Bill Gates to testify in congressional panel’s Epstein investigation
WASHINGTON, June 10: Bill Gates will appear Wednesday before a congressional panel investigating the Jeffrey Epstein files, becoming the latest powerful figure linked to the disgraced financier to testify. Members of the House Oversight Committee are slated to interview the billionaire Microsoft co-founder behind closed doors, as they have done with other witnesses in the investigation. Transcripts are often released later. Republican US Rep James Comer, the committee chairman, formally requested that Gates testify after he appeared multiple times in a trove of documents released by the Justice Department as part of its Epstein probe. The files read like a who’s who of powerful men across tech, finance, politics and other industries. All have denied involvement in Epstein’s crimes, but some maintained or formed friendships with him even after his history of sexual abuse came to light. Included in the files are calendar entries for meetings between Gates and Epstein, email correspondence between the two about philanthropic projects and photos of Gates at events that Epstein also attended. (PTI)
Attackers kill 12, leave 9 injured in late-night attack in South Africa
Johannesburg, June 10: A group of armed attackers drove into a poor neighbourhood in South Africa’s biggest city, got out of a minivan and opened fire at residents in a late-night attack in Johannesburg that killed 12 people and wounded at least nine, police said Wednesday. The attack unfolded late on Tuesday night in an informal settlement in the city’s Cleveland suburb, police said, adding that there were at least 10 suspected attackers who later fled the scene. Johannesburg has long been the scene of organised crime gangs vying for control of illegal mining or other activities, though police said the motive of the latest shooting was still under investigation. (PTI)
