The European Commission's investigation is the latest installment in the ongoing conflict between the two companies. In June Apple filed suit [JURIST report] in the Seoul Central District Court against the "Galaxy" line. In April, Apple also filed a similar suit against Samsung [JURIST report] in the US. Samsung countered [JURIST report] by filing patent infringement suits against Apple in three different countries, alleging that Apple had infringed its technology related to energy consumption and preventing data transmission errors. Though competitors, Samsung and Apple rely on each in business. Apple is the largest buyer of computer and phone chips, while Samsung is the world's largest manufacturer of those chips. In fact, after Apple's initial lawsuit against Samsung, Apple indicated a willingness to continue working with Samsung [Bangkok Post report] as a partner.

Iran has been heavily criticized for its alleged human rights abuses. Jailed Iranian journalist Isa Saharkhiz [Iran Press profile] in July urged [letter, DOC, in Persian] UN Special Rapporteur on Iran Ahmed Shaheed to investigate prison conditions in Iran [JURIST report]. In May, rights groups decried Iran's persecution of lawyers [JURIST report]. In January, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran claimed that Iran is on an "execution binge" [JURIST report], killing one prisoner every eight hours. In January, prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was sentenced to 11 years in prison [JURIST report]. Sotoudeh was found guilty of "acting against national security" and "making propaganda against the system" for which she will serve five and one years, respectively. She was the lawyer for Arash Rahmanipour, who was arrested for his role in the post-election protests on charges of moharebeh, or being an enemy of God. Rahmanipour was executed [JURIST report] in January 2010. Also in January, Iranian chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi delivered a speech at Tehran University indicating that he would prosecute opposition leaders [JURIST report] for political unrest that took place after the country's 2009 presidential election [JURIST news archive].

Human Rights Watch urges the new Sata government to adopt the necessary measures to enforce Zambia's labor laws, and to ensure its laws conform with international standards. To begin, Human Rights Watch recommends that the government work to improve mine safety by ensuring there is sufficient staffing and equipment at the Mines Safety Department (MSD). Many inspectors have left their posts to pursue employment in the private sector, where remunerations are higher, and a government imposed hiring freeze has crippled the body's effectiveness.

China has faced criticism from various rights groups for human rights violations. On Tuesday, UN experts expressed concerns [JURIST report] over human rights restrictions on Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in China's Sichuan province. In October, three human rights groups on called for the release [JURIST report] of Nobel peace Laureate Liu Xiaobo [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], imprisoned on an 11-year sentence [JURIST report] in China for "inciting subversion of state power" and dissidence. Amnesty International, HRW and Chinese Human Rights Defenders released simultaneous press briefings urging freedom for Liu, and his wife Liu Xia, who remains under house arrest. In July, Senior Researcher in the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch, Phelim Kine, argue that in order for the Chinese government to legitimately address human rights concerns, it must acknowledge the shortcomings of previous efforts and ensure that government officials and security forces follow and enforce human rights protections [JURIST comment].

Cubans have not had the right to buy and sell houses since 1959 when former president Fidel Castro took over. President Raul Castro promised in May [NYT report] that this right would come by the end of the year. The new law is expected to help boost the Cuban economy [NYT report], along with other regulations promised by Raul Castro, such as more flexibility in car sales and emigration. Raul Castro insisted in a report [text] to the Cuban Congress in April these changes are not moves toward capitalism, but simply restructuring of the socialist system that will allow the state to spend more resources on administering social services and less on regulating business.

Tymoshenko was convicted [JURIST report] in October of abusing her power when she signed a gas agreement with Russia that was alleged to have violated Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Her prosecution has been highly controversial [JURIST comment] and has draw harsh criticisms from all over the world. The EU has condemned [JURIST report] her conviction as politically motivated and has indicated that it could harm Ukraine's bid for EU accession. In June, Tymoshenko filed a complaint [JURIST report] with the European Court of Human Rights alleging violations of the European Convention of Human Rights [text, PDF]. The complaint argued that the charges against Tymoshenko are politically engineered by current Ukrainian President Yanukovych. Tymoshenko's government was dissolved in March 2010 after she narrowly lost the presidential election to Yanukovych. Tymoshenko had alleged that widespread voter fraud allowed Yanukovych to win the election.

The ministry's offer comes after Syrian protesters have long endured harsh treatment from authorities. In August, Amnesty International [advocacy website] reported that 88 Syrians were killed [JURIST report] while in custody as a result of their protest, and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights [official website] has reported on several occasions that Syrian forces may be committing crimes against humanity [JURIST report]. This is also not Syria's first attempt to quell the uprising with the promise of amnesty. Last June, al-Assad granted amnesty [JURIST report] for crimes committed during protests before June 20, but added that serious offenses and private prosecutions were not included in the pardon. Prior to that, the president also attempted to grant amnesty to political prisoners [JURIST report], including those of the previously banned Muslim Brotherhood [party website], but was overturned by opposition leaders.

Ohio is currently under an unofficial death penalty moratorium [AP report] as the federal courts consider the constitutionality of the state's death penalty procedure. In December 2010, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected a challenge [JURIST report] to the lethal injection method of execution and indicated that they would not hear further cases regarding lethal injection until the Ohio General Assembly [official website] explicitly expanded state review of death penalty cases. In November 2009, Ohio adopted a single-drug lethal injection protocol [JURIST report], replacing the previously used three-drug method. The single-drug lethal injection method has faced numerous challenges, with one case reaching the US Supreme Court [official website]. In March 2010, the Supreme Court refused [JURIST report] to stay the execution of an Ohio inmate challenging the state's single-drug execution protocol. Ohio conducted its first execution [JURIST report] using the new procedure in December 2009. The change in procedure came after the state undertook a review [JURIST report] of its lethal injection practices in September 2009, following the planned execution of inmate Romell Broom failed when a suitable vein for the drugs' administration could not be found.

Earlier this week, the ICTB ordered the prosecution to submit formal charges [JURIST report] against four leaders of Jamaat e Islam (JI) who are suspected of war crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War [GlobalSecurity backgrounders] against Pakistan. Also this week, the ICTB delayed [JURIST report] the start of its first war crimes trial. The ICTB was slated to hear arguments in the case of Delwar Hossain Sayedee, leader of JI. Sayedee's lawyer asked the tribunal to review the charges against his client. The tribunal accepted 20 of 31 charges including allegations of aiding Pakistani soldiers, committing murder and rape, torching villages, looting and forcibly converting Hindus to Islam. Sayedee has denied the charges. The trial is scheduled to resume on November 20. In July, Bangladeshi prosecutors filed the underlying war crime charges [JURIST reports] in the ICTB against Sayedee.

In May, the Court of Appeal for Ontario [official website] upheld a decision [JURIST report] to halt extradition proceedings for Abdullah Khadr. According to the appeals court, a Toronto judge was right to release Abdullah Khadr [JURIST report] last summer because extraditing him to the US would be tantamount to ignoring that he was allegedly subjected to torture in Pakistan at the behest of the US. Abdullah Khadr was detained by Canadian law enforcement in summer 2005 on the basis of a US warrant. In February 2006, the US government formally requested his extradition [JURIST report] from Canada. He was indicted [JURIST report] in 2006 by a US federal grand jury on four counts connected to his alleged procurement of destructive devices to be used against US forces in Afghanistan in 2003 and faces a possible life sentence and a USD $1,000,000 fine.