INTERNATIONAL

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• European rights court to make final decision on Semenya

  Caster Semenya's costly legal marathon enters its last lap as the highest chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Wednesday begins a hearing into whether the double Olympic champion can be required to lower her testosterone levels to compete. Semenya, the Olympic 800m champion in 2012 and 2016 and world gold medallist in 2009, 2011 and 2017, is barred from competing at her favoured two-lap distance and was forced to make an unsuccessful move up to 5,000m, a distance which World Athletics opted not to include in its rule.

  

• UK watchdog likely to clear Pennon-SES deal

  UK's competition watchdog said on Tuesday it might accept Pennon Group's solutions to address its concerns over the water utility's purchase of Sutton and East Surrey (SES) Water, paving way for it to potentially clear the deal.

  

• Joe Biden signs bill banning US imports of Russian uranium

  US President Joe Biden signed into law a bill that will prohibit US imports of unirradiated low-enriched uranium from Russia.

  

• Dutch fine Fortnite maker for 'pressuring' kids with ads

  Dutch authorities slapped a 1.1-million-euro fine on Fortnite maker Epic Games on Tuesday, judging that vulnerable children were exploited and pressured into making purchases in the game's Item Shop. The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) hit Epic Games with two separate fines totalling the equivalent of $1.2 million, after finding that underage gamers "could experience pressure in several ways to make purchases."

  

• X wins court reprieve in battle over extreme Australian content

  A bid by Australia's online watchdog to impose a global ban on dozens of violent X posts stumbled on Monday, when a top judge ruled in favour of the social media firm. The case is being seen as an important test of the social media platform's legal responsibilities and of the use of geoblocking.

  

• Musk's X Corp loses lawsuit against Israeli data-scraping company

  A U.S. judge dismissed a lawsuit in which Elon Musk's X Corp accused an Israeli data-scraping company of illegally copying and selling content, and selling tools that let others copy and sell content, from the social media platform.

  

• Microsoft hit with $242 million US verdict in Cortana patent lawsuit

  Microsoft must pay patent owner IPA Technologies $242 million, a federal jury in Delaware said on Friday after determining that Microsoft's Cortana virtual-assistant software infringed an IPA patent.

  

• Nepal court orders limit on Everest climbing permits

  Nepal's Supreme Court has ordered the government to limit the number of mountaineering permits issued for Everest and other peaks, a lawyer confirmed Friday, just as expeditions prepare for the spring climbing season.that the court had responded to public concerns about Nepal's mountains and its environment.

  

• US says Israel's use of weapons may have violated international law

  The Biden administration on Friday said Israel's use of U.S.-supplied weapons may have violated international humanitarian law during its military operation in Gaza, in its strongest criticism to date of Israel.

  

• South Africa asks World Court for more measures in Israel genocide case

  South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order additional emergency measures against Israel over its attacks on Rafah in the Gaza Strip, the U.N.'s top court said on Friday.

  

• U.S. bill to restrict WuXi AppTec, other Chinese biotech cos revised to give more time to cut ties

  A new version of a bill that would restrict U.S. business with China's WuXi AppTec, BGI and other biotechnology companies of concern would allow companies until 2032 to end work with the Chinese firms, extending the amount of time to find new partners.