BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive arm said Friday it's prepared to defend a 120 million euro ($137 million) fine against the social media platform X after the U.S. government threw its support behind a legal effort by Elon Musk this week to have the case dismissed.
The European Commission fined X late last year for breaches of the bloc’s landmark digital regulations, stoking tensions with Washington.
The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday that it had filed an application to support X's bid to have the case annulled at the European Union's General Court. It was the second time in three months that the Justice Department has intervened to defend a company owned by Musk.
In July, the Justice Department filed a motion to intervene in a civil rights lawsuit that alleges Musk’s xAI is illegally running dozens of natural gas turbines to power a $20 billion AI data center in Mississippi.
In that case, the NAACP and other groups said xAI failed to get a permit for its power plant — which is located near homes, schools and churches — creating health risks for families in North Mississippi and nearby Memphis and violating the federal Clean Air Act.
Trump and the world's richest businessman appeared to dial down a war of words that stunned Washington and Wall Street alike last year after Musk called Trump's tax breaks and spending cuts a “disgusting abomination.”
Musk on Thursday evening attended a state dinner held by Trump honoring China’s leader Xi Jinping, along with other tech titans.
The EU fine against X, which followed a two-year investigation, was the first penalty issued under the bloc's digital regulations governing online content. Regulators said X’s blue checkmarks broke the rules because they involved“deceptive design practices” and could expose users to scams and manipulation.
European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said Friday that it is the EU’s “sovereign right” to draft legislation aimed at protecting its citizens.
“We are enforcing our legislation objectively, transparently and with a solid case,” he told reporters. “We are ready to defend our position in court. We have a lot of evidence at our disposal, and it will be for the court to decide as always.”
The commission is the top enforcer of the 27-nation EU's Digital Services Act, which requires tech companies to clean up their online platforms under threat of hefty financial penalties.
But the rulebook has become a flashpoint with the Trump administration, and U.S. officials have criticized it as amounting to online censorship.
The Justice Department warned that the fine, if upheld, “may have significant implications” for U.S. online platforms and other companies providing digital services in the EU.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said in Thursday's statement that the "European Commission inappropriately attempted to expand its regulatory authority to reach American companies not present or operating within its jurisdiction,”
“We will not tolerate the European Commission engaging in regulatory overreach to try and control American engines of innovation and economic growth,” he said.
When asked whether the Justice Department had informed the commission that it intended to back Musk, Regnier said: “We do not need to be informed about anything.”
He said the commission doesn't expect the case to hurt broader relations between Brussels and Washington, notably in talks to mitigate the damage of Trump administration tariffs.
“From our perspective, nothing will change because of a DSA case,” he said.
AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan contributed to this report from London.
This version corrects the day Regnier spoke to Friday instead of Thursday.
Elon Musk toasts first lady Melania Trump during a State Dinner with President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping in the East Room at the White House, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Saudi Arabia's top cleric has issued a rare statement, calling on the kingdom's troops to defend the country from neighboring Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Yemen is deteriorating as fighting escalates, further straining the country's overstretched health sector.
In New York, the wars in Iran and Gaza have dominated the agenda at the U.N. General Assembly, where the leaders of Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt were scheduled to address the United Nations later Friday.
Here is a look at the latest news from the Middle East. More coverage of the U.N. General Assembly is available here.
With Saudi oil facilities, cities and ships off its coast coming under escalating attacks, the kingdom's top religious authority has called on soldiers to be prepared to defend the country from Iran-backed Houthis.
Grand Mufti Sheikh Saleh al-Fawzan, who traditionally avoids weighing in on politics in a country that holds enormous influence among Muslims worldwide, issued the strongly worded statement. Al-Fawzan addressed his message to soldiers defending the kingdom's borders and members of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen, peppering it with Quranic verses and religious edicts.
“Protecting this great nation, guarding its borders, defending against aggression and punishing those who want to harm any inch of it is one of the greatest duties,” he said in the statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency on Thursday.
Israel’s military said two of its soldiers were killed in northern Gaza on Thursday while inspecting an unexploded Israeli drone near a military post. They were the first Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza in months.
The drone exploded as the soldiers, Ofek Moalem and Nadav Kali, approached it, the military said Friday. They were evacuated to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead. The incident is under investigation.
Five other Israeli soldiers have been killed since last October’s ceasefire that attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and the militant Hamas group.
While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the ceasefire has seen almost daily Israeli fire. Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones and have killed 1,408 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
UNICEF says at least 15 children have been killed in fighting between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Saudi-led coalition forces.
The agency’s representative in Yemen, Akhil Iyer, said Friday at least 14 other children were wounded in the past three weeks amid an uptick in fighting.
The conflict is also causing more children to go hungry, Iyer said, in a country where at least 2.2 million children under five were already projected to suffer from acute malnutrition before the escalation of violence.
The human toll of renewed hostilities in Yemen has stretched beyond the battlefield, overwhelming a health system already battered by years of war.
More than 130,000 people have fled their homes as fighting escalates between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces. Fewer than 10% of health centers in affected areas are equipped to provide the care that wounded people need, according to the World Health Organization. Years of war have left hospitals with little capacity.
The U.N. agency for Palestinians has met behind the scenes with officials from the U.S.-created Board of Peace, though the board has declared that the agency — known as UNRWA — will have no role in a future Gaza.
Publicly, UNRWA has not been included in the board's planning for the territory's postwar future. But Philippe Lazzarini, the U.N. agency’s last chief, told The Associated Press that members of a Palestinian technocratic committee are clear they want to work with the agency.
“They know that if you get completely rid of the agency today, it might have a further ... devastating impact on the population,” Lazzarini said.
The dynamic underscores how central UNRWA remains to addressing Gaza’s humanitarian crisis during the fragile ceasefire, even as Israel has sought to marginalize it. Israel alleges the agency has been infiltrated by Hamas militants, claims the International Court of Justice says have not been substantiated.
Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian discussed efforts to de-escalate regional tensions with Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as the country's prime minister.
The talks took place on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, according to an X post Friday by the Qatari foreign ministry. Qatar has often acted as an intermediary between the U.S. and Iran.
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
A young man holds a Saudi flag while standing through the sunroof of a vehicle during celebrations marking Saudi Arabia's 96th National Day in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Baraa Anwer)
Palestinians walk amid war-damaged buildings in Gaza City, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
This image taken from undated video released by the Ansar Allah Media Office, the media arm of Yemen's Houthi rebels, on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, shows, according to the group, Houthi fighters firing rifles during clashes with Saudi-backed forces at an undisclosed location in Yemen. (Ansar Allah Media Office via AP)
Men perform the traditional Saudi sword dance known as the ardah during celebrations marking Saudi Arabia's 96th National Day in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Baraa Anwer)
