Nokia and Apple settle patent dispute

Nokia and Apple have agreed a technology licensing agreement that ends the long-running legal dispute between the two firms.

"The agreement will result in settlement of all patent litigation between the companies," Nokia said.

Nokia sued Apple for patent infringements in 2009 and extended the action in December last year.

Apple had countersued, accusing Nokia of infringing its patents.

Nokia said Apple had agreed a one-off payment, the value of which was not disclosed, and ongoing royalties to use its technologies.

Apple said the deal covered both companies' patents.

Counter claims

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What this story really shows once again is how one phone, the iPhone, has proved the undoing of a company whose dominance seemed unassailable just four years ago”

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Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent, BBC News

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• Read Rory's blog in full

"We are very pleased to have Apple join the growing number of Nokia licensees," said Nokia's chief executive Stephen Elop.

"This settlement demonstrates Nokia's industry-leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market."

Apple said the two firms had agreed to "drop all of our current lawsuits and enter into a licence covering some of each other's patents, but not the majority of the innovations that make the iPhone unique".

"We're glad to put this behind us and get back to focusing on our respective businesses."

'Positive news'

Nokia's various claims against Apple included alleged patent infringements of touch interfaces, caller ID, display illumination, and 3G and wi-fi technology.

Apple had also claimed that Nokia had infringed many of its patents.

Both sides had always denied each other's claims.

"This is the first positive news from Nokia for a long time. They can both focus on their businesses now, and the dispute was settled to Nokia's advantage," said Mikael Rautanen at research group Inderes in Helsinki.

At the end of last month, Nokia said it expected sales and profit margins for the current quarter to be well below its previous forecasts.

The company has been struggling to reposition itself in the rapidly-growing smartphone sector, where it is trying to make up ground lost to competitors such as Apple's iPhone and phones using Google's Android operating system.

Antigua Mullanys murder: Couple were both shot in head

Ben and Catherine Mullany were on the last day of their Caribbean honeymoon when they were shot

A honeymoon couple murdered in Antigua both died from gunshot wounds to the head, a trial on the island has heard.

Catherine and Ben Mullany, both 31, from Pontardawe, Swansea, were attacked in the Caribbean in July 2008.

Doctor Derek James, senior forensic pathology lecturer at Cardiff University, gave evidence that both were shot in the back of their heads.

Avie Howell, 20, and Kaniel Martin, 23, deny the murders, and the murder of a local shopkeeper. The trial continues.

The couple were on the last day of their honeymoon when they were shot.

Mrs Mullany, a doctor, died at the scene while her husband, who was a physiotherapy student, was flown back to Britain for treatment but was pronounced dead a week later at Morriston Hospital in Swansea.

The court heard Dr James conducted post-mortem examinations on the couple on 5 August, 2008.

A security guard who was on duty at the Cocos Hotel and Resort has previously told the trial it is possible he may have napped on shift on the night the Mullanys were killed.

Drop in sexually transmitted diseases in England

By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News

For the first time in over a decade there has been a drop in the number of new sexually transmitted infections in England, figures show.

The Health Protection Agency says although the reduction is small - only 1% down from the 424,782 cases diagnosed in 2009 - it is significant and a step in the right direction.

It says increased screening for diseases like chlamydia has helped.

For the first time rates of this disease show no rise and remain stable.

There were 189,612 newly diagnosed cases of chlamydia last year.

At the same time, 2.2 million chlamydia tests were carried out in England among young people aged 15 to 24, an increase of 196,500 from the previous year.

Diagnoses of genital warts went down by 3% to 75,615 new diagnoses in 2010 and syphilis was down 8% to 2,624.

But other sex diseases continued to rise. Gonorrhoea went up by 3% from 15,978 diagnoses in 2009 to 16,531 in 2010. And genital herpes increased by 8% from 27,564 to 29,703.

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STI trends

• Chlamydia stabilised at 189,612 in 2010
• Genital warts down 3% to 75,615 in 2010
• Syphilis down 8% to 2,624 in 2010
• Gonorrhoea up 3% to 16,531 in 2010
• Genital herpes up 8% to 29,703 in 2010

Young people under the age of 25 remain the group experiencing the highest rates of STIs overall.

Dr Gwenda Hughes, head of the HPA's STI section, says the encouraging decreases "do not mean we can rest on our laurels".

"It is particularly encouraging to see a decline in some STIs among young people. However, these latest figures show that the impact of STI diagnoses is still unacceptably high in this group.

Condoms 'still safest'

"Studies suggest that those who become infected may be more likely to have unsafe sex or lack the skills and confidence to negotiate safer sex.

"Prevention efforts, such as greater STI screening coverage and easier access to sexual health services, should be sustained and continue to focus on groups at highest risk."

To reduce the risk of STIs, experts advise using a condom when having sex with a new partner and continuing to do so until both parties have been screened.

And sexually active under-25-year-olds should be tested for chlamydia every year, or sooner if they change their partner.

Hugh Hefner's Playmate fiancee calls off wedding

The wedding of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner to his 25-year-old girlfriend has been called off, following her change of heart, Mr Hefner announced.

Mr Hefner was to marry Crystal Harris, who was featured in the magazine as Playmate of the Month in December 2009, on Saturday.

The 85-year-old has been married twice before, in 1949 and 1989.

On her website, Ms Harris wrote that she had taken the decision "after much deep reflection and thought".

Privacy plea

"I have decided to end my engagement with Hef," she wrote.

"I have the utmost respect for Hef and wish him the best going forward. I hope the media will give each of us the privacy we deserve during this time."

On his Twitter feed, Mr Hefner wrote: "The wedding is off. Crystal has had a change of heart."

The pair were to be wed this Saturday, 18 June, with a video of the ceremony to be broadcast next month.

New Che Guevara diary published in Cuba

A previously unpublished diary by the Argentine-born revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara has been unveiled in Cuba.

His widow, Aleida March, said she had decided to publish the writings unedited.

She said she wanted readers to get to know Che Guevara just as he was.

Diary of a Combatant covers his three-year guerrilla campaign which resulted in the overthrow of then-president Gen Fulgencio Batista and brought Fidel Castro to power.

The publishers said Che Guevara, a doctor by training, had terrible handwriting and it had taken them unusually long to decipher it.

The diary covers the period from the landing on Cuban shores of the revolutionaries on board the yacht Granma on 2 December 1956 to 1 January 1959, when they ousted Gen Batista.

The diary shed light on "Che Guevara's impressions of Cuba, its culture, identity and political context", according to the publishers.

Che Guevara's other writings have done well in the past.

The diary of his guerrilla campaign in Bolivia, where he was captured and executed in 1967, sold extremely well when it was released in 1968. It has been re-printed many times.

The Motorcycle Diaries, his memoir of a road trip through Latin America when he was 23 years old, also did well commercially and was turned into a successful film.

New Che Guevara diary published in Cuba

A previously unpublished diary by the Argentine-born revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara has been unveiled in Cuba.

His widow, Aleida March, said she had decided to publish the writings unedited.

She said she wanted readers to get to know Che Guevara just as he was.

Diary of a Combatant covers his three-year guerrilla campaign which resulted in the overthrow of then-president Gen Fulgencio Batista and brought Fidel Castro to power.

The publishers said Che Guevara, a doctor by training, had terrible handwriting and it had taken them unusually long to decipher it.

The diary covers the period from the landing on Cuban shores of the revolutionaries on board the yacht Granma on 2 December 1956 to 1 January 1959, when they ousted Gen Batista.

The diary shed light on "Che Guevara's impressions of Cuba, its culture, identity and political context", according to the publishers.

Che Guevara's other writings have done well in the past.

The diary of his guerrilla campaign in Bolivia, where he was captured and executed in 1967, sold extremely well when it was released in 1968. It has been re-printed many times.

The Motorcycle Diaries, his memoir of a road trip through Latin America when he was 23 years old, also did well commercially and was turned into a successful film.

Brazil: Another Amazon anti-logging activist killed

Another land campaigner in Brazil's Amazon region has been shot dead, bringing the number of activists killed over the past month to at least five.

The body of Obede Loyla Sousa was found in dense forest surrounding his home in the northern state of Para.

The 31-year-old had argued with illegal loggers in the area, according to a church group.

His killing comes just weeks after four other activists were murdered in Para and Rondonia state.

In the wake of those murders, the Brazilian authorities promised to offer increased protection to campaigners in the Amazon region.

Police believe Mr Loyla was killed on Thursday, but news of his death was only confirmed on Tuesday.

He was a leader of landless peasants in the Pacaja region in the northern state of Para.

The Catholic Church's Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) said Mr Loyla had received death threats after a run-in with loggers, who were reportedly cutting down chestnut trees illegally.

Local residents told the CPT they had seen four people in a pick-up truck drive to the camp where Mr Loyola lived.

Forensic tests showed he was killed by a shot to his head.