Google and Apple, the two technology titans behind the world's top smartphone platforms, called a truce Friday in a long-running patent war.   "Apple and Google have agreed to dismiss all the current lawsuits that exist directly between the two companies," the companies said in a joint statement.   "Apple and Google have also agreed to work together in some areas of patent reform."   The companies made it clear that the detente does not include licensing their technology to each other.   Motorol

 Lao military plane carrying top officials including the defence minister crashed on Saturday in the north of the communist country, a Thai official said, without giving details of any casualties.   About 20 people were on board including Defence Minister Douangchay Phichit, the Vientiane governor and other prominent figures, foreign ministry spokesman Sek Wannamethee told AFP.   There was no immediate confirmation from Laos's secretive government.   The officials were believed to be travelling

A host of street rallies were scheduled to be held in downtown Seoul late Saturday in protest of the government's poor handling of the sinking of a ferry off South Korea's southwest coast one month ago.   A group of about 500 civic groups, including the Korean Federation of Trade Unions and People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, planned to hold a joint rally around Cheonggye Plaza, downtown Seoul, starting Saturday evening in memory of the more than 300 people killed in the deadly sink

Rescue divers brought out one more body early Saturday morning from a ferry that sank off South Korea's southwest coast last month, bringing the confirmed death toll to 285, government officials said.   The body of one man was retrieved in early morning search operations, according to the officials. The number of those who remain unaccounted for in one of the country's worst maritime disasters dropped to 19.   The 6,825-ton ferry Sewol carrying an estimated 476 passengers capsized and sank off t

A North Korean singer said to be leader Kim Jong-Un's ex-girlfriend and rumoured to have been executed last year has appeared on state television, apparently alive and well.   Pyongyang's state TV showed Hyon Song-Wol, the head of a band known as Moranbong, delivering a speech at a national art workers rally in Pyongyang on Friday.   She expressed gratitude for Kim's leadership and pledged to work harder to "stoke up the flame for art and creative work".   Her appearance came after months of spe

The vending machines at a Vancouver storefront look ordinary -- but instead of spitting out gum or snacks, for a few coins they deliver medical marijuana.   For Can$4 (US$3.70), the brightly lit "gumball" machine drops a plastic ball filled with the so-called "Cotton Candy" variety of the drug. The "Purple Kush" option costs Can$6.   But the really good stuff, said proprietor Chuck Varabioff, is "Pink Kush," available from another machine the size of a fridge that delivers a wide range of mariju

The South Korean stock market is expected to continue its climb next week on the back of a continued foreign buying, although its gains may be capped due to profit-taking, analysts said Saturday.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) finished at 2,013.44 points on Friday, up 2.9 percent from a week earlier.   The main index, backed by massive foreign buying, continued to gather ground through the week, reaching this year's all-time high on Friday.   Analysts said a series of