Tribes Biscuits

The lead attorney for the group of Apple Inc device assemblers seeking at least $9 billion in damages from Qualcomm Inc said on Sunday the contract manufacturers are not in settlement talks with the mobile chip supplier and are "gearing up and heading toward the trial" in April. The conflict is but one aspect of the global legal battle between regulators, Apple and Qualcomm, which supplies modem chips that help phones connect to wireless data networks. Last week, Qualcomm secured a preliminary victory in a patent lawsuit in China that would have banned sales of some Apple iPhones there.

Ottawa's ambassador to Beijing has met with the second Canadian detained in China on suspicion of threatening national security, Canada's foreign ministry said Sunday. The ministry said Ambassador John McCallum had met with Michael Spavor, a business consultant, two days after meeting with another detained Canadian, Michael Kovrig, a think tank employee. "Canadian consular officials continue to provide consular services to him and his family and will continue to seek further access to Mr Spavor," the ministry said.

BHP will issue a special dividend for shareholders after selling its US shale assets, the miner said Monday as it completed a US$7.3 billion stock buyback. The world's biggest miner recently sold its US shale oil and gas operations to British giant BP for US$10.5 billion, and said it would return the funds to shareholders. The special dividend of US$1.02 a share will be paid out in mid-January.

Two beagle mixes are recovering after authorities said they were tossed from a