the judge to allow them to be freed from custody at least until an extradition hearing can be held on their U.K. rape and trafficking charges.
They have repeatedly argued that Britain’s request is out of line because their criminal case in Romania is going first. Romanian officials have let the brothers remain free until the proceedings conclude, and they have not tried to flee and are complying with all court restrictions. Earlier this month, Romanian prosecutors indicted the brothers on additional charges.
Andrew Tate, 39, and Tristan Tate, 38, are dual U.S.-British citizens known for their social media empire promoting wealth, male dominance and misogyny.
Andrew Tate is a former professional kickboxer and self-described misogynist who has amassed more than 10 million followers, most of them boys and young men, on X. He has been banned from platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram for violating hate speech guidelines.
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 brothers are avid supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump.
FILE - Andrew Tate, right, and his brother, Tristan, arrive at an event, April 11, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool, File)
Supporters of Andrew and Tristan Tate stand outside of the C. Clyde Atkins U.S. Courthouse as they fight extradition to the United Kingdom on charges of rape and sex trafficking at a bond hearing, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Supporters of Andrew and Tristan Tate do push-ups outside of the C. Clyde Atkins U.S. Courthouse as the Tate brothers fight extradition to the United Kingdom on charges of rape and sex trafficking in Miami, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said Wednesday that Saudi-backed forces had launched dozens of airstrikes overnight across four Yemeni provinces, after rebel attacks on Saudi Arabia ignited fires at several oil facilities and wounded dozens of people.
Separately, Iranian state media said that Iranian forces struck several tankers and two U.S. ships in retaliation for U.S. strikes on Iranian ships on Tuesday. The U.S. military denied that American warships were hit.
Here’s a look at the latest news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
According to Iranian state media, the country's forces had struck eight oil tankers and two U.S. vessels in retaliation for U.S. strikes on five Iranian tankers on Tuesday, and that it had also targeted another 10 ships attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
In a social media post, the U.S. Central Command said the claim that Iran's Revolutionary Guard had struck two U.S. Navy warships was false and that all “attempted attacks failed.”
The government of Iraq said that a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker was struck early Wednesday by an unidentified source off its coast in the northern Persian Gulf. Iraq’s Transport Ministry said that there were no casualties.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, which reports maritime incidents, said that there were strikes “involving several merchant vessels” in the northern Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The UKMTO said it couldn't confirm whether there were casualties.
The U.S. Central Command said in a social media post Tuesday that it destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers after Tehran fired missiles at a U.S. warship twice over two days.
The ongoing conflict pushed the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil past $100 on Wednesday.
Houthi spokesman Nasruddin Amer said on X on Wednesday that Saudi-backed forces had launched 32 airstrikes overnight across Yemen’s provinces of Taiz, Hodeida, Jawf and Marib. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
Saudi authorities didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The strikes come a day after Houthi attacks on several oil facilities and utilities in Saudi Arabia wounded 73 people, in a major escalation in the renewed conflict between an important U.S. ally and the Iran-backed rebels in Yemen. They follow weeks of intensifying clashes between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces.
Four bodies were recovered Wednesday from a Houthi-run prison hit by an airstrike earlier this week in northern Yemen, the Houthis said, raising the death toll from that strike to 23 people.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry called on the Houthis “to put an end to their aggressive actions immediately.” Last month, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a defense agreement that would treat an attack on one as an attack on all three.
The U.N. atomic watchdog’s board on Wednesday reported Iran to the U.N. Security Council for the first time in 20 years, saying Tehran failed to cooperate in an investigation into uranium traces detected at various undeclared sites.
Twenty-three countries on the IAEA’s board of governors supported the resolution put forward by France, Germany, the U.K. and U.S. It was opposed by China, Niger and Russia.
Since Israel and the U.S. struck Iran’s nuclear sites in June 2025, Iran hasn’t given IAEA inspectors access to the affected sites. Western officials suspect that the uranium traces could provide further evidence that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons program until 2003.
Iran says that it’s not pursuing nuclear weapons, and its program is entirely peaceful.
Reza Najafi, Iran’s ambassador to the U.N. in Vienna, rejected the resolution and described it as a “political tool, not a technical document.”
Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday wounded at least nine people and reduced buildings to rubble in various areas.
Awda Hospital said that it received the wounded after strikes hit a house in Nuseirat in the central part of the territory.
The Israeli military confirmed it carried out strikes in Nuseirat, the Daraj Tuffah area and on Shati refugee camp. Associated Press video showed the moment an Israeli rocket struck the refugee camp, triggering a huge blast.
Israel plans to shutter the British Consulate in Jerusalem within a month, an Israeli official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss information from closed-door meetings.
The 30-day clock started Tuesday when Israel announced a series of measures — from closing the consulate to banning certain British officials from the country — in response to the U.K.’s decision to ban trade with settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The British Consulate didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
-By Julia Frankel
People march near the U.S. Embassy during a rally to oppose the possible deployment of South Korean troops to the Strait of Hormuz and rejecting a U.S. demand for the deployment, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. The letters read, ''Oppose troop deployment.'' (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
FILE - Members of the Yemeni al-Houthi Shiite rebel group burn an effigy of a U.S. aircraft and a Saudi flag during a demonstration against U.S. and Saudi interference in Yemen, after Friday prayer in Sanaa, Yemen, on April 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed), File
