Report: Death rates from cancer still inching down

WASHINGTON (AP) — Death rates from cancer are continuing to inch down, researchers reported Monday.

Now the question is how to hold onto those gains, and do even better, even as the population gets older and fatter, both risks for developing cancer.

"There has been clear progress," said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society, which compiled the annual cancer report with government and cancer advocacy groups.

But bad diets, lack of physical activity and obesity together wield "incredible forces against this decline in mortality," Brawley said. He warned that over the next decade, that trio could surpass tobacco as the leading cause of cancer in the U.S.

Overall, deaths from cancer began slowly dropping in the 1990s, and Monday's report shows the trend holding. Among men, cancer death rates dropped by 1.8 percent a year between 2000 and 2009, and by 1.4 percent a year among women. The drops are thanks mostly to gains against some of the leading types — lung, colorectal, breast and prostate cancers — because of treatment advances and better screening.

The news isn't all good. Deaths still are rising for certain cancer types including liver, pancreatic and, among men, melanoma, the most serious kind of skin cancer.

Preventing cancer is better than treating it, but when it comes to new cases of cancer, the picture is more complicated.

Cancer incidence is dropping slightly among men, by just over half a percent a year, said the report published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Prostate, lung and colorectal cancers all saw declines.

But for women, earlier drops have leveled off, the report found. That may be due in part to breast cancer. There were decreases in new breast cancer cases about a decade ago, as many women quit using hormone therapy after menopause. Since then, overall breast cancer incidence has plateaued, and rates have increased among black women.

Another problem area: Oral and anal cancers caused by HPV, the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, are on the rise among both genders. HPV is better known for causing cervical cancer, and a protective vaccine is available. Government figures show just 32 percent of teen girls have received all three doses, fewer than in Canada, Britain and Australia. The vaccine was recommended for U.S. boys about a year ago.

Among children, overall cancer death rates are dropping by 1.8 percent a year, but incidence is continuing to increase by just over half a percent a year. Brawley said it's not clear why.

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Boy who shot neo-Nazi father had a history of violence, psychologist testifies

The Riverside boy who shot and killed his neo-Nazi father had a history of violence since he was a toddler, but there was no indication that his father condoned such brutality, a mental health expert for the prosecution testified Monday.

Clinical psychologist Anna Salter said the boy, who was 10 years old when he pulled the trigger, told her that his father tried hard to get the boy's violence under control — on occasion beating the child as punishment for an outburst.

"He didn't know what else to do," Salter testified during the juvenile court proceeding in Riverside.

The boy's outbursts included an attempt to strangle a teacher with a telephone cord and stabbing classmates with pencils, Salter testified.

Jeffrey Hall, regional director of a neo-Nazi organization called the National Socialist Movement, was asleep on his living room couch in May 2011 when his son walked downstairs with a loaded .357 magnum revolver, pulled the hammer back and fired.

Salter told the court she found it "very odd" that Hall had not been threatening the boy at the time — they had spent a "family movie night" together hours earlier. The boy told police, however, that he lived in fear and was tired of his father's beatings.

"He said he just wanted to end the father-son thing," Salter testified.

Salter said the boy, at the time of the shooting, knew that killing his father was wrong, admitting as much to police and his stepmother just hours after the shooting.

Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Soccio, in his opening statement, argued that the boy coldly plotted to kill his father because he was afraid that Hall was about to divorce the boy's stepmother. Soccio said the boy's actions had nothing to do with Hall's neo-Nazi beliefs.

Public Defender Matthew Hardy, however, countered that the boy's moral compass was warped by living in an abusive, violent household where his father, in drunken rages, beat him regularly and where other neo-Nazis often gathered to celebrate their hate-filled and violent beliefs.

The mental health expert for the defense, psychologist Robert Geffner, testified in November that violence, guns and talk of killing permeated the Hall household, which taught the boy that "violence is the appropriate way in his world."

The prosecution's expert attempted to counter that view Monday, telling the court that the boy's violent streak began before he was 3 years old, when his outbursts led his grandmother to refuse to baby-sit him.

Salter said the boy's birth mother reportedly used heroin, LSD and other drugs while she was pregnant and then neglected the boy when he was a baby. Hall and his first wife divorced shortly after the boy was born. Hall won full custody when the boy was 3.

Salter, an expert in child psychology, violence and sexual abuse, was called to testify after the prosecution's initial mental health expert was barred from appearing because he had taken part in a confidential interview of the boy.

In court, the boy sat fidgeting next to his attorney and a juvenile probation officer. The boyish face of a sandy-haired child has been transformed since he first appeared in court two years ago. He appeared thinner and reportedly lost weight since being placed on medication to control his hyperactivity in juvenile hall, where he has been housed since the shooting.

Salter interviewed the boy for six hours in November and described him as well-behaved and direct. She refuted testimony from the defense psychologist that he had been molested by his father, saying the boy told her that he had no memory of that occurring.

During the interview, the boy accused his stepmother, Krista F. McCary, of telling him to kill Hall. McCary has not been charged in connection with the killing. She was convicted in 2011 of child endangerment and weapons charges and placed on four years' probation.

Judge Jean P. Leonard must decide whether the child knew that his actions were wrong at the time of the shooting. If she rules that the boy did not comprehend that his actions were wrong, he would be set free. If she finds the boy responsible for the killing, a hearing will be held to determine punishment. He could remain in juvenile custody until he is 23.

Salter said she believes that the boy could still lead a productive life, if he's given proper care.

"I think [the boy] has a tragic history. I think he has had a tragic upbringing," she said. "I don't think [he] is a hopeless case."

phil.willon@latimes.com

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News Analysis: Chinese Newspaper, Southern Weekend, Challenges Censors

Pool photo by REUTERS/Wang Zhao

Xi Jinping at a meeting in Beijing in December. Unrest at an influential newspaper, Southern Weekend, has caught the public’s attention.

BEIJING — Turmoil at one of China’s leading newspapers is posing an early challenge to the measured political program of the new Chinese leader Xi Jinping, pitting a pent-up popular demand for change against the Communist Party’s desire to maintain a firm grip.

The unrest at the influential newspaper Southern Weekend began last week when censors appeared to have toned down the paper’s New Year’s letter to readers — traditionally a call for progress in the new year. That caused journalists and their supporters — including students at nearby Sun Yat-sen University — to issue open letters expressing their outrage.

“Our yielding and our silence has not brought a return of our freedom,” the students said in their petition on Sunday, according to a translation by Hong Kong University’s China Media Project. “Quite the opposite, it has brought the untempered intrusion and infiltration of rights by power.”

By Sunday night, the protests had transformed into a real-time melee in the blogosphere — a remarkable development in a country where protests of all kinds are tightly controlled and the media largely know the boundaries of permissible debate.

In this case, the newspaper’s economics and environmental news staffs appeared to declare that they were on strike, while editors loyal to the government shut down or took control of the paper’s official microblogs. One widely distributed staff declaration with 90 signatures said the publication’s microblogs were no longer authentic.

“I don’t know whether it will be a full strike, but I do know the joint statement about the confiscation of the Weibo account has widespread support,” said one former editor, referring to a microblogging site and speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The turmoil at the Guangzhou-based newspaper resonates especially strongly among politically aware Chinese because Mr. Xi chose southern China for a tour after taking power in November. He made a pilgrimage to nearby Shenzhen, where the father of China’s economic reforms, Deng Xiaoping, kick-started them two decades ago.

Indeed, Mr. Xi seems to be casting himself in the mold of Deng, who was known for bold economic reforms but who also brooked no opposition to the rule of the Communist Party.

The latest indication was a speech Mr. Xi made that also was published in newspapers on Sunday. Speaking to senior leaders, Mr. Xi repeatedly invoked Deng, especially on the need to adhere to “socialism with Chinese characteristics,” a phrase often used to mean a combination of pragmatic policies and one-party rule. He also praised the pre-reform era, in what appeared to be an effort to appeal to harder-line Communists.

But part of the reason for the clamor for reforms are hopes that Mr. Xi himself has raised. So far he has won praise by calling for China’s constitutional protections to be put in effect, ordering officials to cut pomp and setting in motion an anticorruption campaign.

These actions seem to have prompted the calls for even bolder reforms.

Beyond the unrest at Southern Weekend, editors of the edgy historical journal Yanhuang Chunqiu published a cover article last week arguing that the existing Constitution offered a basis for political reform and that the party’s failure to abide by it was a central cause of political instability. On Friday, the magazine’s Web site was shut down, with officials claiming that it had failed to update its registration.

A message posted by the journal about the shutdown was forwarded 31,000 times, provoking many scathing criticisms of the government. The chief editor, Wu Si, said the journal’s staff had filed the paperwork and could be back online in 10 days.

Optimists say they hope the measures against the two publications were the result of recalcitrant officials appointed by the departing team of Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, whose decade in power was marked by an overriding desire for stability. Many members of Mr. Xi’s team will not take office until the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress in March, and it could take years for Mr. Xi to put allies into important positions of power.

“If Xi does not remove people and promote some officials, his new policies — if he has any — will be sunk by the old people,” said a senior editor at a top party newspaper who asked to remain anonymous because of the delicacy of the subject. “The conflicts between the old and the new have just emerged.”

Chinese politics since Deng’s time have been defined by similar tensions between liberalization and reaction. But Mr. Xi also confronts millions of increasingly outspoken Internet users whose outpourings can confound even China’s heavy censorship.

Zhan Jiang, a professor of media at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the public anger showed how expectations had risen. “Currently in China people are unusually sensitive to developments like this, and so the reaction has been quite intense,” Mr. Zhan said.

Some are less sure that the atmosphere is more open, saying the media shutdowns have occurred because Mr. Xi has avoided taking a clear position.

“There are still no clear rules on the media, and so officials stick to using their habitual ways to control the media,” said Li Datong, a prominent Chinese newspaper editor fired for his views. “There won’t be any change until Xi Jinping enunciates any ideas about major change.”

Other commentators doubt this will happen. They note that in previous jobs Mr. Xi upheld the status quo and that now that he has reached the pinnacle of his career he is unlikely to support systemic reform.

“This is a traditional viewpoint: if you change the emperor you’ll have a change of policy and maybe some new, hopeful things,” said the exiled Chinese political commentator Zhang Ping, who goes by the pen name Chang Ping. “But I don’t think this is likely, because you still have an emperor.”

Jonathan Ansfield contributed reporting from Beijing, and Chris Buckley from Hong Kong.

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Samsung’s New Smart TV Software Development Kit Supports Linux and Mac O/S

 

Samsung Electronics announced that it will be releasing the Smart TV SDK (Software Development Kit) 4.0 at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) from January 8^th to 11^th, 2013. The Smart TV SDK will allow Smart TV software development on Linux and Mac, in addition to Windows O/S.

Up till now, Samsung’s Smart TV software development only supported Windows O/S. However, the new SDK 4.0 allows for the development of Smart TV software on Linux and Mac systems. This is expected to lead to active development of Smart TV software in some areas where non-Windows O/S are widely used.

Samsung is the first in the TV industry to provide a local cloud development environment. This environment enables the development of content based on connection between web services by utilizing an open API (Application Programming Interface).

Moreover, Smart TV SDK 4.0 provides a local cloud development environment that allows developers who use the Mac O/S to team up with other developers who use Windows O/S. As a result, many developers can engage in a team effort, resulting in greater software development efficiency and reduced costs.

By expanding and supporting HTML5 in the Smart TV SDK 4.0, a standard programming language, Samsung has laid the foundation for many software developers to easily take part in development of Smart TV applications.

With HTML5, Samsung has been able to build an integrated environment that supports the development of convergence applications. This enables Samsung’s Smart TVs to interact and communicate with external devices.

And to promote the active development of Smart TV software through Samsung’s Smart Interaction function, the company strengthened the voice and gesture recognition functions on its Smart TVs.

Please visit our booth to experience this future technology firsthand. Samsung’s product line will be displayed from January 8^th to 11^th at booth #12004 in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Full details, video content and product images are available at the Samsung microsite at: www.samsungces.com or mobile site at: m.samsungces.com as well.

The Samsung press conference and Samsung Tomorrow TV CES 2013 Specials will be streamed live on the Samsung Tomorrow blog at: global.samsungtomorrow.com and Samsung’s microsite site also.

After the live presentations, videos will be available at http://youtube.com/SamsungTomorrow

---

*All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation

Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Jordana Brewster Is 'Enamored' with the Idea of Having Twins

01/06/2013 at 05:00 PM EST

Jordana Brewster has babies on the brain – yes, you read that right: plural.

The Dallas star, 32, who has been married to movie producer Andrew Form since 2007, tells Latina she "definitely" wants two kids and is "enamored" by the idea of having twins.

"My dad was a twin, so it runs in the family," she explains. "Fingers crossed. We're thinking about having kids but I don't know when it'll happen. I feel very ready now."

When the couple does eventually expand their family, the children will be raised in a loving home.

"We FaceTime all of the time," Brewster says, of keeping the romance alive long distance. "We love that. There are times when I just say, 'I need to see you now.' And so we FaceTime a lot, or I surprise him and visit him or he does the same. It's super important … Couples shouldn't be apart for too long. We've been married for five years now and we know how important that is because otherwise you just lose touch with each other."

A big part of their bond has come from the way Form inspires his wife on a professional level.

"It's so amazing to have a husband in the business who can challenge me and we can talk about his work and my work and understand each other in that way," Brewster says. "I love getting his feedback and he likes getting mine. And of course, that has pushed me more to consider producing in the future."

And she's not just talking about babies!

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Your medical chart could include exercise minutes

CHICAGO (AP) — Roll up a sleeve for the blood pressure cuff. Stick out a wrist for the pulse-taking. Lift your tongue for the thermometer. Report how many minutes you are active or getting exercise.

Wait, what?

If the last item isn't part of the usual drill at your doctor's office, a movement is afoot to change that. One recent national survey indicated only a third of Americans said their doctors asked about or prescribed physical activity.

Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation's largest nonprofit health insurance plans, made a big push a few years ago to get its southern California doctors to ask patients about exercise. Since then, Kaiser has expanded the program across California and to several other states. Now almost 9 million patients are asked at every visit, and some other medical systems are doing it, too.

Here's how it works: During any routine check of vital signs, a nurse or medical assistant asks how many days a week the patient exercises and for how long. The number of minutes per week is posted along with other vitals at the top the medical chart. So it's among the first things the doctor sees.

"All we ask our physicians to do is to make a comment on it, like, 'Hey, good job,' or 'I noticed today that your blood pressure is too high and you're not doing any exercise. There's a connection there. We really need to start you walking 30 minutes a day,'" said Dr. Robert Sallis, a Kaiser family doctor. He hatched the vital sign idea as part of a larger initiative by doctors groups.

He said Kaiser doctors generally prescribe exercise first, instead of medication, and for many patients who follow through that's often all it takes.

It's a challenge to make progress. A study looking at the first year of Kaiser's effort showed more than a third of patients said they never exercise.

Sallis said some patients may not be aware that research shows physical inactivity is riskier than high blood pressure, obesity and other health risks people know they should avoid. As recently as November a government-led study concluded that people who routinely exercise live longer than others, even if they're overweight.

Zendi Solano, who works for Kaiser as a research assistant in Pasadena, Calif., says she always knew exercise was a good thing. But until about a year ago, when her Kaiser doctor started routinely measuring it, she "really didn't take it seriously."

She was obese, and in a family of diabetics, had elevated blood sugar. She sometimes did push-ups and other strength training but not anything very sustained or strenuous.

Solano, 34, decided to take up running and after a couple of months she was doing three miles. Then she began training for a half marathon — and ran that 13-mile race in May in less than three hours. She formed a running club with co-workers and now runs several miles a week. She also started eating smaller portions and buying more fruits and vegetables.

She is still overweight but has lost 30 pounds and her blood sugar is normal.

Her doctor praised the improvement at her last physical in June and Solano says the routine exercise checks are "a great reminder."

Kaiser began the program about three years ago after 2008 government guidelines recommended at least 2 1/2 hours of moderately vigorous exercise each week. That includes brisk walking, cycling, lawn-mowing — anything that gets you breathing a little harder than normal for at least 10 minutes at a time.

A recently published study of nearly 2 million people in Kaiser's southern California network found that less than a third met physical activity guidelines during the program's first year ending in March 2011. That's worse than results from national studies. But promoters of the vital signs effort think Kaiser's numbers are more realistic because people are more likely to tell their own doctors the truth.

Dr. Elizabeth Joy of Salt Lake City has created a nearly identical program and she expects 300 physicians in her Intermountain Healthcare network to be involved early this year.

"There are some real opportunities there to kind of shift patients' expectations about the value of physical activity on health," Joy said.

NorthShore University HealthSystem in Chicago's northern suburbs plans to start an exercise vital sign program this month, eventually involving about 200 primary care doctors.

Dr. Carrie Jaworski, a NorthShore family and sports medicine specialist, already asks patients about exercise. She said some of her diabetic patients have been able to cut back on their medicines after getting active.

Dr. William Dietz, an obesity expert who retired last year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said measuring a patient's exercise regardless of method is essential, but that "naming it as a vital sign kind of elevates it."

Figuring out how to get people to be more active is the important next step, he said, and could have a big effect in reducing medical costs.

___

Online:

Exercise: http://1.usa.gov/b6AkMa

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner

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Dog-sharing group has tails wagging in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO — Hudson Landers is high-energy and loves sports. Spencer Witaszek is into quiet evenings lounging at home. And Marley James? The Topanga Canyon blond enjoys the mountains and has an independent streak.

All three are looking for love, just not the kind you might imagine.

Hudson, Spencer, Marley and their two-legged guardians are part of a novel online service called City Dog Share, whose motto is as straightforward as its members: "I will watch your dog if you can watch mine!"

But the virtual community, which sprang to life 18 months ago in San Francisco and branched out into Seattle, Portland and Humboldt County, is more than just a canine-caring co-op. (An effort in Los Angeles is under construction.)

It allows dog-shoppers to try a pet on for size without the burden of commitment, by giving them a chance to spend quality time with other peoples' pooches. The Facebook-based service also fills schnauzer-shaped gaps in the lives of humans whose apartments or schedules prohibit full-time furry friends.

And supporters also believe City Dog Share can help shelters and rescue groups find homes for abandoned animals by giving prospective puppy parents the comfort of a free backup care plan if they fear the responsibility that comes with any animal.

In a nation where social media aficionados share homes, cars and futures with total strangers encountered online, why shouldn't they swap dogs that way too?

At least that's how Marley's mom views it.

Faith-Michele James, a Topanga Canyon wedding photographer and proud caretaker of Marley and Dojo, moved to Southern California from Santa Fe, N.M., in October. She left behind a network of friends and family members willing to let her animals out for exercise and bathroom breaks while she spent long hours shooting happy couples.

"I tried to hire two different people off of Craigslist" after moving, James said. "One nearly lost my cat. One nearly killed my dogs. She fed them nearly 30 pounds of dry dog food in two days.... I'm a little gun-shy with the Craigslist pet-sitter thing."

Through City Dog Share, James worked out a pet-sitting arrangement with a canine named Pixel and his guardian, who travels a lot and understands James' erratic schedule. Their only complaint is that Los Angeles' dog-share community is way too small.

When it comes to the suburbs northwest of Los Angeles, James and her pet-care partner "are pretty much the only game in town," she said. "Hopefully, it will grow.... If it could be more active like it is in San Francisco, and we had more options, it would be more useful for people."

Just before Christmas, City Dog Share's San Francisco group — which includes the greater Bay Area — surpassed 600 members, said founder Eric Husk. By comparison, Los Angeles has 79 registered participants. There are 155 dog-sharers in Seattle, 85 in Portland and 81 in Humboldt County.

Husk isn't surprised that San Francisco has the most robust group to date.

Named for the patron saint of animals, this city is thought to have more canines than kids. Municipal codes describe the rights and responsibilities of dog "guardians." San Francisco is compact, navigable and built on a foundation of tight-knit neighborhoods.

The dogs in Husk's life are Butter and Duke, a.k.a. Feo — a miniature golden of sorts and a black sort-of border collie who live with Husk's parents in San Luis Obispo. Even though Husk, 37, wasn't sharing living quarters with any four-legged friends, the San Francisco resident got the idea for City Dog Share when he realized he was spending all of his free time taking care of his friends' companions.

Prospective members apply via the nonprofit's Facebook page. The community is self-policing and makes no promises. But Husk does have certain standards for joining.

One recent chilly day, Husk sat at a Mission District cafe, laptop open, sipping tea and checking out 30 or so City Dog Share applicants. Jim was first in the queue.

"This guy here, he requested to add," Husk said before sending the application to dog-share limbo. "He has no [Facebook] profile photo, only 18 friends. He could be a creeper. It's not comforting."

Someone calling herself BurgerTime also got the thumbs down, as did Teresa. Husk was on the fence about Beatriz — 400 friends but no profile photo and no message button to allow him to send an email.

Christene Pinter, an Oakland pet portraitist, and her companion Pinxo, a former Mexico City street dog, joined City Dog Share about a year ago but have only begun to get their paws wet. They agreed to care for Stella, a perky Pomeranian, so her guardian could go to a Christmas party.

"She was very cute, but she has very big separation anxiety," said Pinter, who would like to get to know Stella better before she and Pinxo spend alone time with her again.

"I think it's important to get to know the dogs," Pinter said. "Dogs are like children — except they have very sharp teeth."

maria.laganga@latimes.com

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Pakistan Says 1 Dead in Border Clash With India

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan and India traded accusations Sunday of violating the cease-fire in the disputed northern region of Kashmir, with Islamabad accusing Indian troops of a cross-border raid that killed one of its soldiers and India charging that Pakistani shelling destroyed a home on its side.

The accusation of a border crossing resulting in military deaths is unusual in Kashmir, where a cease-fire has held between these two wary, nuclear-armed rivals for a decade. Tensions over the disputed region are never far from the surface, however, as the countries have fought two full-scale wars over it.

Pakistan and India have been in the midst of a tentative rapprochement in recent months that could be upset by the cross-border raid. Just last month, the two countries announced a new visa regime designed to make cross-border travel easier. And they have been taking steps to facilitate economic trade as well. Neither action would have been possible without the backing of Pakistan's powerful military.

The developments show how tensions have eased a great deal since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, in which 10 Pakistani terrorists killed 166 people. India claims the terrorists had ties to Pakistani intelligence officials, which Islamabad denies.

The Pakistani military's public relations office said in a statement that a Pakistani soldier was also critically wounded in the incident. It said troops exchanged gunfire after Indian forces crossed the "line of control" dividing the Indian and Pakistani sides of Kashmir in the Haji Pir sector and raided a post called Sawan Patra.

The remote area where the incident occurred is up in the Himalayan mountain peaks. The closest town of Bagh, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) away, is itself about 260 kilometers (160 miles) from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

Col. Brijesh Pandey, a spokesman for the Indian army in Kashmir, called the allegations that Indian troops crossed the border "baseless." Instead, he said that Pakistani troops "initiated unprovoked firing" and fired mortars and automatic weapons at Indian posts early Sunday morning. He said Pakistani shelling had destroyed a civilian home on the Indian side.

"We retaliated only using small arms. We believe it was clearly an attempt on their part to facilitate infiltration of militants," Pandey said

India often accuses Pakistan of sending militants into the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir, often under cover of these types of skirmishes.

The mostly-Muslim mountainous Kashmir region has been a flashpoint of violence between these two neighbors for decades. Both claim the entire region as their own, and the countries fought two full-scale wars over control of Kashmir and some minor skirmishes.

On Saturday, leaders of a Pakistan-based militant coalition held a rally in the city of Muzaffarabad near Kashmir, in which they pledged to continue the fight to gain control of the entire region.

The United Jihad Council is a coalition of 12 anti-India militant groups. Many of the groups were started with the support of the Pakistani government in the 1980s and 1990s to fight India for control of Kashmir. The rally was held to mark the Jan. 5, 1949 call by the United Nations for a referendum on Kashmir's fate.

A 2003 cease-fire ended the most recent round of fighting. Each side occasionally accuses the other of violating it by lobbing mortars or shooting across the LOC.

A number of Pakistani civilians were wounded in November due to Indian shelling, and in October the Indian army said Pakistani troops fired across the disputed frontier, killing three civilians.

But accusations that one side's ground forces actually crossed the LOC are rarer.

__

Associated Press writer Zarar Khan in Islamabad, Roshan Mughal in Muzaffarabad, and Aijaz Hussain in Srinagar, India, contributed to this report.

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Leader of Online Movie Group IMAGiNE Gets five Years for Piracy

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Jeremiah B. Perkins, the former leader of internet movie group IMAGiNE, was sentenced to five years in prison on a piracy charge, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday.

Perkins, 40, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement in August.

In addition to the prison sentence, Perkins was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $ 15,000 in restitution.

The five-year prison sentence and three years supervised release represent the maximum sentence that Perkins faced, but he could have received a maximum fine of $ 250,000.

According to the Justice Department, IMAGiNE specialized in pirating movies playing in theaters. Court documents indicated that Perkins, of Portsmouth, Va., and his cohorts used receivers and recording devices to capture the audio tracks for movies in theaters, then sync the audio tracks to illegally recorded video files. The group would then share the completed files with members of the IMAGiNE Group and others.

ExtraTorrent reports that the recipients of IMAGiNE’s pirated movies included buyers in Asia, who would then make copies and distribute the pirated films in the Asian underground market.

During Perkins’ trial, an MPAA representative testified that IMAGiNE was “the most prolific motion picture piracy release group operating on the Internet from September 2009 through September 2011,” the Justice Department said.

The Justice Department said that Perkins admitted to renting computer servers in France and other locations for IMAGiNE’s use, and also to registering internet domains for IMAGiNE and setting up PayPal and email accounts to facilitate the group’s transactions.

Three of Perkins’ co-defendants – Sean M. Lovelady, Willie O. Lambert and Gregory A. Cherwonik – also pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and received sentences ranging from 23 to 40 months.

A fifth co-defendant, Javier E. Ferrer, was charged in September and also pleaded guilty to the charge. His sentencing is scheduled for March.

Perkins and his co-defendants were arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations division, which also conducted the investigation.

Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Bethenny Frankel Divorcing Jason Hoppy

By Sarah Michaud

01/05/2013 at 05:00 PM EST

Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy

Albert Michael/Startraks

It's official – Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy's marriage is over.

Having announced a separation over the holidays, the reality star began the divorce process by filing earlier this week in New York, TMZ reports.

"It brings me great sadness to say that Jason and I are separating," Frankel, 42, had said in a statement Dec. 23. "This was an extremely difficult decision that as a woman and a mother, I have to accept as the best choice for our family."

The split comes after months of rumors that the pair – who married in 2010 and are parents to daughter Bryn, 2½ – were on the rocks.

"Bethenny is devastated," a friend tells PEOPLE.

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