Kodak sues Apple and RIM over iPhone and Blackberry

Camera maker Kodak has said it will sue Apple and Research In Motion (RIM), the makers of the iPhone and Blackberry, over technology used in their handsets.

Kodak has filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC).

It alleges the iPhone and Blackberry use technology for previewing pictures that infringe Kodak patents.

It has also filed two separate suits against Apple that claim infringements of patents relating to digital cameras and certain computer processes.

Kodak has asked the ITC to bar both firms from shipping the phones and has asked for undisclosed monetary damages.

RIM and Apple declined to comment.

Legal scrutiny

"We've had discussions for years with both companies in an attempt to resolve this issue amicably, and we have not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement," said Laura Quatela, chief intellectual property officer at Kodak.

"In light of that, we are taking this action to ensure that we protect the interests of our shareholders and the existing licensees of our technology."

The patent for Kodak's picture previewing technology has already been the subject of one dispute.

On 17 December 2009, an ITC judge ruled that camera-enabled phones made by Samsung infringed upon the Kodak patent.

The separate filing against Apple has also been scrutinised in court in a case against Sun Microsystems.

In that case, a federal jury determined that Sun's Java programming technology had infringed Kodak's patents. Sun later agreed to pay Kodak in return for a license for the patents at issue.

Apple is currently in the middle of a legal dispute with phone giant Nokia.

In October, Nokia alleged that the iPhone infringed 10 of its "fundamental" patents relating to wireless technologies.

Apple countered with its own lawsuit in December, accusing Nokia of copying its technology.

Since then Nokia has complained to the ITC and launched a further legal action that alleges "virtually all" of Apple's products infringe on its patents.

US pilot admits being over alcohol limit

A US pilot has pleaded guilty to being over the alcohol limit as he prepared to take off from Heathrow Airport.

Erwin Washington, 51, from Lakewood, Colorado, was arrested in November last year on a flight that was due to leave Heathrow Airport.

A breath test showed Washington was more than three times the permitted limit to fly a plane.

The United Airlines pilot will be sentenced on 5 February, Uxbridge Magistrates' Court ruled.

Flight cancelled

Washington was due to captain a Boeing 767 bound for Chicago with 124 passengers and 11 crew members on board on 9 November last year.

The plane's departure was imminent when a colleague smelled alcohol on his breath. Police arrived and arrested him.

The flight was subsequently cancelled and passengers were put on other planes.

Kevin Christie, prosecuting, said: "Mr Washington was arrested as it was believed he had reported for work and had intended to fly the aircraft in the role of captain."

The court heard that on his arrest Washington, who has a military record, replied: "Okay, fine."

A breath test recorded a reading of 31 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, with the legal limit being nine micrograms.

A blood test revealed 50 milligrams of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The limit for pilots is 20 milligrams of alcohol, compared to the legal limit of 80 milligrams for motorists.

Defending, Chris Humphreys said Washington was "remorseful".

Legislation regarding aviation staff over the legal limit for flying has only been used seven times since it was introduced in 2003, Mr Humphreys said.

He added: "There are, thankfully, very few cases of this sort."

Magistrates' chairman Geoff Edwards said their powers were insufficient to sentence Washington, who will instead be sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court in February.

Magistrates could have imposed a maximum £5,000 fine, a Crown Prosecution spokesman said.

But at crown court, Washington could be jailed for a maximum of two years and given a fine, or solely face a fine.

The pilot was released on unconditional bail.

Man arrested over missing Degas

Police have arrested a man over the theft of an artwork by the Impressionist artist Edgar Degas from a museum in Marseilles.

A judicial official said "an employee of the museum, a night watchman" had been arrested on Thursday.

A security guard noticed Les Choristes (The Chorus) - on loan from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris - was missing from the city's Cantini Museum on 31 December.

Public prosecutor Jacques Dallest said there were no signs of a break-in.

A colourful depiction of a group of male singers performing on stage, France's national museum service valued the pastel artwork at £710,000.

The diminutive work - measuring just 32 by 27 centimetres (13 by 10 inches) - formed part of an exhibition featuring some 20 works by the 19th century artist.

The exhibition was due to come an end on 3 January before touring Italy and Canada.

Earlier this year, Degas' bronze sculpture of a young female dancer sold at auction in London for £13.3m.

US radio star Rush Limbaugh's health scare over

Right-wing US talk show host Rush Limbaugh says tests taken after he was admitted to hospital with chest pains showed nothing wrong with his heart.

Mr Limbaugh said he was being released from the Queen's Medical Center, in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he had been since Wednesday.

He said he did not know what had caused the chest pains.

Mr Limbaugh, 58, is highly influential in the US and his radio show is one of the most popular in the country.

It is broadcast on some 600 stations across the country and heard by more than 14 million people every week.

Earlier, standing in on Mr Limbaugh's radio show, guest host Walter E Williams had described the radio star's pains as similar to the feeling of a "heart attack coming on".

But doctors said Mr Limbaugh had not had a heart attack and did not suffer from heart disease, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Mr Limbaugh is in Hawaii on holiday.

Irish bishop Donal Murray resigns over abuse report

An Irish bishop has resigned, weeks after his handling of child sex abuse allegations was severely criticised.

A report on abuse by priests in the Dublin Archdiocese found Donal Murray's handling of one case while an auxiliary bishop in the 1980s was "inexcusable".

The Vatican said the Pope had accepted his resignation as bishop of Limerick.

Dr Murray said: "I know full well my resignation cannot undo the pain that survivors of abuse have suffered in the past and continue to suffer each day."

The Murphy report into abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese from 1975 to 2004 was highly critical of the Catholic church hierarchy's handling of priests suspected of being child abusers.

The report said many bishops were more concerned with preserving the reputation of the church rather than protecting children.

It found that during Dr Murray's time as an auxiliary bishop in Dublin from 1982 to 1996, he was dismissive of complaints about a priest who went on to abuse again.

Dr Murray said on Thursday he had taken time to study the report in full before deciding to resign.

"I humbly apologise once again to all who were abused as little children," he said.

"To all survivors of abuse, I repeat that my primary concern is to assist in every way that I can on their journey towards finding closure and serenity.

"I asked the Holy Father to allow me to resign and to appoint a new bishop to the diocese because I believe that my presence will create difficulties for some of the survivors who must have first place in our thoughts and prayers."

Dr Murray held talks about his future with the Pope in the Vatican last week.

He said Pope Benedict had accepted his resignation on Monday but agreed that Dr Murray should return to Limerick to allow him to be in his diocese when the announcement was made.

'Inexcusable'

The Murphy report said Bishop Murray did not deal properly with the suspicions and concerns that were expressed to him in relation to one priest, Fr Tom Naughton in 1983.

A short time later, factual evidence of Naughton's abusing emerged in another parish.

The Murphy report found Bishop Murray's failure to reinvestigate the earlier suspicions was "inexcusable".

In May 1998, Naughton pleaded guilty to six counts of indecently assaulting three boys in 1985 and 1986. He was jailed for three years, reduced on appeal to two-and-a-half years.

On Wednesday, Naughton was jailed again - this time for three years for sexually abusing an altar boy between 1982 and 1984.