'The Hobbit' tops box office with record $84.6M

NEW YORK (AP) — Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" led the box office over the weekend with $84.6 million, a record-setting opening better than the three previous "Lord of the Rings" films.

The 3-D Middle Earth epic, the first of three planned films adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien's novel, was the biggest December opening ever, surpassing Will Smith's "I Am Legend," which opened with $77.2 million in 2007.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey," Warner Bros., $84,617,303, 4,045 locations, $20,919 average, $84,617,303, one week.

2. "Rise of the Guardians," Paramount, $7,143,445, 3,387 locations, $2,109 average, $71,085,268, four weeks.

3. "Lincoln," Disney, $7,033,132, 2,285 locations, $3,078 average, $107,687,319, six weeks.

4. "Skyfall," Sony, $6,555,732, 2,924 locations, $2,242 average, $271,921,795, six weeks.

5. "Life of Pi," Fox, $5,413,066, 2,548 locations, $2,124 average, $69,572,472, four weeks.

6. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2," Summit, $5,136,074, 3,042 locations, $1,688 average, $276,826,143, five weeks.

7. "Wreck-It Ralph," Disney, $3,216,043, 2,249 locations, $1,430 average, $168,721,592, seven weeks.

8. "Playing For Keeps," FilmDistrict, $3,146,443, 2,840 locations, $1,108 average, $10,737,535, two weeks.

9. "Red Dawn," FilmDistrict, $2,408,882, 2,250 locations, $1,071 average, $40,904,305, four weeks.

10. "Silver Linings Playbook," Weinstein Co., $2,109,274, 371 locations, $5,685 average, $16,979,323, five weeks.

11. "Flight," Paramount, $1,910,666, 1,823 locations, $1,048 average, $89,418,704, seven weeks.

12. "Argo," Warner Bros., $1,170,175, 667 locations, $1,754 average, $104,955,079, 10 weeks.

13. "Hitchcock," Fox Searchlight, $1,107,659, 561 locations, $1,974 average, $3,071,871, four weeks.

14. "Anna Karenina," Focus, $1,022,214, 409 locations, $2,499 average, $8,380,517, five weeks.

15. "Killing Them Softly," Weinstein Co., $1,008,127, 1,427 locations, $706 average, $14,140,432, three weeks.

16. "The Collection," LD Entertainment, $529,158, 621 locations, $852 average, $6,520,794, three weeks.

17. "Hyde Park On Hudson," Focus, $292,796, 36 locations, $8,133 average, $404,816, two weeks.

18. "Taken 2," Fox, $288,772, 339 locations, $852 average, $138,132,493, 11 weeks.

19. "Pitch Perfect," Universal, $245,680, 332 locations, $740 average, $63,869,423, 12 weeks.

20. "Talaash," Reliance Big Pictures, $168,828, 113 locations, $1,494 average, $2,706,375, three weeks.

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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Experts: No link between Asperger's, violence

NEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.

Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.

"There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Little is known about Adam Lanza, identified by police as the shooter in the Friday massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. He fatally shot his mother before going to the school and killing 20 young children, six adults and himself, authorities said.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation, said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's.

High school classmates and others have described him as bright but painfully shy, anxious and a loner. Those kinds of symptoms are consistent with Asperger's, said psychologist Eric Butter of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who treats autism, including Asperger's, but has no knowledge of Lanza's case.

Research suggests people with autism do have a higher rate of aggressive behavior — outbursts, shoving or pushing or angry shouting — than the general population, he said.

"But we are not talking about the kind of planned and intentional type of violence we have seen at Newtown," he said in an email.

"These types of tragedies have occurred at the hands of individuals with many different types of personalities and psychological profiles," he added.

Autism is a developmental disorder that can range from mild to severe. Asperger's generally is thought of as a mild form. Both autism and Asperger's can be characterized by poor social skills, repetitive behavior or interests and problems communicating. Unlike classic autism, Asperger's does not typically involve delays in mental development or speech.

Experts say those with autism and related disorders are sometimes diagnosed with other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

"I think it's far more likely that what happened may have more to do with some other kind of mental health condition like depression or anxiety rather than Asperger's," Laugeson said.

She said those with Asperger's tend to focus on rules and be very law-abiding.

"There's something more to this," she said. "We just don't know what that is yet."

After much debate, the term Asperger's is being dropped from the diagnostic manual used by the nation's psychiatrists. In changes approved earlier this month, Asperger's will be incorporated under the umbrella term "autism spectrum disorder" for all the ranges of autism.

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AP Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.

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Online:

Asperger's information: http://1.usa.gov/3tGSp5

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Fate of massacre site can help healing

AURORA, Colo. (AP) — As Newtown, Conn., grieves the deadly mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, victims' families and residents will eventually have to decide what to do with the building and how to memorialize the fallen.

Will they decide to demolish the school where authorities say Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults before killing himself? Or just the parts where he opened fire? Will there be a memorial on school grounds, or in town? Or both?

Whatever they choose, it will give them a measure of control over a situation in which they have had very little, said Dr. Louis Kraus, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

"To be able to have some control and say in that process I think is going to be very important" to the healing process, he said.

Here's a look at what communities that have faced deadly mass shootings have done:

— After a white supremacist opened fire in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., in August, killing six people and injuring four, temple officials held a purifying ceremony and removed bloodstained carpeting, repaired shattered windows and painted over gunfire-scarred walls.

But they left one reminder of the violence — a dime-size bullet hole in the door jamb leading to the prayer room. The hole is now marked with a small gold plate engraved with "We Are One. 8-5-12."

"It frames the wound," Pardeep Kaleka, son of former temple president Satwant Singh Kaleka, who died in the massacre, said recently. "The wound of our community, the wound of our family, the wound of our society."

— After a gunman killed 12 people at a midnight showing of the Batman movie in Aurora, Colo., more than 70 percent of the 6,300 people who responded to an online survey wanted the theater reopened.

A memorial that sprang up near the theater is gone but a new sign offers sympathy to those suffering from the nation's latest mass shooting —"Newtown, CT We feel your pain."

— In Norway, extensive remodeling is planned on the small island of Utoya, where 69 people, more than half of them teenagers attending summer camp, were killed by a far-right gunman in 2011.

Utoya's main building, a cafeteria where 13 of the victims were shot to death, will be torn down and replaced by a cluster of new buildings surrounding a square, creating the feel of a "small village," project manager Joergen Frydnes said.

The idea is to bring back the positive atmosphere that characterized Utoya before the tragedy, he said. There was no summer camp this year and it's unclear when the left-wing youth group will be back at Utoya for what used to be its annual highlight.

Frydnes said it will happen, eventually.

— At Virginia Tech, the scene of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, a classroom building where a student gunman killed 30 people in April 2007 is now home to the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention.

A dormitory where the two other students were killed has been turned into a residential college. The gunman killed himself.

As at many other scenes of mass shootings, a memorial was created on the campus' main lawn recreating the 32 stones — one for each person killed — placed there in the hours after tragedy.

— In Pennsylvania, an Amish community quickly decided that removing a schoolhouse where five girls were killed and five others were wounded in October 2006 by a gunman would be the best way to help bring resolution, mainly out of sensitivity to their children.

Ten days after the shooting, heavy machinery moved in before dawn to demolish the West Nickel Mines Amish School, making the site indistinguishable from the surrounding pasture.

New Hope Amish School, its replacement with added security features, was built a few hundred yards away and opened April 2, 2007 — six months to the day after the massacre.

— After a man killed 16 children and a teacher at a primary school gymnasium in Dunblane, Scotland, before turning the gun on himself, authorities demolished the gym.

The site of the gym is now a small garden that includes a plaque with the names of all the victims, most of whom were aged 5. A new gym was built on the school grounds.

Two miles from the school, on the outskirts of the town, is a community center built after a vote on how to spend the money donated from well-wishers around the world.

On the night of the Newtown shooting, some people came to the center and lit candles, said Stewart Prodger, a trustee of the charity that runs the center.

— After two students went on a deadly rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in April 1999, students finished the year at another school. Columbine reopened in time for the following school year after extensive repairs.

"The intent of the school district is to put this back as a high school," Jack Swanzy, lead architect on the refurbishing project, said at the time. "We don't want to make it a shrine to the tragedy."

School district officials originally considered remodeling and reopening the second-floor library, where most of the students were killed, but parents objected and asked that it be demolished and replaced.

The district eventually agreed and the old library, which sat above the school cafeteria, was removed and the space converted into an atrium.

A memorial to those killed — 12 students and a teacher — opened years later on a hill above the school. The broad oval sunken into the rolling terrain still attracts people.

On Friday, after the Newtown shooting, Amber Essman, 24, made her first visit. She was in grade school at the time of the shooting and had been hesitant to visit before because of the emotions it would bring up.

She wanted to pay belated respects to those killed at Columbine and provide some comfort to their families. "They need comfort and peace today in addition to the families in Connecticut that have been affected," she said.

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Associated Press writers Karl Ritter in Stockholm, Dinesh Ramde in Milwaukee, Michael Felberbaum in Richmond, Va., Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pa., and Ben McConville in Edinburgh, Scotland, contributed to this report.

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Rocket still centerpiece as NKoreans mourn Kim

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea parlayed the success of last week's rocket launch to glorify leader Kim Jong Un and his late father on Sunday, the eve of the first anniversary of his death.

The successful firing the rocket on Wednesday — ostensibly to place a satellite in space — was a clear sign that Kim will continue carrying out his father Kim Jong Il's policies even if they draw sanctions and international condemnation.

The West sees the rocket as a thinly disguised way of carrying out U.N-banned tests of long-range missile technology, which it says not only threatens regional stability but is also a waste of resources when the country is struggling with a chronic food shortage.

There are concerns also that in upcoming weeks, Pyongyang will press ahead with a nuclear test, necessary in the march toward building a warhead small enough to be carried by a long-range missile.

At a somber memorial service Sunday, North Korea's top leadership eulogized Kim Jong Il and his son, who is certain to have gained national prestige and clout by going ahead with the rocket launch.

Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of North Korea's parliament, credited Kim Jong Il with building Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, and called the satellite launch a "shining victory" and an emblem of the promise that lies ahead with his son in power.

Top military official Choe Ryong Hae, meanwhile, warned that the army was prepared to defend the country's sovereignty.

Wednesday's launch was North Korea's second attempt in eight months to fulfill Kim Jong Il's 14-year quest to put a satellite into space. International experts confirmed that the rocket succeeded in reaching space.

Criticism of the launch was swift. The United States called it a covert test of missile technology, and U.N. Security Council condemned the launch as a violation of resolutions barring Pyongyang from developing its nuclear and missile programs.

However, the launch fit neatly into the preparations to mark the first anniversary of Kim's death and the rise of his young son.

Even before his death, Kim Jong Il had laid the ground for his son to inherit a government with national policies focused on science, technology and improving the economy. The son has been characterized as forward-thinking and tech-savvy — and the kind of man bold enough to take a gamble on a tricky rocket launch.

A launch in April, sent amid festivities to mark the centenary of the birth of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, ended in failure shortly after liftoff.

Kim Jong Un made clear his intention to treat Wednesday's successful launch as a gift to his father.

He invited scientists in charge of the launch from a west coast launch pad to Pyongyang for the mourning rites, including a visit to the mausoleum where Kim Jong Il's body is believed to be lying in state "to report to him" on the success of the launch, according to state media.

Kim Jong Il's body has not been seen since the funeral that followed his Dec. 17, 2011, death of a heart attack. The mausoleum that houses the embalmed body of his father, Kim Il Sung, is expected to reopen this week. Both bodies will then be on display.

The mood in North Korea has been subdued this month in the run-up to the anniversary. However, news of the launch cheered people and the regime held a mass rally on Friday at the main plaza in Pyongyang.

Starting Saturday, North Koreans began streaming to a bronze statue of Kim on Mansu Hill and to Kim Il Sung Square to pay their respects, many laying white mourning flowers and bowing before his image.

On Sunday, a solemn Kim Jong Un joined the memorial service at the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium on the eve of the anniversary of Kim Jong Il's death.

Kim, whose entrances and exits usually are accompanied by a triumphant welcome song and a swell of cheers, entered the stage in silence, followed by top Workers' Party, government and Korean People's Army officials, as well as his aunt and uncle.

A military band played the militaristic "Song of Gen. Kim Jong Il" as officials and the audience bowed toward the massive portrait of Kim hung above the stage.

Tight security surrounded the gymnasium near Pyongyang's Pothong Gate. Armed soldiers in helmets posted along the street outside diverted traffic and pedestrians while more guarded every entrance to the building. The handful of foreign journalists allowed to cover the event, including The Associated Press, were searched by armed soldiers.

In his speech, Kim Yong Nam called Kim Jong Il a "peerless patriot" who strengthened the military and stood up to the United States.

The U.S. and North Korea signed a truce, not a peace treaty, at the close of the 1950-53 Korean War, and Pyongyang cites American troops in South Korea as a key reason for building its atomic weapons program.

As the hourlong ceremony came to a close, the band briefly played the mournful refrain to "The General Will Always be With Us." After the musicians put down their instruments, Kim Jong Un stood up and led a silent procession out.

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Associated Press writer Hyung-jin Kim contributed to this report from Seoul, South Korea. Follow AP's bureau chief for Pyongyang and Seoul at www.twitter.com/newsjean.

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Cisco hires bank to sell home wireless router unit: report

(Reuters) – Networking equipment company Cisco Systems Inc has hired Barclays to sell its Linksys home router unit, a report said on Sunday.

The business, which Cisco acquired for $ 500 million in 2003, will likely be valued for less because it has low margins, according to Bloomberg.

The sale is part of Cisco’s strategy to shed its consumer unit and focus on its software and technology services businesses.

Last year, Cisco axed its Flip camera business as part of this strategy.

(Reporting By Olivia Oran; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

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'Hobbit' bests 'Rings' with $84.8 million opening

NEW YORK (AP) — Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" led the box office with a haul of $84.8 million, a record-setting opening better than the three previous "Lord of the Rings" films.

The Warner Bros. Middle Earth epic was the biggest December opening ever, surpassing Will Smith's "I Am Legend," which opened with $77.2 million in 2007, according to studio estimates Sunday. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" also passed the December opening of "Avatar," which opened with $77 million. Internationally, "The Hobbit" also added $138.2 million, for an impressive global debut of $223 million.

Despite weak reviews, the 3-D adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's first novel in the fantasy series was an even bigger draw than the last "Lord of the Rings" movie, "The Return of the King." That film opened with $72.6 million. "The Hobbit" is the first of another planned trilogy, with two more films to be squeezed out of Tolkien's book.

While Jackson's "Rings" movies drew many accolades — "The Return of the King" won best picture from the Academy Awards — the path for "The Hobbit" has been rockier. It received no Golden Globes nominations on Thursday, though all three "Rings" films were nominated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for best picture.

Particularly criticized has been the film's 48-frames-per-second (double the usual rate), a hyper-detailed look that some have found jarring. Most moviegoers didn't see "The Hobbit" in that version, though, as the new technology was rolled out in only 461 of the 4,045 theaters playing the film.

Regardless of any misgivings over "The Hobbit," the film was a hit with audiences. They graded the film with an "A'' CinemaScore.

"What's really important, what makes this special is the CinemaScore," said Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros. "All these things point to a great word of mouth. We haven't even made it to the Christmas holidays yet. Kids are still in school this week."

The strong opening culminated a long journey for "The Hobbit," which was initially delayed when a lawsuit dragged on between Jackson and "Rings" producer New Line Cinema over merchandizing revenue. At one point, Guillermo del Toro was to direct the film with Jackson producing. But eventually the filmmaker opted to direct the movie himself, originally envisioning two "Hobbit" films. The production also went through the bankruptcy of distribution partner MGM and a labor dispute in New Zealand, where the film was shot.

The long delay for "The Hobbit," nearly a decade after the last "Lord of the Rings" film, made it "one of those movies that had everyone scratching their heads as to how it would open," said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

"It's been a decade since the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy concluded," said Dergarabedian. "There's been so much anticipation for this film and having Peter Jackson back at the helm just made it irresistible both to fans and the non-initiated alike."

"The Hobbit" was far and away the biggest draw in theaters, with no other new wide release. Paramount's "Rise of the Guardians" continued to draw the family crowd, with $7.4 million, bringing its cumulative total to $71.4 million. The Oscar contender "Lincoln" from Walt Disney crossed the $100 million mark, adding another $7.2 million to bring its six-week total to $107.9 million. And Sony's James Bond film "Skyfall," with another $7 million domestically, drew closer to a global take of $1 billion.

The box office continued to be on the upswing and with anticipated releases like "Les Miserables," ''Django Unchained" and "The Guilt Trip" approaching in the holiday moviegoing season. Dergarabedian expects the year to break the 2009 record of $10.6 billion. With some $10.2 billion in revenue thus far, he said, "We're on track to be in that realm."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," $84.8 million ($138.2 million international).

2. "Rise of the Guardians," $7.4 million ($20.1 million international).

3. "Lincoln," $7.2 million.

4. "Skyfall," $7 million ($12.2 million international).

5. "Life of Pi," $5.4 million ($11.5 million international).

6. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2," $5.2 million ($13 million international).

7. "Wreck-It Ralph," $3.3million ($4.7 million international).

8. "Playing for Keeps," $3.2 million ($1.4 million international).

9. "Red Dawn," $2.4 million.

10. "Silver Linings Playbook," $2 million ($370,000 international).

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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," $138.2 million.

2. "Rise of the Guardians," $20. 1 million.

3. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2," $13 million.

4. "Skyfall," $12.2 million.

5. "Life of Pi," $11.5 million.

6. "Wreck-It Ralph," $4.7 million.

7. "26 Years," $3.5 million.

8. "Whatcha Wearin'? (My P.S. Partner)," $3 million.

9. "Tutto Tutto Niente Niente," $2.4 million.

10. "Pitch Perfect," $2.3 million.

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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Experts: No link between Asperger's, violence

NEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.

Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.

"There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Little is known about Adam Lanza, identified by police as the shooter in the Friday massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. He fatally shot his mother before going to the school and killing 20 young children, six adults and himself, authorities said.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation, said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's.

High school classmates and others have described him as bright but painfully shy, anxious and a loner. Those kinds of symptoms are consistent with Asperger's, said psychologist Eric Butter of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who treats autism, including Asperger's, but has no knowledge of Lanza's case.

Research suggests people with autism do have a higher rate of aggressive behavior — outbursts, shoving or pushing or angry shouting — than the general population, he said.

"But we are not talking about the kind of planned and intentional type of violence we have seen at Newtown," he said in an email.

"These types of tragedies have occurred at the hands of individuals with many different types of personalities and psychological profiles," he added.

Autism is a developmental disorder that can range from mild to severe. Asperger's generally is thought of as a mild form. Both autism and Asperger's can be characterized by poor social skills, repetitive behavior or interests and problems communicating. Unlike classic autism, Asperger's does not typically involve delays in mental development or speech.

Experts say those with autism and related disorders are sometimes diagnosed with other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

"I think it's far more likely that what happened may have more to do with some other kind of mental health condition like depression or anxiety rather than Asperger's," Laugeson said.

She said those with Asperger's tend to focus on rules and be very law-abiding.

"There's something more to this," she said. "We just don't know what that is yet."

After much debate, the term Asperger's is being dropped from the diagnostic manual used by the nation's psychiatrists. In changes approved earlier this month, Asperger's will be incorporated under the umbrella term "autism spectrum disorder" for all the ranges of autism.

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AP Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Asperger's information: http://1.usa.gov/3tGSp5

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Newtown residents seek solace in church and prepare to bury their dead

A couple leaves a morning service at Trinity Church not far from the Sandy Hook School on Sunday. (Getty)

NEWTOWN, Conn. -- Residents of this shell shocked community attended church services and prepared to bury their dead two days after a gunman mowed down more than two dozen people in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.

President Barack Obama left the White House mid-afternoon Sunday to head to Newtown, where he was to meet with first responders and families of the 20 children and 6 adults who perished Friday at Sandy Hook School. Funeral directors across the state were lending their help in preparing the dead, including 20 children, for burial.

But the ritual of Sunday worship even turned chaotic for some residents. St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church was evacuated during its noon mass after an unidentified man called in threats to the congregation.

At Newtown United Methodist Church, senior pastor Mel Kawakami said he's not sure he's ready to forgive the suspected shooter, identified by police as 20-year old Adam Lanza. Lanza allegedly shot and killed his mother in the home they shared before blasting into the school he once attended.

"I'm not sure I'm there yet. My heart is still broken," Kawakami told the packed congregation at  the 10 a.m. service. Pews were lined with Kleenex boxes in the church, which is located less than a half-mile from the school.

Before Rev. Kawakami's sermon, many parents dropped their children off on a lower floor to shield them from a discussion of the tragedy.

Prayers were offered for the victims and for an end to gun violence. One father asked that the congregation pray for his son's best friend, who died at the school.

The altar was lit with 28 candles, one for each of the dead. "Yes, even the shooter," Kawakami said.

Kawakami said the community might one day find forgiveness. Meanwhile, he said, "We have more to mourn, and children and adults to bury."

Funeral directors across the state were already at work helping the lone Newtown funeral home prepare the victims for burial.

Six Connecticut funeral directors have traveled to Newtown's Honan Funeral Home, a family-owned facility located two miles from the site of the shooting, to help coordinate with families of the deceased.

The Connecticut Funeral Director's Association, which has 220 members, is matching the funeral directors receiving bodies of the deceased with others who have offered support in the form of transportation, caskets and cosmetics, spokeswoman Laura Soll said.

Soll said offers for help have come from all corners—everything from Canadian funeral homes to a tent company offering to donate a tent for guests at the Honan location.

At St. Rose of Lima's early morning mass, signs saying "No Press" greeted churchgoers.

Some hugged each other in the parking lot before making their way into the church, pausing briefly at a table filled with at a table dotted with candles. Others paused, pointing to the crush of media camped along the side of the road.

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Conservative party favored as Japanese vote

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese voted Sunday in parliamentary elections that were expected to put the once-dominant conservatives back in power after a three-year break — and bring in a more nationalistic government amid tensions with big neighbor China.

Major newspapers were predicting the Liberal Democratic Party, led by the hawkish former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, would win a majority of the seats in the 480-seat lower house of parliament, although surveys also showed that many voters remained undecided just days before the election.

Voters have soured on the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, which won a landslide victory in 2009 but could not deliver on a string of campaign pledges. They are also upset over Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's push to double the sales tax, a move he argues is necessary to meet rising social security costs as the nation rapidly grays.

Disillusionment with politics is running high in Japan, as is confusion over a hodgepodge of small, new parties that have sprung up in recent months espousing a variety of not always coherent policy views. One has a nationalistic image, while another is staunchly anti-nuclear, tapping into grass-roots opposition to atomic power in the wake of last year's disasters in Fukushima.

Toshiyuki Kataoka, a 67-year-old retiree from Chiba, east of Tokyo, said that the Democrats proved to be novices running the country. "It was someone driving on a learner's permit," he said. But he added that he's willing to support them again because he's worried about the nationalistic influence of the LDP.

"The LDP ruled for many years, and you can't expect the Democrats to fix everything in three years," he said. "Japan does seem to be turning to the right, and I don't want to be a part of that."

But not many Japanese were likely to be as forgiving as Kataoka.

With Japan stuck in a two-decade economic slump and pressured by an increasingly assertive China, voters may be turning back to the LDP, which guided the country for most of the post-World War II era, after taking a chance on the Democrats and being let down. The DPJ failed to carry out numerous promises, including cash handouts to families with children, eradicating wasteful spending and moving a controversial U.S. military base off of the southern island of Okinawa.

The country must also cope with an aging, shrinking population, a bulging national debt and intensifying competition from Asian neighbors such as South Korea, Taiwan and China, all of which have territorial disputes with Japan.

"This election is about punishing the DPJ," said Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University, suggesting the LDP's appeal may be its "brand image" as the "perpetual, natural party in power."

"It seems to me that people are driven by nostalgia, as they seem to want to bring the LDP back to power because they lack better alternatives," he said.

One upstart party that is drawing a fair amount of interest and could be a part of a ruling coalition if the LDP doesn't get a majority is the populist, right-leaning Japan Restoration Party, led by two of the country's most outspoken politicians, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, who at 80 is nearly twice Hashimoto's age. Both exhibit forceful — critics would say dictatorial — leadership styles. The party also wants to amend the constitution to elect the prime minister by popular vote and abolish the less powerful upper house of parliament, but is divided on nuclear power.

The brand new Tomorrow Party, led by a female governor, Yukiko Kada, wants to eliminate nuclear power plants within 10 years, opposes the tax hike and advocates more money for families. But its image has been tainted by linking up with former DPJ power broker Ichiro Ozawa, whom many Japanese voters don't trust.

If the LDP wins the most seats, the hawkish Abe would almost certainly get a second stab as prime minister. He would be Japan's seventh prime minister in about 6 1/2 years.

His previous tenure, a one-year stint in 2006-2007, was marked by a nationalistic agenda, pressing for more patriotic education and upgrading the defense agency to ministry status. Abe also said there was no proof Japan's military had coerced Chinese, Korean and other women into prostitution in military brothels during World War II. He later apologized but lately has suggested that a landmark 1993 apology for sex slavery may need revising.

During the campaign, Abe has taken a strong stand against China in an ongoing territorial dispute over some tiny, uninhabited islands in the East China Sea controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan. The LDP platform calls developing fisheries and posting permanent staffing of public officials on the islands, called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.

Beset with a host of domestic problems, Japan has been receding behind China as the region's most important economic player, and the promise of a strong, assertive country resonates with many voters, even if they are suspicious of doing that through military power.

"We want somebody who can be a tough diplomatic negotiator and who can take a strong leadership," Seishi Kobayashi, a company employee in his 40s who is wavering between voting for the LDP or the upstart Japan Restoration Party, said Saturday. "I still can't make up my mind. Plus, whoever you vote may team up with parties with totally different policies, so you have to be careful. In this country, the election is not really about policies. But this time around, we should make a sound choice, or we are going to suffer for 10, 20 years to come."

With so much turnover in Japan's leadership — one prime minister a year over the last six years — Kataoka, the retiree from Chiba, wonders if the public's expectations are too high.

"It seems like we're searching for a messiah," he said.

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Samsung Smart TVs: The next frontier for data theft and hacking [video]

Smart TVs, particularly Samsung’s (005930) last few generations of flat screens, can be hacked to give attackers remote access according to a security startup called ReVuln. The company says it discovered a “zero-day exploit” that hackers could potentially use to perform malicious activities that range from stealing accounts linked through apps to using built-in webcams and microphones to spy on unsuspecting couch potatoes. Don’t panic just yet, though. In order for the exploit to be activated, a hacker needs to plug a USB drive loaded with malicious software into the actual TV to bypass the Linux-based OS/firmware on Samsung’s Smart TVs. But, if a hacker were to pull that off, every piece of data stored on a Smart TV could theoretically be retrieved.

[More from BGR: Has the iPhone peaked? Apple’s iPhone 4S seen outselling iPhone 5]

[More from BGR: Dell confirms it will exit smartphone business, drop Android]

As if the possibility of someone stealing your information and spying on you isn’t scary enough, according to ComputerWorld, “it is also possible to copy the configuration of a TV’s remote control, which would allow a hacker to copy the remote control’s settings, and remotely change the channel.”

ReVuln told The Register it hasn’t informed Samsung of the vulnerability and plans to sell the details of in hopes of “speeding up” development of a fix. A video of the exploit as proof from ReVuln follows below.

This article was originally published by BGR

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