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Furious allies of former President Donald Trump are demanding an explanation for the FBI's raid on his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, BBC reported.

The FBI and Department of Justice have yet to comment on the search, which Mr Trump disclosed on Monday evening.

It is reportedly linked to an investigation into his handling of classified and sensitive material.

It was the first time a former US president's home has ever been searched by law enforcement.

Reports suggest the FBI activity is connected to an investigation into whether Mr Trump, a Republican, removed classified records from the White House and took them to Mar-a-Lago.

The search was approved at the highest levels of the Department of Justice (DoJ), an unnamed US official told CBS News, the BBC's US partner. 

Republicans have depicted the investigation as politically motivated, with leading figures demanding a briefing from Attorney General Merrick Garland, head of the DoJ.

Mr Trump's former Vice-President, Mike Pence, who has subtly distanced himself amid speculation they may both launch 2024 White House runs, called on the attorney general to give "a full accounting" of why the search warrant was carried out. 

"No former President of the United States has ever been subject to a raid of their personal residence in American history," he wrote on Twitter.

Mr Trump's allies in Congress, meanwhile, vowed to launch an investigation if they win back control of the House of Representatives and Senate in November's mid-term elections, when the balance of power in Washington will be decided, according to BBC.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday that President Joe Biden was given no advance notice by the FBI of the raid, and that he "learned about this from public reports".

"The president was not briefed and was not aware of it. No-one at the White House was given a heads-up," she said. 

She told reporters that Mr Biden had gone to great lengths to preserve the independence of the justice department, adding: "President Biden believes in the rule of law."

The raid was first announced on Monday evening in a statement by the former president, who was at Trump Tower in New York City. 

Lindsey Halligan, a lawyer for Mr Trump, said she had received a call around 10:00 local time (14:00 GMT) that the FBI had a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago and that she should come to the property.

She said she saw 30 to 40 gloved FBI agents, some in suits and others dressed casually, and around 10 to 15 FBI vehicles, including a rental truck.

Ms Halligan told CBS she and another lawyer for Mr Trump were barred from entering the complex, and that the search was divided into three sections: a bedroom, office and storage area.

"Complete overkill," she said. "If they needed documents, they could have asked."

The Secret Service agents protecting Mr Trump were notified shortly before the warrant was served, an unnamed law enforcement official told CBS, BBC reported.

The war in Ukraine began with Crimea and must end with its liberation, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, BBC reported.

He was speaking just hours after a string of explosions hit a Russian airbase there, killing one person.

Mr Zelensky did not mention the blasts but devoted his nightly address to the peninsula, saying: "Crimea is Ukrainian and we will never give it up."

Russia has played down the explosions, and a top Ukrainian adviser denied Ukraine was responsible.

Crimea is officially part of Ukraine but was annexed by Russia in 2014 after a referendum which the international community sees as illegitimate. Many Ukrainians see this as the start of their war with Russia.

Footage on social media showed beachgoers running as the explosions hit, with witnesses saying they had heard at least 12 blasts. Crimea's Russian-appointed health department said one civilian had been killed and another eight injured.

Russia's defence ministry insisted the blasts were down to ammunition that had exploded in a store - although this has not been independently verified, according to BBC.

And Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak denied that Ukraine was behind the blasts, telling the Dozhd online television channel: "Of course not. What do we have to do with this?"

Any attack on Crimea by Ukraine would be considered deeply serious by Moscow. Russia sounded a warning last month when ex-President Dmitry Medvedev threatened that "Judgement Day will instantly await" if Ukraine targeted Crimea.

Mr Zelensky did not refer to the blasts in his speech on Tuesday, but spoke at length about the peninsula, saying: "We will not forget that the Russian war against Ukraine began with the occupation of Crimea.

"This Russian war...began with Crimea and must end with Crimea - with its liberation," he said.

Mr Zelensky's latest remarks suggest he believes that Ukraine must retake the peninsula before the war can end - but in the past he has said different things on the issue, according to BBC.

He previously indicated Ukraine could accept peace if Russia returned to their positions before 24 February, meaning retaking Crimea would not be considered a requirement.

CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is currently in Japan, held a meeting with Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) senior leader Toshihiro Nikai on Tuesday. The LDP is the ruling party of Japan.

Nikai is the LDP's former general secretary, former economy, trade and industry minister and is a member in the House of Representatives. He is also the President of Nepal-Japan Parliamentary Committee. He was accompanied by other senior leaders in Japan during the meeting with the former Prime Minister of Nepal.

The meeting focused on various aspects of Nepal-Japan relations, according to Dahal's secretariat.

The two leaders discussed the ways for further consolidating the bilateral relations between the two neighbors. Besides, exchange of high-level visits between the two countries and the establishment of sisterly relations between cities in both countries were also discussed in the meeting.    

On the occasion, leader Dahal urged the Government of Japan to increase the scale of its assistance to Nepal's agriculture, tourism, hydropower and physical infrastructure development sectors.

Putting all speculations to rest, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday made a BIG announcement – ''alliance with the BJP is over.''

Although a formal announcement is yet to be made in this regard, sources said that Nitish Kumar-led JDU has decided to part ways with the BJP during a crucial meeting of party MLAs, ZEE reported.