Apple Wins Samsung Patent Case In US

Apple has won the latest victory in a long and bitter global battle with Samsung over alleged patent infringement.

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) found Samsung was in violation of two patents and banned American imports of some of its devices.

However, the ban is currently on hold because US President Barack Obama has 60 days to review the decision and could veto it.

Just days ago, the Obama administration overturned an ITC ruling from June that would have banned the sales of some older iPhones and iPads in the US for violating Samsung patents.

Letting the ban on Samsung devices stand after having so recently intervened in the Apple case could spur allegations of favouritism towards the Californian company.

Samsung's Galaxy 4 (front) and Apple's iPhone 5

The South Korean firm was cleared of infringing four other patents involved in the dispute, which has deepened as competition between the two firms intensifies.

Apple claims Samsung's Android phones copy vital iPhone features but the rival has fought back with its own complaints.

It has recently cut into Apple's market share and is now the leading smartphone manufacturer, as well as having growing success with its Android tablet computers.

The legal cases typically involve older products that are no longer widely sold but a victory could affect future features and therefore slow down a rival's momentum.

Apple could also seek to ban imports of phones released since the case was filed in 2011.

The so-called 'Steve Jobs patent' was one of those upheld

Samsung spokesman Adam Yates said the company was disappointed but vowed it would continue to release new products.

He added that measures had been taken to ensure they would continue to be available in the US.

Apple said in a statement that the ITC "has joined courts around the world in Japan, Korea, Germany, Netherlands and California by standing up for innovation and rejecting Samsung's blatant copying of Apple's products."

It continued: "Protecting real innovation is what the patent system should be about."

The patents supported by the ITC ruling included the so-called "Steve Jobs patent" which relates to the use of touchscreens, and one covering the audio socket.

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Zimbabwe's Opposition Appeals Mugabe Poll Win

Zimbabwe's main opposition party has gone to the country's top court to challenge the result of last month's election which gave President Robert Mugabe another five years in power.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claims the poll on July 31 was a "farce" riddled with fraud and voters were allegedly intimidated by Mr Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.

Lawyers for the MDC have lodged papers with the constitutional court in the capital Harare arguing the result was rigged, should be annulled and a new election held.

Zimbabwe's electoral commission had declared veteran politician Mr Mugabe the winner with 61% of the votes in the presidential election, against MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai with 34%.

"We want a fresh election within 60 days. The prayer that we also seek is to declare the election null and void," MDC spokesman Douglas Mwonzora told journalists outside the court.

Morgan Tsvangirai served as Mr Mugabe's PM in a fractious unity government

Zimbabwe's constitution says the court must rule on the case within 14 days.

Most analysts believe the MDC's legal challenge to Mr Mugabe's victory will not be successful given ZANU-PF's dominance over the judiciary and state institutions in the country.

Mr Mugabe, who has been president since 1987, will be sworn in only after the case is decided.

ZANU-PF has denied any vote-rigging in the election, which Mr Tsvangirai, who has served as Mugabe's prime minister in a fractious unity government, has called a "coup by ballot".

Election observers from the African Union and the Southern African Development Community broadly approved the presidential and parliamentary elections as orderly and free.

But the vote result has been questioned by the West.

The United States, which maintains sanctions against Mr Mugabe, has said it does not believe his re-election was credible.

The European Union, which has been looking at easing sanctions, has also expressed concerns over alleged serious flaws in the vote.

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Mexico Drugs Boss Quintero Freed Over Blunder

US officials have expressed outrage after a Mexican drugs baron who ordered the killing of an American agent was released early from prison.

Caro Quintero was jailed for 40 years over the 1985 kidnapping - but he has walked free after 28 years because of a ruling that he was tried in the wrong kind of court.

The US Department of Justice said it found the decision "deeply troubling".

Mexico's relations with Washington were soured when Quintero, now in his 60s, ordered US Drugs Enforcement Agency agent Enrique Camarena kidnapped, tortured and killed.

The agent was snatched in Guadalajara, a major drug-trafficking centre at the time.

His body and that of his Mexican pilot were found a month later in shallow graves.

Quintero, who was apparently angry at Mr Camarena over a raid he sanctioned on a marijuana plantation, was eventually hunted down in Costa Rica.

High security at the Jalisco state prison where Quintero was held

His release was ordered after a decision that his trial had improperly taken place in a federal court.

He still faces charges in the US and is believed to have continued controlling the laundering of drug money from behind bars.

The Department of Justice said it continues to seek Quintero's extradition.

The Association of Former Federal Narcotics Agents in the US said it was "outraged" and it blamed corruption within Mexico's justice system for the early release.

It said: "The release of this violent butcher is but another example of how good faith efforts by the US to work with the Mexican government can be frustrated by those powerful dark forces that work in the shadows of the Mexican 'justice' system."

Quintero is considered the grandfather of Mexican drug trafficking.

He helped establish a powerful cartel based in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa that later split into some of Mexico's largest cartels, including the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels.

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Japan Floods: Five Killed In Severe Weather

At least five people have been killed in severe floods and mudslides that struck in northern Japan.

Torrential rain led to widespread flooding in the town of Yahaba, in the Iwate prefecture, with residents forced to wade through waterlogged streets.

Some 300 people were evacuated on Friday.

Buildings were damaged in storms and mudslides

In the city of Senboku, in Akita prefecture, officials said three people were found dead on Saturday after a mudslide crushed two houses.

Two people remained missing and a major search was under way.

In Hanamaki, a mudslide killed one person and another person was found dead in a river in the town of Nishiwaga.

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Chinese Human Trafficking Ring Bust In Europe

Spanish and French police have busted a human trafficking ring smuggling Chinese migrants into Europe and the US.

A total of 75 suspects, including two "main operatives" based in Barcelona, were arrested, the authorities said on Saturday.

Officers in Spain arrested 51 people and the other 24 were picked up in France, according to a police statement.

The string of arrests follows a two-year, joint investigation in the two countries.

Police said the traffickers charged 40-50,000 euros (£34-43,000) per person to provide "false identities and transport Chinese citizens to the United States and countries such as Spain, France, Greece, Italy, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Turkey".

Items including a handgun and fake passport paraphernalia were found

Spanish police seized 81 fake passports from Asian countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

They were found in two lodgings owned by the ring in Barcelona, whose airport was allegedly used as the gang's main European hub.

Some of the people trafficked ended up in the sex trade, Spain's Interior Ministry said.

The investigation into the trafficking ring, which police described as a "perfectly structured, hierarchical organisation", started in July 2011.

The "kingpin" remained in China and had independent cells working separately in different countries, according to the authorities.

A police officer holding cash discovered at the Barcelona property

The traffickers would accompany their clients to Spain, which served as a last stop or "trampoline" to the final destination - usually the UK or the US, they said.

Mainly from China and Malaysia, they were "thorough connoisseurs" of the European airports and cities along the route and had the "complete confidence" of the ringleaders.

They would return home as soon as they had completed each operation to make it harder to track them down.

Migrants were also given precise instructions on how to avoid detection at customs controls, for example by mixing in with a group of tourists.

Fake custom stamps were also taken from the safe house

The route from China was "changed constantly" according to how each trip unfolded to avoid discovery, the police statement said.

Once they arrived in Barcelona, they would be met by operatives and taken to safe houses before continuing their journeys.           

At the lodgings in the Spanish city, police found equipment for forging documents including portable computers, scanners, fake custom stamps and a magnifier.

A handgun, mobile phones and bundles of cash, both euros and yuan, were also seized in the operation.

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Volcano: Deaths As Indonesia's Rokatenda Blows

Lava spewing from a volcano killed six people sleeping in a beach village in Indonesia as hot ash and smoke shot up to 2,000m (6,560ft) in the air.

Mount Rokatenda, on Palue island, erupted early on Saturday, when more than 3,000 people were evacuated from the area.

The victims included three adults and two children who were swept away by lava, an official from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency said.

The age of the sixth casualty is unclear.

The children's bodies have not been recovered from Ponge beach, in Rokirole village.

Rokatenda has been rumbling since October 2012.

Indonesia sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire - the name given to a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines that leave the region prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.

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Politician Quits Race After Interview Gaffes

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

An Australian political candidate has quit after making a series of gaffes in a TV interview - including referring to Islam as "a country" and mistakenly calling the Koran "haram".

Stephanie Banister stepped down as candidate for the anti-immigration One Nation party after facing ridicule on social media and in the press.

The 27-year-old was running for the seat of Rankin, Queensland, but party leader Jim Savage said she decided to withdraw after "threats" amid the fallout from her blundering interview with Australia's Channel Seven.

During the interview, which Mr Savage says was misrepresentative, Ms Banister was asked about a new national disability insurance scheme.

She said it was "working at the moment", despite it not actually starting until 2016.

Ms Banister also made confused statements in the broadcast about Judaism, voicing her support for kosher foods for Jewish people.

"Jews aren't under haram. They have their own religion which follows Jesus Christ," she said of Judaism, which in fact sees Jesus as an ordinary man and not the messiah.

Party leader Jim Savage, right, kept Ms Banister quiet as she stepped down

Mr Savage said: "She continues to have the full support of the One Nation executive, and contrary to reports on the media last night and in the newspapers today, Stephanie has not been disendorsed and will not be disendorsed.

"However, due to the threats against Stephanie's family, herself, her children, the abuse she's copped and the enormous pressure she's been put under, Stephanie has decided she wants to withdraw from the candidacy for the seat of Rankin.

"We have accepted it with regret."

Ms Banister had only been in politics for 48 hours at the time of the interview and made a short statement alongside Mr Savage on Saturday, but she was not allowed to answer any questions.

"With the way Channel Seven edited my interview, I was left quite the fool," Ms Banister said.

"I'd like to apologise to One Nation, to my friends and family, for any embarrassment this has brought to them."

Mr Savage said it was his responsibility such a novice candidate had been allowed to conduct an interview without appropriate preparation but also claimed Channel Seven had unfairly targeted Ms Banister.

Ms Banister, who is facing criminal charges after allegedly placing anti-Muslim stickers such as "halal food funds terrorism" on supermarket products, said her words had been taken out of context.

She has been labelled "Australia's Sarah Palin", in a reference to TV interview gaffes made by the US vice-presidential candidate in 2008.

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Plane Crashes Into Homes: Six Feared Dead

Fire and rescue personnel surround the site of the crash

Up to six people are feared dead after a small plane crashed in the US and engulfed two houses in flames.

The multi-engine, propeller-driven plane struck the homes near Tweed New Haven Airport, in the town of East Haven, Connecticut, as it went in to land.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Robert Gretz said there were casualty reports of two or three people in the plane and two or three on the ground.

The plane may have been carrying two passengers, officials said

He said authorities were at the scene looking for victims.

Soon after the crash, officials had said at least three people were missing: the pilot and two children, aged one and 13, in one of the houses.

Governor Dannel Malloy later said the plane may also have been carrying two passengers but officials were still trying to verify whether that was true.

The plane was coming in to Tweed New Haven Airport

East Haven fire chief Douglas Jackson said: "We haven't recovered anybody at this point, and we presume there is going to be a very bad outcome."

He added: "There was an intense fire. There's heavy damage to both structures that were affected on both sides, the motor vehicle and then the aircraft involved."

A neighbour, David Esposito, said he heard a loud noise and then a thump. "No engine noise, nothing. A woman was screaming her kids were in there," he said.

The retired teacher said he ran into the upstairs of the house, where the woman believed her children were, and started frantically searching but could not find them.

Officials said they are predicting a "bad outcome"

He returned downstairs and kept looking but then had to drag the woman out when the flames became too strong.

Mr Gretz said: "The plane struck two houses. One of the houses was struck more severely and part of the plane is actually in the basement, and obviously some of the house is in the basement as well.

"The state police are working with the fire department to go through the house to look for victims.

"What I saw was that it (the plane) was inverted with the left wing in one house, the right wing in the other, and I would say probably about 50 to 60% of it was consumed by fire, mostly the forward portion, forward of the wings.

"I was able to identify the two wings and the tail from what I saw, and with the forward portion being more buried towards the basement of the house."

Mayor Joseph Maturo said the houses were still unstable and crews had not yet completed a full search.

The plane, a Rockwell International Turbo Commander 690B, flew out of Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and crashed at 11.25 am US time.

Tweed's airport manager, Lori Hoffman-Soares, said the pilot had been in communication with air traffic control and had not issued a distress call.

"All we know is that it missed the approach and continued on," she said.

East Haven, which has a population of 30,000, is 80 miles (130km) northeast of New York City, on Long Island Sound.

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Sicily: Six Migrants Drown Off Tourist Beach

Six migrants, among them a teenager, have died trying to swim to shore when their boat ran aground on a sandbar off Sicily.

The Italian coast guard said 100 migrants were on board when the boat became stranded 15 metres away from a popular tourist beach in Catania on Saturday.

Authorities were trying to identify the survivors, thought to be Syrians and Egyptians, after some swam to safety and others were rescued by the coast guard.

A three-year-old child suffering from dehydration and a pregnant woman have been taken to hospital.

It is rare for the often unseaworthy vessels of smugglers to aim for shores near cities.

Rescued immigrants wait to be identified

Coast Guard Captain Roberto D'Arrico said the 18-metre-long boat apparently made a navigational error while trying to reach secluded shores undetected.

"Most of the migrants jumped into the water" when they saw the coastline, he said.

The bodies of two of the dead migrants were found on the beach while "four other bodies were recovered" by rescuers around the boat, as they apparently did not know how to swim and drowned, authorities said.

Stunned holidaymakers were shocked at the sight of six body bags on the beach.

Dario Monteforte, owner of the Lido Verde which alerted authorities, told Sky TG24 television that he "saw a crowd of youths on the beach running toward the road".

"Something has to be done. This is really an unending tragedy," he said of the plight of thousands of clandestine migrants in rickety boats who seek to reach Italy each year.

According to Mr D'Arrigo, it was "totally unusual" for migrants to land on a beach in Catania as "normally they arrive further south in the region of Syracuse", or else at the extreme southern point of Sicily or the island of Lampedusa.

Another group of about 100 migrants, mostly Syrian families, were rescued overnight on Wednesday off the coast of Calabria on the Italian mainland.

The conflict in Syria has killed more than 100,000 people since it erupted in March 2011 and millions more have been displaced or fled the country, according to the United Nations.

Improved weather and calmer waters have seen a surge in boat people arrivals in Italy in recent days.

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Car Smashes Into Vehicle: Trio's Amazing Escape

Two men and a teenager had an amazing escape as they came within inches of being hit by a car that hurtled into their stationary vehicle.

The Cadillac was apparently going about 70mph as it smashed into the Ford Flex the trio had got out of only a split-second before.

They were walking alongside it when the Cadillac came from behind and sent the other car crashing into a wall - in an incident caught on CCTV.

Lucky escape for Daniel Archuleta

One of the men, Daniel Archuleta, said: "He must have been going about 70, easy. When I saw him walk out of that smoke, I was relieved. It's a miracle.

"I heard my car get hit and when I finally turned around, I was up against the wall … and hoping the car wasn't going to hit me."

Mr Archuleta claimed a female passenger in the Cadillac had said the male driver was trying to commit suicide when he sped up, jumped the curb and crashed deliberately.

Mr Archuleta told CBS he had given his friend Eddie Correa and his son Matthew a lift to a store to pick up Mr Correa's truck.

Mr Correa said he and his son were about 5ft from the car when they heard it accelerating behind them.

"All I did is yell at my neighbour to run," he added.

"It was like slow motion to me," said Mr Archuleta, "after that it was just a cloud of dust".

The driver of the Cadillac is recovering from his injuries in hospital.

His condition is unknown but police say when the man is released from the hospital they will interview him and determine whether he tried to commit suicide or whether he had a medical emergency.

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