US spy chief's office investigated voting machines in Puerto Rico

A team working for President Donald Trump's spy chief, Tulsi Gabbard, last spring led an investigation into Puerto Rico's voting machines, said Gabbard's office and three sources familiar with the previously unreported events, Reuters reported. 

The sources said the goal was to work with the FBI to investigate claims that Venezuela had hacked voting machines in Puerto Rico, but added the probe did not produce any clear evidence of Venezuelan interference in the U.S. territory's elections. Reuters first reported the investigation.

the May investigation but denied a link to Venezuela, saying its focus was on vulnerabilities in the island's electronic voting systems, according to Reuters. 

Georgia 2020 probe began with referral from Trump election official, court documents show

The U.S. Justice Department's investigation into the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia, started with a referral from an election integrity official appointed by President Donald Trump, court documents showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. 

Kurt Olsen, an attorney involved in legal challenges to Trump's defeat in the 2020 election, referred the matter to the FBI. Olsen has recently been serving as a Trump-appointed official focused on election integrity and security, according to an FBI affidavit made public in the U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

The document lays out evidence used to justify an FBI search of Fulton County's election center last month, during which agents seized more than 600 boxes of ballots and other material related to the 2020 election, according to Reuters. 

Indonesia preparing to deploy up to 8,000 soldiers to Gaza

Indonesia says it is preparing up to 8,000 soldiers for deployment to Gaza, the first country to do so as part of phase two of the ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States late last year, BBC reported. 

The army chief of staff, General Maruli Simanjuntak, said training for the soldiers had already begun, and that they would focus on medical and engineering roles in Gaza.

Indonesia has joined President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, which was announced last month, according to BBC. 

Philippine top court says same-sex couples can co-own property

The Philippine Supreme Court in a landmark decision has ruled that same-sex couples can be considered co-owners of property, BBC reported. 

Applying a provision of the country's Family Code for the first time, the court said same-sex couples can be recognised as co-owners if it is proven that both parties contributed to acquiring a property.

Same-sex unions are outlawed in conservative Catholic Philippines and it is the only country in the world, outside of the Vatican, that does not allow divorce, according to BBC.