- Charges against Sean 'Diddy' Combs to be revealed following arrest
- Israel widens focus of war to include Lebanon front
- 'I am a rapist,' says Frenchman in mass rape trial
- Myanmar villagers battle to save rice crop as flood death toll jumps to 226
- Trump returns to campaign trail after weekend assassination scare
- Indian state reopens schools, restores internet after ethnic clashes
- Young Equatorial Guineans yearn for the American dream
- Man City brace for Inter reunion as Akanji fears 'tough' schedule
- Uganda's 'singing fools' use satire to attack government
- Champions League finalists Dortmund ambitious after 'alpha' rebuild
- Coal phase-out fuels far right in rural eastern Germany
- More than 95,000 Japanese aged over 100, most of them women
- 'Crushed and downtrodden': Azerbaijan's COP29 crackdown
- Meta bans Russian state media outlets for 'interference'
- Von der Leyen set to reveal EU's new top line-up
- Climate finance: what you need to know ahead of COP29
- Azerbaijan says 'God-given' oil and gas will help it go green
- Most Asian markets up ahead of Fed but Tokyo hit by strong yen
- Chinese appliance maker Midea soars in Hong Kong after US$4 bn IPO
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs arrested amid assault lawsuits
- Japanese players in vogue as English clubs widen horizons
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs arrested amid lawsuits
- Buoyant Bangladesh seek more history in India Test series
- Boeing, union to resume talks as strike quiets Seattle plants
- UN General Assembly to debate call for end to Israeli occupation
- 'Virus hunters' track threats to head off next pandemic
- Firefighters battling flames around Brazil's capital
- Myanmar flooding death toll jumps to 226
- Peruvian police seize 1.3 tons of shark fins
- Town at center of US migrant conspiracies hit with 33 bomb threats
- Emmy ratings pick up with historic 'Shogun' wins
- Washington, Madrid, Prague seek information on nationals held in Venezuela
- US Secret Service insists Trump well-protected despite second scare
- Pakistani pleads not guilty in alleged Iran plot to kill US official
- Drug-resistant superbugs projected to kill 39 million by 2050
- London Fashion Week: Burberry gives the trench coat a streetwear edge
- US woman died after abortion ban delayed her medical care: report
- Chiles' attorneys file Swiss appeal to overturn Olympic medal agony
- Intel delays Germany, Poland chip factories for two years
- Brady's Birmingham beat Reynolds' Wrexham in 'Hollywood derby'
- UN chief condemns 'collective punishment' of Palestinians
- Chiefs running back Pacheco suffers leg fracture: team
- Ronaldo misses Al Nassr draw in Asian Champions League opener
- Murdoch media empire succession drama plays out in US tribunal
- Players ignored in loaded football season, says Liverpool's Alisson
- Philippines says disputed reef 'not lost' to China despite pullout
- England's Curry 'curled up and cried' after serious injury
- TikTok battles US ban threat in court
- Glamorgan approach Hollywood's Reynolds and McElhenney over Hundred investment
- League Cup still 'significant' for Man Utd boss Ten Hag
D-Day for Apple, Google as EU court to rule on major cases
A top EU court will rule on Tuesday in a 13-billion-euro tax case involving Apple and Ireland, and could also deliver a victory for Brussels by upholding a multi-billion-euro fine against Google, in two eagerly awaited decisions.
The rulings will be a huge test for the bloc's outgoing competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, who has suffered a series of setbacks in EU courts against her decisions.
The final decisions are expected to be published after 0730 GMT.
One of the most bitter legal battles between the European Commission and big tech, the Apple case dates back to 2016 when the EU's executive arm claimed Ireland allowed the iPhone maker to avoid billions of euros in taxes.
It had been one of several investigations in the previous decade into sweetheart tax arrangements between major companies and several EU countries.
The iPhone maker gained the upper hand in the long-running Ireland case in 2020, when the EU's General Court annulled the order for Apple to pay the taxes owed -- a decision Brussels appealed.
But Apple was dealt a blow in November last year when the top legal adviser of the higher European Court of Justice recommended scrapping that decision, saying it was peppered with legal errors.
The Luxembourg-based ECJ's judges must now decide whether to throw the case back to the lower EU court -- which could later force Apple to pay the 13 billion euros.
The EU will hope the decision goes its way as Brussels has faced difficulty defending its tax enforcement moves in recent years, with previous cases lost against Amazon and Starbucks.
- Google's vice tightening -
The commission will also hope for a definitive victory on Tuesday in the Google case, with expectations the court will uphold a 2.4-billion-euro ($2.6-billion) fine after a top adviser recommended such a move in January.
Although such advisory opinions are not binding, they do carry weight and are often followed by EU judges in their rulings.
The EU levied the fine in 2017 after finding that Google abused its dominant position by favouring its own Google Shopping service in results from its search engine.
It was not Google's only fine. The company was hit with record fines worth around eight billion euros for violating EU competition rules between 2017 and 2019.
Google faces yet another test next week when the top EU court will decide on the smallest of those fines, worth around 1.49 billion euros.
The legal headaches for Google are mounting across the Atlantic as well.
A trial began on Monday in the United States where the government accuses Google of dominating online advertising and stifling competition.
It comes after a US judge ruled last month that Google maintained a monopoly with its search engine.
Google's so-called ad tech -- the system that decides which online adverts people see and how much they cost -- is an area of particular concern for regulators worldwide.
Brussels in a preliminary finding last year accused Google of abusing its dominance of the online ad market and recommended the US company sell part of its ad services to ensure fair competition. Google had the right to respond and the probe remains open.
Separately, Britain's competition watchdog on Friday concluded Google employs "anti-competitive practices" with regards to online advertising after a two-year investigation.
G.Schulte--BTB