Judge: Jolie didn't plagiarize 'Blood and Honey'

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge says actress Angelina Jolie didn't steal the story for her movie "In the Land of Blood and Honey" from a Croatian author. City News Service reports Friday's tentative ruling in Los Angeles will throw out the suit accusing Jolie of copyright infringement. In 2011, author James Braddock sued Jolie and the film company that made the film, saying it was partly based on his book "The Soul Shattering." U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee wrote in a tentative ruling that the plots, characters and themes in the two works were not "substantially" similar, though both centered on war romances. Jolie wrote, directed and co-produced the film. Braddock has been ordered to tell the court why his complaint should not be dismissed with prejudice.

 

Star: 'Lost in Thailand' clicked with modern focus

The director of China's biggest box-office hit says "Lost in Thailand" succeeded by showing a rarely seen subject: modern Chinese life. The historical epic, fantasy, action and thriller genres have long filled China's domestic movie screens. But "Lost in Thailand" was a low-budget and light-hearted road-trip tale about an ambitious executive who goes to Thailand to get his boss's approval for a business deal. Along the way he's pursued by a rival co-worker and encounters a wacky tourist who helps him rethink his priorities. "There is hunger from the audience for movies that talk about the real-life situation in China. That's why the movie rocked," said Xu Zheng, the film's director, writer and star. "There is a lack of films that talk about things that are related to the life of ordinary people" in China, he added. Unusually for a Chinese release, the movie was a moral comedy whose characters reflect stressed-out, overworked, wealth-obsessed China. Xu said his character, businessman Xu Lang, "represented the majority of the people, who are chasing after fame and desire, then becoming successful. That's what most of us do." The movie starts with the executive hardened by cutthroat business competition and worn out by family troubles. He and a wacky tourist, co-star Wang Baoqiang, experience a series of capers and mishaps in scenes heavy with slapstick humor. In the end, Xu Lang realizes he's had his priorities all wrong. "Lost in Thailand" smashed domestic box-office records, raking in 1.26 billion yuan ($200 million) last year, an especially surprising tally since it was not released until December. It edged out "Avatar" to become the biggest-grossing Chinese movie ever as China became the world's second-biggest movie market last year. Most other Chinese-made hits last year were in traditional categories, such as Jackie Chan's action flick "CZ12," which was the second-highest-grossing Chinese movie in 2012. The blockbuster success of "Lost in Thailand" may spur a wave of copycats. Xu has no plan yet for a sequel, but the state-run Xinhua News Agency has reported studios are lining up to "chase the craze" and a burst of such films could hit Chinese screens this year. With such a huge return from its $2.2 million budget, "some filmmakers have begun pondering how to replicate the film's box office miracle," Xinhua said. It did not mention any specific projects, but other Chinese news sites have been buzzing about Raymond Yip's upcoming film about two brothers on a road trip. Yip directed 2010's "Lost on Journey," a sort of prequel to "Lost in Thailand" also starring Xu and Wang. The plot of his new film, "Along Crazy All The Way," which has a different cast, is being kept under wraps. But a hint can be found in the title, which is the same as one of two Chinese names given to "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," the 1987 Hollywood comedy starring Steve Martin and John Candy about a man trying to get home for Thanksgiving accompanied by an obnoxious salesman. Xu has acted in more than a dozen movies, but "Lost in Thailand" is his directorial debut. He said the film was greatly influenced by a few of his favorite Hollywood movies. "I did a lot of research before making the film and I used some films as reference, such as 'Rain Man,' (the Belgian film) 'The Eighth Day' and 'Midnight Run,'" Xu said. "These are movies about two people becoming friends along the way on a journey." Xu cited "Midnight Run" in particular as one of his favorites, and the parallels between the two are evident. The 1998 film stars Robert DeNiro as a bounty hunter taking an ex-mob accountant played by Charles Grodin from New York to Los Angeles to collect a payment and trying to avoid the Mafia and the FBI along the way. Xu said he hasn't yet decided what his next project will be. He said he's had some offers to remake his movie but for now his priority will be on Chinese audiences. He might return to acting but is taking his time before making any decisions.

 

Cyprus reopens banks, under strict restrictions

Cypriots are expected to descend in their thousands on Thursday on banks, which reopen with tight controls imposed on transactions to prevent fleeing depositors from cleaning out the vaults in a catastrophic bank run. The east Mediterranean island fears a stampede at banks almost two weeks after they were shut by the government as it negotiated a 10 billion euro ($12.78 billion) bailout package with the European Union to escape financial meltdown. The rescue deal is the first in Europe's single currency zone to impose losses on bank depositors, raising the prospect that savers will panic and scramble to get at their cash. Authorities insist that strict rules imposed to prevent a bank run will be temporary, but economists say they will be difficult to lift as long as the economy is in crisis. On Wednesday night, container trucks loaded with cash pulled up inside the compound of the central bank in the capital Nicosia to prepare for the reopening, a Cyprus central bank source said. A helicopter hovered overhead and police with rifles were stationed around the compound. As in all countries that use the euro, Cyprus's central bank supplies cash for its banks from the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. Officials have promised that enough funds will be on hand to meet demand. The ECB did not comment on reports it had sent extra cash to the island. Strict controls, contained in a Finance Ministry decree, limit cash withdrawals to no more than 300 euros per day, ban the cashing of cheques and bar businesses from transferring money abroad unless they can show it is for imports. The island's central bank will review all commercial transactions over 5,000 euros and scrutinize transactions over 200,000 euros on an individual basis. People leaving Cyprus can take only 3,000 euros with them. With just 860,000 people, Cyprus has some 68 billion euros in its banks - a vastly outsized financial system that attracted deposits from foreigners as an offshore haven but foundered after investments in neighboring Greece went sour. The European Union and International Monetary Fund concluded that Cyprus could not afford a rescue unless it imposed losses on depositors, previously seen as anathema. "CYPRUS EURO" Cyprus's financial difficulties have sent tremors through the already fragile single European currency. The imposition of capital controls has led economists to warn that a second-class "Cyprus euro" could emerge, with funds trapped on the island less valuable than euros that can be freely spent abroad. The authorities say they can avoid that by lifting controls quickly. They have been imposed initially for just four days. "The rationale is that these measures will be reviewed on a daily basis, so if there is the possibility of relaxing them we will," Yiangos Demetriou, head of internal audit at the Central Bank, told state television. But many experts are skeptical. A Reuters poll of economists this week showed 30 out of 46 said the controls would last months, while 13 expected they would endure a matter of weeks. Three said they could last years. "This is a typical set of exchange control measures, more reminiscent of Latin America or Africa," said Bob Lyddon, General Secretary of the international banking association IBOS. "There is no way these will only last seven days," he said. "These are permanent controls until the economy recovers." The bailout deal, hammered out in fraught overnight negotiations in Brussels on Monday, looks set to push Cyprus deeper into an economic slump, shrink the banking sector and cost thousands of jobs. The island's second largest bank, Cyprus Popular Bank will be closed and its guaranteed deposits of up to 100,000 euros transferred to the biggest bank, Bank of Cyprus. Deposits of more than 100,000 euros at both banks, too big to enjoy a state guarantee, will be frozen, and some of those funds will be exchanged for shares issued by the banks to recapitalize them. The big depositors will lose money, but the authorities say deposits up to 100,000 euros will be protected, a reversal from an earlier plan that would have hit small depositors as well but was vetoed by Cyprus's parliament last week. European leaders said the bailout deal averted a chaotic national bankruptcy that might have forced Cyprus out of the euro. Many Cypriots say the deal was foisted upon them by Cyprus's partners in the 17-nation euro zone, and some have taken to the streets to vent their frustration. On Wednesday, some 2,500 people rallied outside the offices of conservative President Nicos Anastasiades, waving banners and flags. They chanted: "I'll pay nothing; I owe nothing." For now, residents say they are confused and worried by the capital controls, and wonder how they will affect daily life. A 42-year-old Romanian hotel maid, who gave her name as Maria, said she was worried she would not be able to cash her pay cheque due on Friday. The hotel, she said, was unable to pay staff in cash because most guests paid by credit card. "What shall I do?" she asked. "Hold up the cheque and look at it?"

 

Lawyer: reality star learned of divorce from media

A lawyer for reality television star Porsha Williams says she learned from the media that her former NFL player husband had filed for divorce. Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart filed for divorce in Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta Friday. The filing says his marriage to Williams is "irretrievably broken." The pair appears on Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Atlanta." Lawyer Randy Kessler said Wednesday that Williams would have liked to have heard the news of the divorce filing from her husband and is disappointed that he misled her. Stewart's filing says the two married on May 21, 2011, and have no children together. Stewart asks the court to find there are no marital assets to divide. He asks that neither side be ordered to pay alimony.

 

Divers Free Whale Entangled in Fishing Gear

Specially trained divers recently freed a humpback whale swimming off the island of Maui from a tangle of rope, a potentially life-threatening situation for the animal. A tour vessel and a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft initially spotted the whale on March 8;the animal had small-gauge line cutting into its tail, according to a release from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Sanctuaries. Observers found the whale in the waters of Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, where humpbacks migrate each winter to mate, calve and nurse their young. A response effort, led by the sanctuary and working under NOAA's Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program, was quickly launched, the release said. Divers cut away 40 feet (12 meters) of trailing line, but couldn't completely free the whale. However, they attached a satellite-tag buoy to the whale and relocated it between Kaho'olawe and Lana'I on Monday (March 11); there, they were able to remove the rest of the gear tangled around the animal. Altogether, rescuers removed more than 200 feet (61 m) of line and two buoys from around the whale. Neither of those two buoys identify where the gear came from, so the source likely won't ever be known, the release said. So far, only three humpback whales have been found entangled this season, about one-third the typical reports by this point. This effort was the first successful rescue of the season, the release said. Getting entangled in fishing gear can kill a whale by causing it to drown or starve, by getting caught in its mouth, by exhausting the animal as the creature drags gear behind it, or by causing injuries that lead to infection or blood loss. Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

First lady latest whose private info leaked online

The first lady and the vice president are among the latest public figures to have their private information posted on a mysterious website, and the Secret Service has joined the investigation into the postings that include documents from people ranging from rapper Jay-Z to the head of the FBI. The site includes Social Security numbers, credit reports, addresses and phone numbers. It bears an Internet suffix originally assigned to the Soviet Union, and many of the pages feature unflattering pictures or taunting messages of the person featured. Others whose information is posted include pop star Britney Spears, Attorney General Eric Holder, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Both the FBI and the Secret Service said Tuesday they were investigating the site. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said he had "no assessments to offer" on the situation and referred questions to the Secret Service, which wouldn't provide further details. The site grew from 11 names to 20 in the first 24 hours since it became public, with its operator adding additional features to count the number of visitors and a link to a Twitter account. It offers no explanation about why the targets were selected or how the information was obtained. The Twitter account includes an anti-police message in Russian. Social Security numbers posted on Jay-Z, Mel Gibson and others matched records in public databases. Social Security numbers are not public records, although they used to be included in some court filings. Many courts require the information be redacted from filings since the numbers can be used to steal a person's identity and open credit accounts in their name. President Barack Obama told ABC News that he was aware of the investigation into the possible breach of his wife's data. "We should not be surprised that if we've got hackers that want to dig in and have a lot of resources, that they can access this information," Obama said. "Again, not sure how accurate but ... you've got Web sites out there that tell people's credit card info. That's how sophisticated they are." Online security expert Marc Maiffret said sensitive information can often be gleaned from a single database, but the varied nature of the people targeted made the site's motives less clear. Maiffret, the chief technology officer for Carlsbad, Calif.-based security firm BeyondTrust, said the site contained information that if accurate could be very damaging to its targets. "Pretty much everything comes falling down once you have a Social Security number," he said. "Once somebody has that, the person has the keys to everything." The information could be used to shut down accounts and utilities, although Maiffret said celebrities and government officials have more resources to protect themselves and their financial companies will likely be guarding their accounts in the wake of the site's postings. Average consumers should consider adding a second password to their accounts to protect against hackers who have access to their Social Security numbers and other financial info. Los Angeles police also are investigating, trying to determine how information was obtained, including the address and credit report of Police Chief Charlie Beck. Beck told reporters Tuesday that detectives would work to bring anyone responsible for posting the info online to justice. "We will vigorously pursue the individuals that have made me a victim and have made a number of other people that are in the public eye victims," he said. He acknowledged that many hackers operate outside the United States, but said there is often a connection stateside that can lead to prosecutions. Frank Preciado, assistant officer in charge at the LAPD online section, said the postings are illegal. He said the information on the police chief was likely taken from what is supposed to be a secure database of city employees. The site's page on Beck includes a reference to former officer Christopher Dorner, who apparently committed suicide after he killed four people during a multi-day rampage. Beck's page included the message "YouCantCornerTheDorner" and an image of a woman protesting police corruption.

 

Poland philharmonic employee charged in killings

An employee of a philharmonic in western Poland was charged with murder in the double homicide of a young female harpist and a security guard inside the orchestra's building, prosecutors said Monday. The two victims were found dead Friday morning in the building of the Lower Silesia Philharmonic in Jelenia Gora. The 60-year-old guard was found on the ground floor near the entrance and the harpist, 27, was found on the first floor. A 29-year-old suspect, identified only as Michal M., has been questioned and charged with murder, prosecutors' spokeswoman Violetta Niziolek said. He has been put under arrest for three months, pending further investigation. Niziolek said he partly confessed to the charges concerning the death of the guard, but was saying he did not remember anything concerning the harpist. An autopsy showed the harpist was strangled and the guard died of head wounds. Niziolek refused to provide any other details. The head of the philharmonic, Zuzanna Dziedzic, told TVN24 the suspect was a stagehand there and a "nice, polite man" who readily carried out his duties. He helped arrange the stage and was on good terms with the entire team. "He was a normal man," Dziedzic said. "Nothing suggested that something like this could happen." She said that on Thursday evening there was a concert and the hall was full. Everybody had left by 10 p.m. except the guard. "I left toward the end of the concert, saying 'goodnight' to Pawel," the guard, she said. "That was all." Dziedzic said she had never met the harpist, who arrived on Wednesday and took part in two rehearsals for a concert planned Friday. "I have no hypotheses, I still can't believe this happened," she said. The philharmonic orchestra will play Mozart's Requiem for the victims on March 22.

 

Accused Colorado gunman could be medicated for psychiatric exams

James Holmes, the man accused of murder in last summer's shooting rampage at a Colorado movie theater, could be given "medically appropriate" drugs during psychiatric interviews and possibly face a polygraph test if he chooses to raise an insanity defense, the judge in the case said on Monday. The ruling by Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester came a day before Holmes is scheduled to enter a plea in the case and over the objections of defense lawyers who have argued that Holmes should not be drugged while undergoing examinations by court-appointed psychiatrists. Holmes is accused of multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder in the July shooting rampage that killed 12 moviegoers and wounded 58 others during a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" Batman movie in the Denver suburb of Aurora. Sylvester, in court documents released on Monday, said it would be "permissible to conduct a narcoanalytic interview of you with such drugs as are medically appropriate, and to subject you to polygraph examination." Colorado law says that a defendant who pleads not guilty by reason of insanity must cooperate with court-appointed psychiatrists, which defense lawyers have said could violate Holmes' right not to incriminate himself. The Colorado tragedy stands as one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history and one that ranked briefly as the most lethal in 2012 - until 20 children and six adults were killed in December at a Connecticut elementary school.

 

China's auto sales up 19.5 percent in Jan-Feb

China's auto sales accelerated in the first two months of this year, rising 19.5 percent over the same period of 2012 in a possible positive sign for an economic recovery. Automakers sold 2.8 million cars in January and February, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported Monday. Total sales, including trucks and buses, rose 14.7 percent to 3.4 million vehicles. That growth was an improvement over 2012's full-year rate of 7.1 percent for cars and 4.3 percent for vehicles overall. "We expect cyclical recovery in the Chinese economy to continue in 2013," said JP Morgan economist Haibin Zhu in a report. "The gradual improvement in the macro environment would likely support some moderate growth in auto sales during the year." Global automakers are looking to China, the biggest market by number of vehicles sold, to drive revenues amid weakness elsewhere. Sales that grew by double digits in early 2012 decelerated due to an economic slump and ownership curbs imposed by some cities to control traffic and smog. The communist government is promoting auto manufacturing and ownership but has tried to fine-tune policies to encourage sales of smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. A government forecast in January said total vehicle sales should rise to 20.8 million this year, up from 19.3 million last year. General Motors Co., Nissan Motor Co. and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz have launched lower-priced Chinese brands for the vast but poor rural market. GM said sales of GM-brand vehicles by the company and its Chinese joint venture partners rose 7.9 percent in January and February over a year earlier to 525,835 vehicles. Ford Motor Co. said sales rose 46 percent to 105,209 vehicles. Nissan said its sales in January and February were down 14.1 percent from a year earlier to 174,000 vehicles. However, the company said that was an improvement after a plunge in sales last year. Sales of Japanese brands suffered due to tensions between Beijing and Tokyo over disputed islands in the East China Sea, which kept buyers away from the showrooms of Japanese automakers.

 

Facebook exec's new book urges women to 'lean in'

For a book that has yet to be released, Sheryl Sandberg's "Lean In" — part feminist manifesto, part how-to career guide — has got a lot of people talking. In the weeks leading up to the book's release on Monday, pundits and press hounds have been debating its merits. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd called Sandberg a "PowerPoint Pied Piper in Prada ankle boots," and countless bloggers have suggested that Facebook's chief operating officer is the wrong person to lead a women's movement. "Most of the criticism has to do with the position she is coming from," said Susan Yohn, professor and chair of Hofstra University's history department. Sandberg, 43, hopes that her message of empowerment won't be obscured by the lofty pedestal from which she speaks. But is the multi-millionaire with two Harvard degrees too rich to offer advice? Too successful? Does her blueprint for success ignore the plight of poor and working-class women? Does the book's very premise blame women for not rising to top corporate positions at the same rate as men? And just how big is her house? The questions keep coming largely because few people have actually read the book. But in it, Sandberg seems to have foreseen much of the criticism. The book acknowledges that critics might discount her feminist call to action with an easy-for-her-to-say shrug. "My hope is that my message will be judged on its merits," she writes in the preamble. Sandberg recognizes that parts of the book are targeted toward women who are in a position to make decisions about their careers. Still, she writes, "we can't avoid this conversation. This issue transcends all of us. The time is long overdue to encourage more women to dream the possible dream and encourage more men to support women in the workforce and in the home." Published by Alfred A. Knopf Inc., "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead" will be launched Thursday with a reception in New York City hosted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Arianna Huffington. It's true that Sandberg is wealthy. She also has a supportive husband. Mark Zuckerberg is her boss. And, yes, her home in Menlo Park, Calif., has 9,000 square feet. But as a woman in Silicon Valley, Sandberg hasn't exactly had it easy, and her tale shows she's no armchair activist. After all, not many women would march into their boss' office and demand special parking for expectant mothers. But Sandberg did just that when she worked at Google. Company founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin complied. After Sandberg moved to Facebook in 2008, she became even more outspoken on the issues facing women in corporate America. At a time when other executives, male or female, have largely stayed quiet, Sandberg has delivered speeches on topics such as "Why we have too few women leaders." And she's no workaholic. In an age of endless work hours, Sandberg is famous for leaving the office at 5:30 to spend time with her family. She does admit, however, to picking up work once her kids have gone to bed. Of the many inspirational slogans that hang on Facebook's walls, her favorite asks "What would you do if you weren't afraid?" ''Lean In" is about pushing past fear. "Fear is at the root of so many of the barriers that women face," she writes. "Fear of not being liked. Fear of making the wrong choice. Fear of drawing negative attention. Fear of overreaching. Fear of being judged. Fear of failure. And the holy trinity of fear: the fear of being a bad mother/wife/daughter." Sandberg peppers the book with studies, reports and personal anecdotes to back up her premise — that for reasons both in and out of their control, there are fewer woman leaders than men in the business world and beyond. For example, the Fortune 500 has only 21 female CEOs. Sandberg is among the 14 percent of women who hold executive officer positions and the 16 percent of women who hold board of director seats, according to Catalyst.org. For minority women, the numbers are even bleaker. Women of color, she writes, hold just 4 percent of top corporate jobs and 3 percent of board seats. "A truly equal world would be one where women ran half our countries and companies and men ran half our homes. I believe that this would be a better world," she writes. "The laws of economics and many studies of diversity tell us that if we tapped the entire pool of human resources and talent, our collective performance would improve." At less than 200 pages, plus a good chunk of footnotes, "Lean In" does not purport to be the end-all solution to inequality. It deals with issues Sandberg sees as in women's control. "Don't leave before you leave" is one of her catchphrases, aimed at successful women who gradually drop out of the workforce in anticipation of children they may someday bear. "Make your partner a real partner" is another. She says everyone should encourage men to "lean in" at home by being equal partners in parenting and housework. "Lean In" is, by and large, for women who are looking to climb the corporate ladder (which Sandberg calls a jungle gym), and ideally their male supporters. She hopes it's the start of a conversation. To that end, Sandberg plans to donate all of the proceeds to her newly minted nonprofit, LeanIn.org. Sandberg's book shares personal details that reveal a fair share of stumbles and lesser-known tidbits. Did you know she was an aerobics instructor in the 1980s —big hair, silver leotard and all? The book paints a picture of an exceptionally successful woman who admits to lacking confidence at various points in her career. Sandberg writes about the "ambition gap" between men and women in the workplace — that while men are expected to be driven, ambition in women can be seen as negative. She writes about parents' gender-based approaches to child rearing that teach girls to be "pretty like mommy" and boys "smart like daddy," as she's seen on baby onesies sold at Gymboree. And she writes about "feeling like a fraud" — that insidious notion, felt largely by women but men as well, that success is due not to one's own merit but to some sort of gross oversight or accident. Sandberg's book comes half a century after Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique," which identified "the problem that has no name" among largely white, suburban housewives who felt unhappy and unfulfilled in their roles at home. Friedan, too, was criticized for focusing on a privileged swath of womankind. In a recent critical piece on Sandberg's movement, Michael Kazin wrote in the New Republic that, like Friedan, Sandberg, "also seems primarily concerned with the economics of gender. But there's a key difference: Friedan didn't share a view from the corporate boardroom." Kazin's barbs echo most of the book's pre-release criticism. But some writers have gone further. In a Washington Post op-ed, Melissa Gira Grant dismissed Sandberg's "Lean In" movement as "simply the elite leading the slightly-less-elite, for the sake of Sandberg's bottom line." Dowd wrote that she believes "Sandberg has co-opted the vocabulary and romance of a social movement not to sell a cause, but herself." In the end, "Lean In" is a call to action to make it easier for women to become leaders. It's a call for women to take space at the table, raise their hands, speak up and step up. It's a personal account of a woman who, through a mix of talent, luck and ambition, but also with plenty of internal and external obstacles along the way, managed to do that. Feminist icon Gloria Steinem, whom Sandberg thanks in the acknowledgements and cites as inspiration, praises "Lean In" on her Facebook page, saying that it "addresses internalized oppression, opposes external barriers that create it and urges women to support each other to fight both." She adds that even the book's critics "are making a deep if inadvertent point: Only in women is success viewed as a barrier to giving advice."

 

Does Circumcision Hurt Sexual Pleasure? Study Draws Fire

A new study suggesting that circumcision can decrease sexual pleasure is drawing the fire of scientists in the field, who say the findings are flawed. The study, published in February in the British Journal of Urology International, found that circumcised men reported less sexual sensitivity than their uncut brethren. But several experts say the study has too many weaknesses to draw any conclusions from it. "The study is pretty flawed," said Douglas Diekema, a pediatrics professor at the University of Washington, who was part of the American Academy of Pediatrics 2012 task force on circumcision. "I read the conclusion and then I read the study, and I said, 'Wow, they went overboard in what they're concluding.'" The study used a biased sample population, didn't measure sensitivity changes before and after circumcision, and found only a tiny difference between the two groups, which is clinically meaningless, making it impossible to conclude from the results that circumcision reduces sexual sensitivity, several experts said. [5 Things You Didn't Know About Circumcision] Cutting debate Whether parents should circumcise their baby boys is a topic of passionate debate. Studies show circumcision reduces HIV transmission in high-prevalence areas, such as Africa, and reduces urinary tract infection and penile cancer incidence. Having the procedure done in infants is less complicated than circumcising adults. But anti-circumcision activists (sometimes referred to as intactivists) denounce it as performing a medically unnecessary procedure on babies who are unable to give consent. Some also argue that the operation itself is painful and permanently reduces sexual sensitivity. The American Academy of Pediatrics has concluded that circumcision's benefits outweigh its risks and that no well-done studies find a reduction of sensitivity. Two large studies of a random sample of men in Africa found no difference in sexual pleasure after circumcision between those who'd had been snipped and those who hadn't, Michael Brady, chairman of the pediatrics department at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio, who worked on those trials, wrote in an email. And a January study of about 10,000 German men found no difference in erectile function based on circumcision status. Sensitivity findings The current study recruited 1,059 uncircumcised and 310 circumcised men from Belgium through leaflets and advertising at various locations such as railway stations. They then invited the men to answer about 40 questions rating sensitivity, pain and unusual sensations at different locations on their penis on a scale of 1 to 5. The survey typically took two hours to complete. [10 Odd Facts About the Male Body] Uncircumcised men rated their glans (bulbous tip of penis) and foreskin, which covers the glans when the penis is flaccid, as slightly more sensitive and likely to bring them to orgasm than circumcised men. (The foreskin is what gets removed during circumcision.) Circumcised men reported a slight increase in pain or unusual sensation on the lower side of the penis, said study co-author Piet Hoebeke, a pediatric urologist at Ghent University Hospital in Belgium. Flawed sample But the sample population may be problematic, Diekema said. Belgian men typically only get circumcised for medical reasons, meaning circumcised respondents may have problems unrelated to circumcision. People who are willing to spend two hours filling out a questionnaire on penile sensitivity probably don't reflect the general population, he said. And the fact that the number of circumcised men in the study was higher than in the general population suggests the population was biased, researchers said. Miniscule difference In addition, the differences in sexual sensitivity only appeared for some parts of the penis and were so minuscule — at most a few tenths and sometimes just three-hundredths of a point on a 5-point scale — that they probably have no clinical relevance, several researchers said. But study co-author Justine Schober, a pediatric urologist at Rockefeller University in New York, who created the rating scale, said the current study has much more ability to detect differences in genital sensitivity than past studies, which simply asked people yes or no questions about their sexual function. "If you have very carefully constructed questions then you get very detailed information," Schober told LiveScience. But the very detailed questions actually make the results less, not more, sound, said Brian Morris, a biologist from the University of Sydney, who was not involved in the study. When people ask dozens of questions, statistics predict that you will get some significant differences between groups just by chance, Morris said. Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter @tiaghose. Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com. 5 Myths About the Male Body The Sex Quiz: Myths, Taboos and Bizarre Facts The Weirdest Animal Penises Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

Huron wins dismissal of whistleblower lawsuit

Huron Consulting Group Inc won the dismissal Tuesday of a whistleblower lawsuit accusing it of causing a New York hospital to receive more than $30 million in inflated payments under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan ruled against Associates Against Outlier Fraud, which brought the lawsuit under the federal False Claims Act and a similar New York state law. The lawsuit also named as a defendant Empire HealthChoice Assurance Inc, which acted as the fiscal intermediary that serviced the hospital, St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center, during the time in question. "We believed from the beginning of the case that the allegations were without merit and are gratified to have the case dismissed with prejudice," said Jennifer Frost Hennagir, a spokeswoman for Huron. Philip Michael, a lawyer for the whistleblower, said he was disappointed by the decision. "We're examining it to determine what our next step would be," he said. In its annual report filed February 21, Huron said it had held preliminary settlement talks with Associates Against Outlier Fraud and, as a result, recorded a $1.2 million charge in the second quarter of 2012. Asked if the settlement offer was still on the table, Hennagir said no. Adopted during the Civil War era, the False Claims Act allows individuals to bring lawsuits on behalf of the U.S. government against companies that have defrauded it. Those whistleblowers share in any settlement that might result. The government also has the option to intervene in the lawsuits. It did not in the Huron case, leaving the whistleblower to pursue it on its own. The lawsuit, filed in 2009, centered on events surrounding the restructuring of St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center and its 2005 bankruptcy filing. It was filed by Associates Against Outlier Fraud, which is solely owned by Steven Landgraber, who worked as an accountant consultant at St. Vincent's from 2005 to 2006. According to the lawsuit, St. Vincent's had hired consulting firm Speltz & Weis in 2003 to help turn its business around. Huron later acquired Speltz & Weis in 2005. The lawsuit contended that Huron caused false claims to be made under Medicaid and Medicare for supplemental reimbursement of unusually high in-patient care costs. But Rakoff in his decision Tuesday said the whistleblower had been unable to support the fundamental allegation in its complaint with facts or law. Huron's conduct was at worst "bad practice" but not forbidden by regulation or standard practice, he wrote. "There is, in sum, no law, rule, regulation or fact rendering Huron's submission of outlier-producing bills under these circumstances false or fraudulent," Rakoff said. A lawyer for Empire did not respond to a request for comment. The case is United States of America, et al. v. Huron Consulting Group, Inc., et al., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 09-01800. (Reporting By Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Stephen Coates)