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Samsung Electronics cannot sell its new Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer in Germany after a court ruled Friday that its design “too closely” resembles Apple’s iPad2.

The ruling by a Duesseldorf state court, however, only applies to direct sales from the Seoul, South Korea-based company, meaning distributors who acquire the Galaxy Tab 10.1 from abroad could resell them in Germany.

Apple had taken Samsung to court over its Galaxy line, arguing their design is too close a copy of their own products.

Samsung said in a statement it will appeal the ruling, which it said “severely limits consumer choice in Germany.”

Already in August, the court ruled in favor of Apple, based in Cupertino, California, forcing Samsung to withdraw its tablet from the European market. It later determined the injunction only applied to sales in Germany, where it had not yet been launched faxless pay day loans.

“We also believe that by imposing an injunction based on this very generic design right, this ruling restricts design innovation and progress in the industry,” Samsung said.

Judge Johanna Brueckner-Hofmann said in her ruling that Samsung, “did not keep the necessary distance” in its design, the news agency dapd reported. Apple patented its design in 2004, and Brueckner-Hofmann cited products from Asus, Acer and Toshiba as examples of tablet computers that nonetheless have a clearly different design.

Apple and Samsung are involved in a series of legal disputes in countries around the world over allegations that each copies the other’s technology.

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It looks like the J.C. Penney catalog outlet store at Jamestown Mall may not be doomed after all, though everyone is being very hush-hush about it for now.

Sales associates said they have been told that plans are in the works for the store to be bought by another company, which would run the store by a similar name

Asian stock markets rose Monday after Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke’s prediction that the U.S. economy will eventually return to full health fueled gains on Wall Street.

Oil prices lingered above $85 a barrel in Asia after Hurricane Irene did little damage to refineries along the U.S. East Coast. The dollar was higher against the yen but lower against the euro.

Market optimism was fueled after a highly anticipated speech by Bernanke at a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. While he announced no new economic stimulus measures _ as some investors had hoped _ he did leave open the possibility of more action if another recession looks likely. He also emphasized the strengths of the U.S. economy and said the job market will recover in the long run.

“People came to realize that Bernanke is very confident about the economy,” said Jackson Wong, vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong. “People were reluctant to get into the market. Now they are jumping back in.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.6 percent to 8,846.32. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.9 percent to 4,277.70 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.5 percent to 19,879.51.

Hong Kong-listed Sinopec, Asia’s largest refiner by capacity, jumped 5.7 percent after announcing that first-half profit rose 12 percent as higher oil, gas and chemicals revenues helped offset a loss in its refining business. The results for the company, also known as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., were better than analysts had forecast.

South Korea’s Kopsi index jumped 2.8 percent to 1,829.09. Leading shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. soared 8.4 percent. Hynix Semiconductor, the world’s second-largest memory chip maker, jumped 7.5 percent on brighter chip price forecasts, Yonhap News agency said. Refinery SK Innovation rose 6.5 percent.

Gold-related shares rose after prices of the precious metal rebounded Friday after a volatile week instant payday loans. Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s largest gold miner, rose 2.1 percent. Hong Kong-listed Zijin, China’s top gold miner, was 1.7 percent higher. Hong Kong jewelry chain Chow Sang Sang Holdings gained 6.4 percent.

Other Australian metals shares rose on the back of higher commodities prices. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, rose 1.7 percent. Rio Tinto Ltd. gained 2.4 percent.

Mainland Chinese shares dipped, however, amid reports that the central bank is considering further increases to banks’ required reserves. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5 percent to 1,163.99 and the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index was 1.1 percent down to 2,584.40.

On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.2 percent to close at 11,284.54. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.5 percent to 1,176.80. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 2.5 percent to 2,479.85.

The Fed has said it plans to keep short-term interest rates low until mid-2013. Low rates on investments like bonds make higher-risk bets such as stocks more attractive.

The U.S. economy is still hobbled by a depressed housing market, high oil prices and fears that the European debt crisis will deteriorate into a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.

Benchmark oil for October delivery was up 18 cents to $85.55 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude rose 7 cents to settle at $85.37 on Friday.

In London, Brent crude for October delivery was down 33 cents at $111.10 on the ICE Futures exchange.

In currencies, the euro was up at $1.4497 from $1.4484 in late trading in New York. The dollar rose to 76.73 yen from 76.66 yen.

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NEW YORK, N.Y.

Rupert Murdoch’s car was mobbed by photographers Tuesday as he arrived for a grilling from U.K. lawmakers about the phone hacking scandal that has swept from his media empire through the London police and even to the prime minister’s office.

Murdoch, his son James and the media mogul’s former U.K. newspaper chief Rebekah Brooks were all to be questioned at the hotly anticipated hearing. But the elder Murdoch’s Range Rover was surrounded as he arrived at the Houses of Parliament three hours early, and it quickly drove off.

Politicians will be seeking more details about the scale of criminality at Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid, while the Murdochs will try to avoid incriminating themselves or doing more harm to their business without misleading Parliament, which is a crime.

Lawmakers are also holding a separate hearing to question London police about reports that officers took bribes from journalists to provide inside information for tabloid scoops and to ask why the force decided to shut down an earlier phone hacking probe after charging only two people.

Detectives reopened the case earlier this year and are looking at a potential 3,700 victims.

London’s Metropolitan Police force said Tuesday it had asked watchdog to investigate its head of public affairs over the scandal _ the fifth senior police official being investigated. The Independent Police Complaints Commission will look at Dick Fedorcio’s role in hiring a former News of the World executive as an adviser to the police.

Fedorcio also was to be questioned by lawmakers Tuesday, along with police chief Paul Stephenson and assistant commissioner John Yates, who both resigned over allegations of too-close ties to Murdoch journalists.

Stephenson began his testimony with a defense of his record, saying he resigned because the stories and allegations were becoming a distraction from his job.

But it was the appearance by the Murdochs and Brooks that was drawing huge public interest.

Members of the public and journalists lined up hours ahead of time in hope of a spot in the small committee room, which holds about 40 people. More will be able to watch in an overspill room, and Britain’s TV news channels are anticipating high ratings for the appearance.

Prime Minister David Cameron cut short a visit to Africa and is expected to return to Britain for an emergency session Wednesday of Parliament on the scandal.

In a further twist, a former News of the World reporter Sean Hoare, who helped blow the whistle on the scandal, was found dead Monday in his home. Police said the death was “unexplained” but is not being treated as suspicious. A post-mortem was being conducted Tuesday. Hoare was in his late forties.

In addition, Brooks’ spokesman, David Wilson, said police had been handed a bag containing a laptop and papers that belong to her husband, former racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks. Wilson said the bag did not contain anything related to the phone hacking scandal and he expected police to return it soon.

The bag was found dumped in an underground parking lot near the couple’s home on Monday, but it was unclear how exactly it got there. Wilson said Tuesday that a friend of Charlie Brooks had meant to drop the bag off, but he would say only he left it in the “wrong place.”

Murdoch shut down the News of the World tabloid that Brooks once edited after it was accused of hacking into the voice mail of celebrities, politicians, other journalists and even murder victims fast payday loan no faxing. Still, the closure has done little to end a string of revelations about the murky ties between British politics and the country’s tabloid media.

The scandal has prompted the resignation and subsequent arrest of Brooks and the resignation of Wall Street Journal publisher Les Hinton, sunk Murdoch’s dream of taking full control of lucrative satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting and raised questions about his ability to keep control of his global media empire.

Rupert Murdoch is eager to stop the crisis from spreading to the United States, where many of his most lucrative assets _ including the Fox TV network, 20th Century Fox film studio, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post _ are based.

In New York, News Corp. appointed commercial lawyer Anthony Grabiner to run its Management and Standards Committee, which will deal with the scandal. But News Corp. board member Thomas Perkins told The Associated Press that the 80-year-old Murdoch has the full support of the company’s board of directors, and it was not considering elevating Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey to replace Murdoch as CEO of News Corp.

News Corp.’s widely traded Class A shares fell 68 cents to $14.97 Monday _ down 17 percent since the scandal reignited on July 4.

Britain’s Independent Police Complaints Commission also is looking into the phone hacking and police bribery claims, including one that Yates inappropriately helped get a job for the daughter of a former News of the World executive editor, Neil Wallis. Wallis, who was hired as a PR consultant to the police, has been arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications.

London police also confirmed that they once employed a second former News of the World employee besides Wallis. Alex Marunchak had been employed as a Ukrainian language interpreter with access to highly sensitive police information between 1980 and 2000, the Metropolitan Police said.

The police force said it recognized “that this may cause concern and that some professions may be incompatible with the role of an interpreter,” adding that the matter will be looked into.

Meanwhile, Internet hackers took aim at Murdoch late Monday, defacing the sites of his other U.K. tabloid, The Sun, and shutting down website of The Times of London. Visitors to The Sun website were redirected to a page featuring a story saying Murdoch’s dead body had been found in his garden.

Internet hacking collective Lulz Security took responsibility for that hacking attack via Twitter, calling it a successful part of “Murdoch Meltdown Monday.”

Lulz Security, which has previously claimed hacks on major entertainment companies, FBI partner organizations and the CIA, hinted that more was yet to come, saying “This is only the beginning.”

It later took credit for shutting down News International’s corporate website. Another hacking collective known as Anonymous claimed the cyberattack on The Times’ website.

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Danica Kirka and Bob Barr contributed to this report.

Meera Selva can be reached at http://twitter.com/Meera_Selva.

Jill Lawless can be reached at http://twitter.com/JillLawless

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The state of Montana has cut its ties to a joint Exxon Mobil-government command post overseeing an oil spill along the Yellowstone river, after the state’s Democratic governor said the group was defying state open government laws by denying public access.

The move underscores mounting tensions between the state and the world’s largest energy company over its handling of pipeline rupture that spewed tens of thousands of gallons of oil into the scenic river.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer was to travel to Billings Friday to announce the opening of an alternate state-run oil spill coordination center.

Exxon Mobil security workers have closely guarded access to the command post on the second floor of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Billings, where the EPA and other federal agencies also are stationed. Attempts by The Associated Press to talk to government officials there have been denied.

“The state will no longer have a presence at the Crowne Plaza because Exxon Mobil tells us they can’t respect the open government laws we have in Montana,” Schweitzer told The Associated Press. “I can’t allow state employees to be in meetings at the Crowne Plaza talking about this cleanup without having it open.”

Schweitzer said the move would not impede the state’s ability to respond to the spill.

Exxon Mobil spokesman Alan Jeffers said the company was not in charge of the command post, a joint operation led by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“We do not run the unified command. We are providing security services for the unified command, just like we are providing cleanup serves for the unified command,” he said.

EPA spokesman Matthew Allen said in an email to the AP that the agency was still directing the cleanup and would continue “to work hand-in-hand with the state of Montana, other federal agencies, and local government to ensure the spill is cleaned up and the environment restored.”

“We’ve committed to the governor and the people of Montana that we’re staying until the job is done and we stand by that commitment,” Allen said.

Indoor air, cropland soils and residential wells downstream of July 1 oil spill will be tested for contamination after residents raised concerns about hazards from the tens of thousands of gallons of crude that poured into the watercourse, the Environmental Protection Agency.

EPA and local officials said they do not expect to find significant health dangers but were acting as a precaution. Some residents in oil-stained areas have complained of nausea, dizziness and shortness of breath that have lingered for days.

An estimated 1,000 barrels of oil, or 42,000 gallons, have fouled areas along the scenic Yellowstone since Friday after a 12-inch pipeline operated by Exxon Mobil Corp. broke near the south-central Montana town of Laurel.

George Nilson, 69, of Billings, said the fumes from oil that washed into his neighbor’s property have been overwhelming.

“I’ve been in it for five days now, and the only way I can breathe is to have all the windows open,” he said.

Contractors for the EPA and Exxon Mobil were to collect air samples beginning Thursday or Friday, and the results would take about a week, said EPA on-scene coordinator Steve Merritt. Twelve homes would be tested initially, with possibly more to follow.

Crude oil contains dangerous chemicals including benzene and hydrogen sulfide. But officials said much of those substances would have evaporated quickly after the initial spill, meaning the long-term health risk is low.

Air sampling along the river has not detected either of the chemicals, and water sampling shows no petroleum hydrocarbons that exceed drinking water standards, the EPA said in a written statement late Thursday guaranteed online personal loans.

“The air is not inundated with these potentially harmful chemicals,” said Yellowstone County Health Officer John Felton. “We can smell things that are no longer creating the same level of hazard.”

Soil from agricultural areas and water from hundreds or residential wells also will be tested in coming days, Merritt said. Exxon Mobil’s contractors will collect duplicate samples so their results can be verified by government scientists, he said.

Authorities in Yellowstone County said they would ease travel restrictions along a road near the spill site after some area residents and members of the media complained about a lack of access.

Those restrictions at times have been enforced by private security contractors working for Exxon Mobil, who turned away reporters or blocked them from areas where cleanup work was going on.

“We have been frustrated since the spill took place because we’ve burned up time waiting for Exxon officials or other authorities to respond to our request for information and access,” said Steve Prosinski, editor of the Billings Gazette. “We realize cleanup is their primary focus but they have a responsibility through us to communicate how the cleanup is going.”

Yellowstone County Sheriff John Linder said his deputies were working in conjunction with the company but had not ceded any authority to it. Linder said the restrictions were meant to protect public safety.

“They’re not calling the shots down there as far as access,” Linder said of Exxon Mobil. “They’ll let us know when there is a safe time or not a safe time. We’re working together, is what we’re doing. If it’s a safety issue, we will address it. If it’s not, we will work with them to make sure everybody has access.”

Jeffers said the company was trying to be transparent and has worked over the week to improve media access to cleanup areas.

Federal regulators have ordered Exxon Mobil to make safety improvements before re-starting the 20-year-old pipeline, including re-burying the line as much as 25 to 30 feet deep to protect against external damage and assess risk where it crosses a waterway.

There is still no definitive word on how far downriver the spill could spread.

There have been confirmed reports of oil as far as 80 miles downstream, although most is concentrated in the first 30 miles, according to the EPA. Allen said the agency didn’t expect to find much more oil beyond the 80 mile mark, aside from “small, isolated quantities.”

An estimated 350 federal and Exxon Mobil contractors were cleaning contaminated areas of riverbank by Thursday, said Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. President Gary Pruessing.

“It’s not soiled everywhere but there are pockets of it,” Pruessing said. “It’s going to take a while as we try to get our hands around where the contamination is and then clean it up.”

The cause of the July 1 pipeline rupture remains under investigation.

The Department of Transportation had stated in documents released earlier this week that the company reported on June 1 that the line was buried under “at least 12 feet of cover” where it crosses the river near Laurel.

Exxon Mobil disputed the claim, and a DOT spokesman on Thursday clarified the 12-foot figure as applying only to the section of pipeline beneath the bank of the river.

The depth of the section beneath the central portion of the riverbed was measured by the company in December at 5 to 8 feet. Determining its depth when the pipe failed will be part of the federal investigation into the spill.

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Asian stock markets swung back and forth Wednesday as investors proceeded cautiously following a weak performance on Wall Street and a downgrade of Portugal’s debt rating.

Oil rose above $97 a barrel while the dollar weakened against the yen and euro.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.5 percent to 10,018.55 _ above the psychologically important 10,000 mark for the second time this week _ while South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.1 percent to 2,164.59 after being in the red early in the day.

Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore and Australia were modestly higher while those in New Zealand and Indonesia were lower.

“Overnight positive market sentiment faded away on renewed concern over eurozone peripheral debt crisis,” strategists at Credit Agricole CIB wrote in a research report.

Eurozone retail sales and U.S. factory orders were slightly lower than expected and “we expect that there will not be a great shift in sentiment ahead” of a meeting by the European Central Bank on Thursday and U.S. jobs data on Friday, the report said. The central bank is expected to raise its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point for the second time since April.

Meanwhile, credit ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Portugal’s government debt to “junk” status after trading closed in Europe on Tuesday. The agency cited concerns that the country will not be able to meet targets to reduce its deficit due to the “formidable challenges” it is facing in cutting spending.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.4 percent to 22,657.74 while the Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.8 percent to 2,794.05.

Shares in Hong Kong were lower for a second day following a report by Moody’s Investors Service that said local government debt in China was bigger than estimated by Beijing.

Bank shares were also hit after news reports said Singapore’s state-owned investment company, Temasek, was dumping its shares of Bank of China and China Construction Bank. Bank of China fell 3.4 percent while Construction Bank fell 3 percent.

In the U.S., major stock indexes were mixed Tuesday but dipped after the Moody’s report on Portugal came out.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.1 percent to close at 12,569.87. The Dow had risen as much as 19 points in morning trading after the Commerce Department reported an increase in orders for manufactured goods.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.1 percent to 1,337.88. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.3 percent to 2,825.77.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.4450 against the dollar from $1.4410 late Tuesday. The dollar fell to 80.85 Japanese yen from 81.04.

Oil prices rose to above $97 a barrel in Asia on investor optimism that strong crude demand from developing countries will offset weaker consumption growth in rich nations.

Benchmark oil for August delivery was up 54 cents to $97.43 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude gained $1.95 to settle at $96.89 on Monday.

In London, Brent crude for August delivery was up 23 cents to $113.84 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

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Turkey froze Libya’s holdings in a Turkish bank on Monday, a day after it recognized Libya’s rebel leaders as the country’s legitimate representatives and quietly removed its ambassador from Tripoli.

Turkey’s banking regulatory fund said it was temporarily controlling Libyan Foreign Bank’s 62 percent stake in Turkey’s Arap Turk Bankasi A.S. in line with U.N. Security Council decisions to freeze Libya’s foreign assets.

Turkey on Sunday also formally withdrew its ambassador in Tripoli, according to the Official Gazette, an official record of government decisions. Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said the ambassador has been reassigned a post in Ankara and it was not known when a new ambassador for Libya would be named.

Turkey had already removed its staff from the embassy for security reasons in May.

Turkey initially balked at the idea of military action in Libya and Turkish companies were involved in Libyan construction projects worth billions of dollars before the outbreak of an anti-Gadhafi uprising in February. But, the regional power has increasingly broken ties with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and as a NATO member, Turkey is supporting the alliance’s airstrikes against targets linked to his regime instant payday loan.

Turkey has repeatedly called on Gadhafi to give up power to allow the transition to a more democratic government. Last month, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had offered Gadhafi guarantees in return for him leaving Libya but had not received a response.

Since the beginning of the uprising in Libya, the European Union has frozen the accounts of the country’s state-controlled companies and investment funds, as well as those of key members of the Libyan regime. EU states also said they would not provide the Gadhafi regime with any new funding by buying up oil and gas from the country.

On Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu visited the Libyan rebel’s stronghold of Benghazi, recognized the rebel’s National Transitional Council as Libya’s representatives, and promised an additional $200 million in aid.

Turkey joins several other countries, including France, Qatar and Italy, in officially recognizing the rebels.

The rebels control Libya’s eastern third, but Gadhafi clings to power in the west where he has been unable to crush pockets of resistance.

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The Dow Jones industrial average is closing below 12,000 for the first time since March.

Fears that the economic recovery has stalled weighed on markets Friday and drove the stock market lower for its sixth straight week.

The Dow fell 172 points, or 1.4 percent, to close at 11,952.

The S&P 500 index fell 18, or 1.4 percent, to 1,271. The Nasdaq dropped 41, or 1.5 percent, to 2,644. The Nasdaq has now given up all its gains for the year business card design. The Dow is still up 3.2 percent for 2011 and the S&P 1.1 percent.

The losses were broad, with declines across all 10 of the S&P 500’s industry groups.

Four stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume was 3.9 billion shares.

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The State Department shot down a report Thursday that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been in discussions with the White House about heading the World Bank.

“The story is completely untrue,” Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines said in the United Arab Emirates, where Clinton was involved in international talks on Libya.

He said Clinton has not had any conversations with President Barack Obama, the White House “or anyone else about moving to the World Bank. She has expressed absolutely no interest in the job. She would not take it if offered.”

Reuters, citing sources familiar with the discussions, said her discussions involved leaving the State Department next year to lead the World Bank.

The current bank president is Robert Zoellick, whose term does not end until 2012.

The bank declined to comment Thursday.

But at a news conference Wednesday in Olso, Norway, Zoellick was asked whether it’s right that an American should lead the institution.

Clinton has said she doesn’t want to stay in her job if Obama wins a second term in 2012.

The nation’s top diplomat also has said she neither has plans for a second White House bid nor interest in other posts, such as vice president or defense secretary.

“I am doing what I want to do right now and I have no intention or any idea even of running again,” she told CNN in March. “I’m going to do the best I can at this job for the next two years.”

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