FBI Extends 2020 US Presidential Election Probe to Arizona

DORAL, FLORIDA - MARCH 09: US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at Trump National Doral Miami on March 9, 2026 in Doral, Florida. Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images/AFP
DORAL, FLORIDA - MARCH 09: US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at Trump National Doral Miami on March 9, 2026 in Doral, Florida. Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images/AFP
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FBI Extends 2020 US Presidential Election Probe to Arizona

DORAL, FLORIDA - MARCH 09: US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at Trump National Doral Miami on March 9, 2026 in Doral, Florida. Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images/AFP
DORAL, FLORIDA - MARCH 09: US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at Trump National Doral Miami on March 9, 2026 in Doral, Florida. Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images/AFP

The FBI has extended its investigation of the 2020 US election, which President Donald Trump falsely claims to have won, to Arizona, state officials said Monday.

The move comes six weeks after the Federal Bureau of Investigation seized 2020 election ballots in Fulton County, Georgia, as part of a probe into alleged "electoral impropriety”, reported AFP.

Warren Petersen, Republican president of the Arizona Senate, said he had complied last week with a federal grand subpoena for records related to the state senate's audit of 2020 voting in Maricopa County, Arizona's largest.

"The FBI has the records," Petersen said on X.

Trump on Monday posted a link on his Truth Social platform to an article on the right-wing news outlet Just the News about the Arizona records seizure, calling it "Great!!!"

Arizona and Georgia were among the states that Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

- 'Weaponization' -

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said the 2020 election in the state had been "exhaustively reviewed."

"The election results were certified, litigated, and affirmed," Mayes said in a statement.

"Multiple audits, court proceedings, and independent investigations -- including those pursued by members of the same political party of the President -- found no evidence of fraud sufficient to alter the outcome," she said.

"What the Trump administration appears to be pursuing now is not a legitimate law enforcement inquiry," Mayes said. "It is the weaponization of federal law enforcement in service of crackpots and lies."

FBI agents had raided election offices in Georgia's Fulton County, which includes the heavily Democratic capital Atlanta, in late January, removing hundreds of boxes of ballots and other materials related to the 2020 vote.

According to the search warrant affidavit used to justify the seizure, the FBI investigation originated from a referral sent by Kurt Olsen, the "Presidentially appointed Director of Election Security and Integrity."

Olsen was among the members of Trump's 2020 legal team who filed dozens of lawsuits contesting the election results that were tossed out by courts around the country.

The Republican president and others were charged in Georgia over their alleged efforts to subvert the election, but the prosecutor became embroiled in scandal and the case was ultimately dismissed in November 2025.

Trump also faced federal charges over his alleged election subversion efforts that led to the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol by his supporters.

Those charges were dropped after Trump was elected in November 2024.



Migrants Missing after Mediterranean Capsize: NGOs

Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026. REUTERS
Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026. REUTERS
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Migrants Missing after Mediterranean Capsize: NGOs

Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026. REUTERS
Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026. REUTERS

Dozens of people are missing after a migrant boat capsized in the central Mediterranean, the NGOs Mediterranea Saving Humans and Sea-Watch said Sunday on social media.

Two people died and 32 were rescued from the boat, which had left Libya on Saturday afternoon with around 105 people on board, according to Mediterranea Saving Humans, AFP reported.

"Tragic Easter shipwreck. 32 survivors, two bodies recovered and more than 70 people missing," the NGO wrote on X, adding that the boat capsized in a search-and-rescue zone handled by Libyan authorities.

Sea-Watch said two commercial ships saved the survivors and took them to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

An aerial video it posted showed two men clinging to the hull of the capsized vessel, and the approach of one of the commercial ships.

Mediterranea Saving Humans said the accident was "the consequence of policies by European governments that refuse to open safe and legal pathways" for migrants.

Lampedusa is a key entry point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe.

Since the start of 2026, at least 683 migrants have lost their lives or gone missing on attempts to cross the sea, according to the UN's migration agency IOM.

According to the Italian government, 6,175 migrants arrived on Italian territory over the same period.


Trump Vows Strikes on Iran’s Power Plants, Bridges if Strait of Hormuz isn't Reopened

ABD Başkanı Donald Trump (Reuters)
ABD Başkanı Donald Trump (Reuters)
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Trump Vows Strikes on Iran’s Power Plants, Bridges if Strait of Hormuz isn't Reopened

ABD Başkanı Donald Trump (Reuters)
ABD Başkanı Donald Trump (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump has promised strikes on Iran’s power plants and bridges on Tuesday, restating his threat to attack civilian infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t reopened.

In an expletive-laden post Sunday morning, Trump promised the “crazy bastards” would be “living in Hell” if the waterway isn’t opened to marine traffic, The AP news reported.

Trump had previously threatened strikes two weeks ago, but extended the deadline for Iran to reopen the waterway twice, claiming there were positive signs in negotiations with the Iranians. But there have been few public signs of progress in a diplomatic off-ramp to the war.


Pope Leo Marks First Easter as Pontiff with Call for Hope Amid Global Conflicts

 Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)
Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)
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Pope Leo Marks First Easter as Pontiff with Call for Hope Amid Global Conflicts

 Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)
Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)

Pope Leo celebrated his first Easter Mass as pontiff with a call Sunday to exercise hope against “the violence of war that kills and destroys,” saying “we need this song of hope today” as conflicts spread around the world.

With the US-Israeli war on Iran in its second month and Russia’s ongoing campaign in Ukraine, Leo has repeatedly called for a halt in hostilities. In his Easter homily, the pope singled out those who wage war, abuse the weak and prioritize profits.

Leo, the first US-born pope, addressed the faithful from an open-air altar in St. Peter’s Square flanked with white roses, while the steps leading down to the piazza where the faithful gathered were filled with spring perennials, symbolically resonating with the pope’s message of hope.

The pontiff implored the faithful to keep their hope in the face of death, which lurks “in injustices, in partisan selfishness, in the oppression of the poor, in the lack of attention given to the most vulnerable.

“We see it in violence, in the wounds of the world, in the cry of pain that rises from every corner because of the abuses that crush the weakest among us, because of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources, because of the violence of war that kills and destroys,” he said.

He quoted his predecessor Pope Francis in warning against falling into indifference in the face of “persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty,” because “it is also true that in the midst of darkness, something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit.”

He will later deliver the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” message — Latin for “to the city and the world.”

Christians in the Holy Land were marking a subdued Easter Traditional ceremonies at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered by Christians as the traditional site of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, were scaled back under an agreement with Israeli police. Authorities have put limits on the sizes of public gatherings due to ongoing missile attacks.

The restrictions also dampened the recent Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr holiday, as well as the current weeklong Jewish festival of Passover. On Sunday, the Jewish priestly blessing at the Western Wall — normally attended by tens of thousands — was limited to just 50 people.

The restrictions have strained relations between Israeli authorities and Christian leaders. Police last week prevented two of the church’s top religious leaders, including Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from celebrating Palm Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

On Tuesday, the pope had expressed hope that the war could be finished before Easter.