Nation and world news in brief for September 11

Tech firm executives to testify before US Senate about election threats

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Executives from major tech firms like Google, Adobe, Microsoft and Meta Platforms will testify next week at a U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on election threats.

Google parent Alphabet’s global affairs president Kent Walker, Meta’s global affairs president Nick Clegg, Microsoft President Brad Smith and a representative from Adobe will testify at the Sept. 18 hearing, a spokesperson from the office of Senator Mark Warner, who chairs the panel, confirmed.

U.S. officials have been attempting to crack down on efforts to spread disinformation and misinformation online surrounding the Nov. 5 election in which Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump will face off. Polls show a tight contest.

Previous U.S. intelligence assessments have said that Russia, Iran and China have tried to meddle in American elections, allegations which those nations deny. Those nations have alleged that Washington interferes in their domestic affairs, claims that the U.S. denies.

Frenchman on trial for rape of drugged wife is hospitalized, lawyer says

AVIGNON, France (Reuters) — A 71-year-old man on trial in France accused of drugging his wife and inviting dozens of strangers to rape her in their home was hospitalised on Tuesday for medical checks and treatment, his lawyer told journalists.

Dominique Pelicot, the main defendant in a trial that is set to run until December and has appalled France, had been due to testify later in the day but the presiding court judge ordered him to undergo medical tests first.

“Mr Pelicot is not trying to shirk his responsibility, he will not shirk his responsibility,” defence lawyer Beatrice Zavarro said, adding that her client started to show symptoms of what could be a bladder infection or colic on Friday.

Prosecutors said Pelicot offered sex with his wife on a website and filmed the abuse. Fifty other men accused, over the period of a decade, of raping her when she was knocked unconscious by the drugs are also on trial.

Zavarro has told French media Pelicot admits to his crimes. The other defendants were of all ages and walks of life, French media said.

They each face up to 20 years in jail if found guilty.

Delta plane hits tail of another aircraft at Atlanta airport

(TNS) — The wingtip of a Delta Air Lines jet struck the tail of a Delta commuter aircraft while taxiing at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Tuesday morning, causing severe damage to the smaller plane.

There were passengers on board both planes, but no injuries were reported as of around 2 p.m., according to Hartsfield-Jackson and Delta.

A Delta Airbus A350 was taxiing for departure at the Atlanta airport when its wingtip struck the tail of a Delta Connection regional jet, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The CRJ-900 was on an adjacent taxiway when it was hit by the A350. The collision damaged the wing of the A350 and the tail of the regional jet, according to Delta.

The FAA said it will investigate the incident, which occurred around 10:07 a.m.

Google, Apple face billions in penalties after losing EU appeals

LONDON (NYT) — The European Union’s highest court delivered the 27-nation bloc a major victory Tuesday in its yearslong campaign to regulate the technology industry, ruling against Apple and Google in two landmark legal cases.

The decisions, issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union, were seen as an important test of efforts in Europe to clamp down on the world’s largest technology companies. Apple and Google have been frequent targets for EU regulators, and the companies have battled the cases with appeals.

In the Apple case, the court sided with a European Union order from 2016 for Ireland to collect 13 billion euros, worth about $14.4 billion today, in unpaid taxes from the company. Regulators determined that Apple had struck illegal deals with the Irish government that allowed the company to pay virtually nothing in taxes on its European business in some years.

Apple won an earlier decision to strike down the order, a ruling that the European Commission, the European Union’s executive branch, appealed to the Court of Justice. As the case wound its way through the appeals process, the 13 billion euros were placed in an escrow account. The money will now be released to Ireland, a sizable injection to the country’s treasury.

Apple said the decision effectively allowed the European Union to impose an additional tax on company income that was already taxed in the United States.

Apple said in a regulatory filing Tuesday that it expected to record a one-time income-tax charge of nearly $10 billion in its fourth quarter, which ends Sept. 28.

In the Google case, the court agreed with the commission’s 2017 decision to fine the company 2.4 billion euros for giving preferential treatment in Google search results to its own price-comparison shopping service over rival offerings. Google lost an appeal in 2021.

Google said in a statement Tuesday that it was “disappointed” by the ruling but that it had already adjusted its products to comply with the 2017 decision. Some competitors have complained Google’s changes have not gone far enough.

Philippine president defends massive operation to arrest celebrity pastor

MANILA (Reuters) — Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr defended on Tuesday the deployment of 2,000 police officers at the weekend to arrest an influential pastor accused of sex trafficking who is a longtime friend of the country’s former president.

Police think Apollo Quiboloy, a self-proclaimed “owner of the universe” and “appointed son of god”, is hiding in a bunker at the sprawling compound owned by his church, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), in the southern city of Davao.

Quiboloy is wanted on charges of child and sexual abuse and related allegations of human trafficking. He denies wrongdoing.

Marcos said Saturday’s police deployment aimed at ensuring the area around the church premises was safe and secure.

“And considering that this is a 30-hectare (74-acre)compound, you really need plenty of people, not just a dozen police,” Marcos told reporters.

His remarks follow criticism over the handling of the case by former President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte.

Man accused of killing Ugandan Olympic runner in gasoline attack dies

(NYT) — The Ugandan man who was accused of killing Rebecca Cheptegei, his partner and Olympic long-distance runner, by dousing her with gasoline and setting her on fire, died Monday evening from burns he sustained in the same attack.

The man, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, 32, was pronounced dead at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, the same facility in Eldoret, Kenya, where Cheptegei died last week, according to a statement from the hospital. The hospital said that he had developed respiratory failure after sustaining severe airway burns.

Cheptegei, who finished 44th in the marathon at the Paris Olympics this summer, was in a relationship with Ndiema, and the pair had fought over an unknown matter, according to the Kenyan police. He entered her home in Kenya on Sept. 1, poured gasoline on her and set her on fire.

The fire burned most of her body, and she was hospitalized in critical condition before dying Thursday. Ndiema sustained burns on about 40% of his own body in the attack and was treated at the same hospital. The police, who were investigating the assault, had planned to charge him with murder if he recovered.