Samsung is asking courts in both Japan and Australia to block sales of Apple's new iPhone 4S in their respective countries as a part of an ongoing patent battle between the two companies. The preliminary injunctions were filed in Tokyo District Court and the Federal Court in Australia on Monday.

Samsung claims that Apple continues to violate its patent rights and "free ride on our technology."

Meanwhile, Samsung is also appealing a ruling in Australian court last week to temporarily ban sales of the Samsung Galaxy tablet computer. In this instance, Apple accused Samsung of copying the iPad and iPhone, as well as violating Apple patents.

Andy Whitfield, the 39-year-old star of the cable television series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand", passed away on Sunday of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in Sydney, Australia.

In a statement, Whitfield's wife Vashti called him a "beautiful young warrior" who died on a "sunny Sydney morning" in the "arms of his loving wife."

Whitfield was a virtual unknown when he was cast as the title hero in the original series for Starz network, which made waves due to its graphic sexuality and violence. The actor, who was born in Wales and lived in Australia, was preparing for the show's second season when he was diagnosed 18 months ago.

Starz announced in January that another Australian actor, Liam McIntyre, would take over Whitfield's role.

Lady Gaga is so weird that we've kinda just gotten used to it. Nothing she does really shocks us anymore. Gaga, perhaps sensing that her weirdness has become normal, decided to really make her fans drop their jaws at her concert in Sydney on Wednesday by coming on stage in a wheelchair.

The move did not go over well with those in attendance. After her performance, while leaving a Sydney club, Gaga and her entourage were egged by fans who thought her disability routine was offensive rather than outrageous. Gaga herself wasn't directly hit by an egg, but her group was, and you can be sure that they were aiming for her, even if they did miss.

It's not the first time that Gaga has addressed disabilities or used a wheelchair. During the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards she hired an able-bodied dancer for her Paparazzi routine, but the catch was he would be performing in a wheelchair. Gaga also rolled out in a wheelchair in her Paparazzi video, after having been pushed over a railing by her on-screen boyfriend Alexander Skarsgard.

What do you think - was it harmlessly outrageous or highly offensive?

70 million combatants participated in World War I, and now the last known survivor of that war serving in a combat capacity, a British sailor who witnessed the surrender of the German fleet in 1918, has died at the age of 110.

Claude Choules, born in Pershore, England, died in his sleep at a nursing home in Perth, Australia, on Thursday. Earlier this year after the death of U.S. veteran Frank Buckles, who was also 110, Choules was declared the last-known WWI combatant.

Now, the only remaining World War I veteran is 110-year-old Florence Green, who served in a non-combat role with the British Royal Air Force.

Pope Benedict XVI has fired an outspoken Australian bishop that called on the Church to ordain women and married men. In a statement issued on Monday, the Vatican said that the pope had "removed from pastoral care" Bishop William Morris of the Toowoomba diocese, west of Brisbane.

It's a stronger move than typical of the Vatican, which general asks church leaders to resign, and then later announces that the pope has accepted their resignations.

According to Australian media, Morris recently published an open letter in which he said he was being removed for a 2006 message to the faithful in which he argued that a shortage of priests should force the church to consider ordaining both married men and women. He said that the letter prompted some complaints to Rome, which then led to a Vatican investigation. The Australian newspaper says that Morris indicated that he had never written a letter of resignation.

Benedict and his predecessor, John Paul II, has vehemently upheld the Catholic teaching that only celibate men can be ordained in the Roman Catholic Church. However, married men in the Latin rite church who are loyal to the church can become priests. The Vatican has also welcomed married Anglican priests in recent years who have converted Roman Catholicism.

The price of sugar hit a 30-year high on Wall Street on Wednesday as Cyclone Yasi headed towards Queensland, Australia. Global commodities were pushed to record highs and will inflict a heavy toll on the global economy and the state of Queensland.

Analysts warned that half of Queenslands sugar crop this year could be destroyed by th cyclone, driving the price to a record high. Other commodities affected by the cyclone include copper and tin, which also reached new highs.

London-based mining company Xstrata said that it was evacuating its copper refining and port operations in Townsville in northern Queensland. Railways and ports used to export sugar, copper and other commodities like coal could be out of commission for months.

Queensland is amongst the world's top three sugar cane exporters and ships about one-tenth of the global exports. One-third of the state's crop lies directly in the path of Yasi, and the industry group Queensland Canegrowers estimates that losses from the cyclone could top $500 million. It would be another brutal blow to the industry, which has already been severely affected by the worst floods in decades.

Staff have been evacuated, but it will still be days before the full extent of the damage to the sugar crop is known.

Australian officials warned Tuesday of a "monster" storm bearing down on northeastern portion of the country that they say is almost certain to cause widespread damage. Officials warn that it could turn deadly in a state that is still dealing with the effects of massive flooding that occurred in recent weeks.

A long stretch of Queensland state's tropical coast was evacuated with the help of the military as Cyclone Yasi made its way closer to landfall. Residents in Cairns, a popular tourist area, were told to evacuate by Tuesday night. Cairns airport was scheduled to close down on Wednesday in the wake of the cyclone.

Cyclone Yasi was foreasted to hit the coast late Wednesday or early Thursday, bringing along with it wind gusts of around 155mph. Up to three feet of rain could fall on some coastal communities, and Yasi is expected to have a storm front of more than 310 miles wide. The sea is expected to surge at least 6.5 feet and flood significant parts of Cairns Because the storm is so large and powerful, it could reach far inland before it significantly loses power.

An Australian couple is currently fighting for the right to have sex selective IVF. Having lost their only daughter, they would like to conceive another little girl. They've already aborted twin male fetuses conceived through IVF. An independent bioethics panel, however, has rejected their request.

In Australia, as it is in many other countries besides the US, sex selection in IVF is only permitted to prevent genetic diseases or abnormalities.

The couple already has three boys, which were conceived naturally. Their daughter died as an infant. The woman, who is unnamed, admits that she has become obsessed with having another little girl. It's apparently become such an obsession that it is vital to her psychological health.

Their next step in their fight is a hearing before the Victorian Civl and Administrative Tribunal in March.

The reason such restrictions on geneder selection have been put in place in many parts of the world is because of the fear that couples would abort children simply based on their sex. Especially in places like China that have the one child per couple rule. Males are more desirable in China, and sex selection would make it even more likely that girls would be born in much fewer numbers.

The 7.1-magnitude earthquake that shook up the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, not only smashed buildings, cracked roads and twisted rail lines, but it also ripped a new fault line in the earth's surface.

The quake destroyed at least 500 buildings when it rattled the South Island city at 4:35am. Fortunately, in the city of 400,000, only two serious injuries were reported, and most other buildings suffered only minor damage.

The city escaped further devastation partially because the earthquake happened before dawn. If it had happened just a few hours earlier or later, when many more people would be in the city, things could have been much worse in terms of injuries and fatalities.

The earthquake cut off power in the region, blocked roads with debris, and disrupted gas and water supplies. By Sunday, power was restored to 90 percent of the city, and water was back on for all but about 15 to 20 percent of the city.

Mark Quigley, a geology professor at Canterbury University, said that what "looks to us that it could be a new fault" had ripped across the the ground and pushed up some surfac areas. He also said that it was caused by the ongoing collision of the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates.

He added: