'Ripper Street' stars Macfadyen, 1880s London

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Matthew Macfadyen is perfectly presentable in jeans and a crewneck sweater that coordinates nicely with the blue of his eyes.

But the look is far from the elegant attire he wore as Mr. Darcy opposite Keira Knightley's Elizabeth in the 2005 film "Pride & Prejudice." And his posture is just as casual, which he acknowledges might offend the aristocratic character's diehard fans.

"You're slouching! What are you doing? Stand up straight, man!" Macfadyen says, teasing himself.

He looks back fondly on what he calls the "iconic" role drawn from Jane Austen's novel. But the British actor who's also known to audiences for his part as an intelligence officer in the series "MI-5" ("Spooks" in the U.K.) welcomes the chance to switch gears.

"I, as most actors, want to mix it up and do different things. Otherwise it gets boring and tiresome, not only for yourself but for everyone else seeing you do the same kind of thing," he said. "The joy of being an actor is to play different parts, do something different."

Macfadyen's latest chance for diversity comes in "Ripper Street," an 1880s police drama set on the gritty and untamed streets of London's East End around the period that serial killer Jack the Ripper terrorized the area.

The series, starring Macfadyen as Detective Inspector Edmund Reid, debuts Saturday (9 p.m. EST) on BBC America after starting its British run this month. BBC America is home to another rough-and-tumble, 18th-century police drama, "Copper," set in 1860s New York City and the channel's first original scripted series.

The mysterious and brutal Jack the Ripper has been recycled throughout pop culture in films including 1979's "Time After Time" and 2001's "From Hell" with Johnny Depp. But series creator Richard Warlow said the killer is a backdrop and invisible character for "Ripper Street."

"What we wanted to do really was to tell stories about the streets down which he walked and committed his crimes in the wake of those terrible murders," Warlow said, "and how it affected the community and, most importantly, the police that tried and failed to catch him."

Each episode will include what he called a "stand-alone crime" as well as pull at the thread of Reid's life, including those surrounding him at work and at home.

Macfadyen said he was reluctant to take on another series after two plus-seasons on "MI-5" because of TV's demanding production schedules. Then the "Ripper Street" pilot script came his way last year.

"I thought the Jack the Ripper thing had been done before ... but I loved it. The thing that was most attractive was the language and the way he (Warlow) constructs the sentences ... they feel very muscular without feeling sort of wanky and silly. ... They feel very muscular."

There is an antiquated eloquence to the dialogue that contrasts with the drama's mean streets and violent sexuality of the first case tackled by Reid and his cohorts, police Sgt. Bennet Drake (Jerome Flynn, "Game of Thrones") and American forensics whiz Capt. Homer Jackson (Adam Rothenberg, "The Ex List").

Macfadyen said he was drawn to his character's modern sensibility.

Reid isn't "a sort of stock detective character. He's a very free thinking, forward-looking kind of man, not a sort of jaded 'seen it all' copper. So I was intrigued by that," he said.

The detective's viewpoint is so expansive that he can't resist admiring the potential of an early version of a motion picture camera — even when he's just thwarted its use in making a 19th-century snuff film.

The scene had slipped Macfadyen's mind when he watched the episode at home in London and his wife, actress Keeley Hawes ("Upstairs Downstairs"), suddenly took alarmed note of what was unfolding on the screen.

"My 12-year-old stepson was watching and we said, 'OK, bedtime!" said Macfadyen, who has two children with Hawes.

But he considers the show "punchy and brave" for a mature audience and would like to see it go at least another season, in part for selfish reasons.

"Jerome, Adam and I get on so well, very happily. I know actors always say they love each other," he said, then smiled. "That's not always the case."

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Online:

http://www.bbcamerica.com

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Controversial full-body scanners to be removed from airports

The Transportation Security Administration is removing controversial full-body scanners made by a Torrance manufacturer, winning praise from privacy advocates and passenger-rights groups that raised questions about the health effects of the devices.

Rapiscan, a unit of OSI Systems Inc., manufactured about 200 full-body scanners used by the TSA to screen passengers for hidden weapons at airports across the country. The machines generated a storm of protest because the devices use low levels of radiation to create what resembles a nude image of screened passengers.

The machines, one of two types of scanners used by the TSA for passenger screening, will be pulled from all airports by this summer. The TSA had already begun to remove the Rapiscan scanners from Los Angeles International Airport in October to replace them with faster screening machines.

The agency won't use the Rapiscan full-body scanners because the company could not produce a software upgrade to protect the privacy of passengers in time to meet a congressional deadline, according to TSA and Rapsican officials.

Privacy advocates and others praised the move, saying the scanners violated the privacy of passengers and exposed them to unhealthy levels of radiation — a charge the TSA denies.

"This is a significant victory for privacy," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, an advocacy group that sued to try to force the TSA to hold public hearings over the deployment of full-body scanners at airports. "The announcement by the TSA is recognition that if devices don't respect the privacy of the public, they don't belong here."

Rapiscan has agreed to pay the cost of removing its scanners from airports. Most will be replaced by a second type of scanner that uses radio waves and shows hidden objects projected onto a generic avatar image on a screen — not on a nude-like image of a passenger. Those scanners are built by New York-based L-3 Communications Holdings.

"It's good news and a step in the right direction," said Brandon M. Macsata, executive director of the Assn. for Airline Passenger Rights, an advocacy group that has questioned the health effects of the X-ray scans on passengers. "We still have questions about whether these machines really make airports that much safer."

The Rapiscan scanners use low-level X-rays to create what looks like a naked image of screened passengers to uncover weapons hidden under clothes. TSA officers in isolated rooms see the images and then notify other agents at the security lines if hidden weapons are spotted.

Since 2007, the TSA has used full-body scanners, in addition to metal detectors and random pat-down searches, to try to prevent terrorists from sneaking explosives onto planes. But the TSA has been accused by privacy groups, members of Congress and others of using extreme tactics.

Responding to questions about the safety of the scanners, TSA officials said the machines have been repeatedly tested by medical experts and found to expose passengers to levels of radiation well below safe health standards.

To address privacy concerns, Congress imposed a June 2013 deadline for Rapiscan to come up with a software upgrade that would prevent the scanner from showing TSA agents the nude-like images. But Rapiscan officials said the company wouldn't be able to meet that deadline.

"TSA has strict requirements that all vendors must meet for security effectiveness and efficiency since the use of this technology is critical to TSA's efforts to keep the traveling public safe," the TSA said in a statement.

Rapiscan representatives called the TSA decision "unfortunate" but noted that they fulfilled their $15-million contract to build the machines and continue to produce security devices for the TSA, including luggage scanners and metal detectors.

Peter Kant, executive vice president of Rapiscan, said his company won't collect on the $5-million contract to complete the software upgrade and must pay for the cost of removing the existing scanners from airports across the country. But he added: "For a $400-million company, that's a pretty small number."

The scanners that will be removed from airports will be used by the military and federal law enforcement, among other government agencies, for security screening, Kant said.

Rapiscan has more than 1,000 employees worldwide and reported nearly $400 million in sales in 2012.

hugo.martin@latimes.com

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Algeria raid puts a lawless region in the spotlight

CAIRO — The offensive by Algerian soldiers to free hostages at a natural gas complex has refocused world attention on the dangers of a lawless desert region bristling with gunrunners, smugglers and a virulent strain of Islamic ideology.

Coming days after French airstrikes on Islamist militants in neighboring Mali, the raid Thursday killed or wounded many militants and an unspecified number of Western and Algerian hostages, the Algerian government said. Officials in Algiers, the capital, said late in the evening that they had wrapped up the assault on the compound near the Algerian-Libyan border deep in the Sahara desert.

"The operation resulted in the neutralization of a large number of terrorists and the freeing of a considerable number of hostages," Communications Minister Mohamed Said Belaid told state-run media. "Unfortunately we deplore also the death of some.... We do not have final numbers."

The Algerian news agency said 45 hostages, including Americans, escaped the site. But later Algerian media reports indicated that only four to six foreign hostages were freed and that there were a number of "victims."

A Mauritanian news organization quoting a militant spokesman suggested that gunfire from Algerian military helicopters struck two vehicles attempting to flee the compound, killing 35 foreigners and 15 kidnappers, including the militant group's commander. The differing accounts were impossible to confirm or reconcile and epitomized a chaotic day that appeared to raise questions from Western leaders over the operation's planning.

In addition to as many as seven Americans, captives included Algerians, Britons, Japanese, Norwegians and other foreigners.

The army raid marked a stunning twist in a drama that had raised fears of a long siege and highlighted the revived Islamist extremism in the region.

To the west of Algeria lies Mali, where Islamist rebels have intensified their fight in recent days to overthrow the government, prompting French military action backed by American logistical support. To the east lie Tunisia and Libya, where revolutions beginning in 2010 overthrew President Zine el Abidine ben Ali in Tunis and Moammar Kadafi in Tripoli.

Since then, militant and radical Islamist groups, including Algeria's Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, have become more emboldened amid the political upheaval of new governments. Western countries have grown increasingly concerned that North Africa could become a seedbed for international terrorism.

The hostage drama unfolded in a gas field known as In Amenas, close to the border with Libya, a country of particular concern to Algeria. Extremists and weapons looted from Kadafi's military and police have flowed across the border for months.

Farther east, Egyptian authorities are concerned that militants from Algeria and Libya have joined terrorist cells in the Sinai Peninsula along the Israeli border.

It was the strife in Mali, however, that apparently led to the militant takeover of the Western-run gas compound Wednesday. The Algerian militants, who belonged to an Al Qaeda-linked group called the Signed-in-Blood Battalion, said they were acting in retaliation for French airstrikes against advancing Malian rebels. They reportedly threatened to blow up the plant if Algerian commandoes attempted to free the hostages.

After the compound was seized by the militants, hundreds of Algerian soldiers firing warning shots ringed the remote compound as helicopters skimmed overhead. The militants asked for safe passage to Libya by having the hostages accompany them. Algerian officials, who over the years have viciously cracked down on Islamic radicals, said they would not negotiate such requests.

"The authorities do not negotiate, no negotiations," Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia said on state television. "We have received their demands, but we didn't respond to them."

The Algerian government was under pressure from the U.S., Britain and other countries whose nationals were taken hostage. But the raid caught some by surprise and appeared to irritate some Western leaders. British Prime Minister David Cameron's office said that he would have preferred to have been told in advance of the operation.

"I think we should be prepared for the possibility of further bad news, very difficult news in this extremely difficult situation," said Cameron.

The State Department declined to provide details of the Algerian offensive, saying it could risk the security of hostages, some of whom were reportedly forced to wear belts laden with explosives.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters: "We are certainly concerned about reports of loss of life and we are seeking clarity from the government of Algeria."

The Algerians are "used to fighting terrorism, in their own, quite hard way," said Mathieu Guidere is professor of "Islamology" at the University of Toulouse in France and author of The New Terrorists. "It's likely the deaths at the petrol base were as a result of the assault by the Algerian security forces."

Reports have suggested that as many as 41 foreigners were being held along with scores of Algerians. An Irishman who was one of the hostages contacted his family to say he had been freed.

The natural gas field complex at In Amenas, which supplies Europe and Turkey, is a joint venture operated by BP; Statoil, a Norwegian firm; and Sonatrach, the Algerian national oil company.

The assault on the compound dramatically changed the dynamics of Algeria's decades-long campaign against radicals. Militants had rarely, if ever, targeted oil and gas operations, even during the civil war when few rules applied amid beheadings and massacres. The militant attack was a direct strike at the government and the nation's economic and political stability.

Rich in oil and gas, with a spectacular coast and vast deserts, Algeria fought a civil war in the 1990s that killed more than 100,000 people. The conflict began when the military, fearing Islamists would come to power, shut down parliamentary elections and the country collapsed into bloodshed.

The government offered an amnesty program more than a decade ago. Thousands of militants accepted but hardcore members of what had become AQIM resisted. The group publicly joined Al Qaeda in 2006, sending recruits to fight U.S. forces in Iraq while expanding its suicide bombings and kidnappings of businessmen and Westerners for ransom in Algeria.

AQIM and other Algerian radicals are heavily armed and fluid, shifting much of their attention last year to neighboring Mali, where they joined rebels and Islamists in a war to overthrow the government. Mali has attracted extremists from across Africa and the Middle East who are attempting to exploit the country's instability to create an Islamist state.

Two top radicals are believed connected to the hostage taking: Abdelmalek Droukdel, AQIM's leader, has called for militants to target France over its intervention in Mali, and Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a mercurial, one-eyed smuggler, kidnapper and jihadist, runs an AQIM splinter group, the Signed-in Blood Battalion, which claimed to have carried out Wednesday's pre-dawn raid on the gas compound.

The hostages at the natural gas complex "who managed to reach loved ones abroad said the terrorists that captured them have Egyptian, Tunisian, Libyan accents," said an Algerian risk assessment analyst who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of his job.

jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com

Special correspondents Kim Willsher in Paris and Reem Abdellatif in Cairo and Times staff writers Henry Chu in London and Paul Richter in Washington contributed to this report.

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The aggressively priced Lumia 620 is Nokia’s make or break model

Nokia (NOK) has started pricing the Lumia 620 in Asia nearly 20% below the rival Windows mid-market model, the HTC (2498) 8S. This is remarkably aggressive considering the 620 has a higher pixel density and twice as much internal memory. The 620 is the keystone phone for Nokia. It is launching before RIM (RIMM) gets its new budget BlackBerry phones out and before Samsung (005930) or LG (066570) enter the mid-priced Windows phone market. This is the phone that will make or break Nokia’s summer.

[More from BGR: BlackBerry 10 browser smokes iOS 6 and Windows Phone 8 in comparison test [video]]

Nokia has started rolling out the Lumia 620 in several key Asian markets by the third week of January. It now looks like its European debut could happen a few weeks earlier than expected, perhaps by the end of January. In one of the earliest launch markets, Thailand, the launch price of the Lumia 620 is set at 8,250 baht, or $ 275. The only direct Windows mid-range model, HTC’s 8S, is priced at 9,990 baht. The Lumia 620 is priced at 800 RM ($ 266) in Malaysia, one of Asia’s key mobile markets. HTC’s 8S launched in Malaysia at 999 RM.

[More from BGR: Clash of the bantams: The bloody smartphone battle that will take shape in 2013]

Nokia is the stronger brand in South-East Asia and HTC’s budget Windows model was expected to be at rough price parity during the 620 launch, not 20% above. Nokia’s Lumia 620 features display pixel density of 246 pixels per inch, a touch above the 233 pixels per inch that HTC’s 8S offers. The 620 also packs 8 GB of internal memory, twice as much as the 8S. Camera and video quality are roughly similar.

This is the golden opportunity for Nokia. It will probably take at least until June before RIM rolls out new BlackBerries priced under $ 300 in Asia; possibly late summer or autumn. Samsung and LG are a step behind Nokia in rolling out their Windows Phone 8 ranges. HTC’s first mid-range model doesn’t quite measure up to the 620 in value for money comparison. Apple’s (AAPL) rumored cheap iPhone is unlikely to arrive before September.

Nokia now has a shot at recapturing some of the power it used to have in the mid-range smartphone market. Back in 2006 through 2008 Nokia dominated the smartphone markets of Asia and Europe with absolute sovereignty, capturing market shares as high as 70% from India to Germany. Those days won’t return, but if the 620 clicks, Nokia just might have a shot at pumping the Lumia volume to 10 million units per quarter by autumn.

The relative market softness in the sub-$ 300 category due to the current weakness of RIM, LG, Sony (SNE) and HTC has opened the door. This February is going to be an absolutely crucial month for Nokia as it ramps up its most important Lumia phone during the traditionally dead period in Asia and Europe. If consumers don’t connect with this model at this price, the entire Windows Phone camp will face some very tough decisions.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

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Robert Wagner not interviewed in new Wood inquiry

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Robert Wagner has declined to be interviewed by detectives in a renewed inquiry into the drowning death of his wife Natalie Wood three decades ago, an investigator said Thursday.

Wagner was interviewed by authorities soon after Wood's drowning in 1981, but the e actor is the only person who was on the yacht the night Wood died who has not spoken to detectives as part of the latest inquiry, despite repeated requests and attempts, sheriff's Lt. John Corina said.

Blair Berk, an attorney for Wagner and his family, said the actor had cooperated with authorities since his wife died.

Detectives began re-investigating the case in November 2011. Since then investigators have interviewed more than 100 people, but Wagner has refused and Corina said the actor's representatives have not given any reason for his silence.

The detective's remarks provided new insight into the case that has remained one of Hollywood's enduring mysteries. Earlier this week, coroner's officials released an updated autopsy report that had been under a security hold. It detailed why Wood's death had been reclassified from an accidental drowning to an drowning caused by "undetermined factors."

"Mr. Wagner has fully cooperated over the last 30 years in the investigation of the accidental drowning of his wife in 1981," Berk said in a prepared statement. "Mr. Wagner has been interviewed on multiple occasions by the Los Angeles sheriff's department and answered every single question asked of him by detectives during those interviews."

After 30 years, Berk said, neither Wagner nor his daughters have any new information to add. She said the latest investigation was prompted by people seeking to exploit and sensationalize the 30th anniversary of the death.

Authorities have not identified any suspects in the case.

Wood, 43, was on a yacht with Wagner, Christopher Walken and the boat captain on Thanksgiving weekend of 1981 before she somehow ended up in the water.

Corina said Walken gave a prepared statement, and spoke to detectives for an hour.

Detectives have also interviewed other actors who knew both Wagner and Wood to learn more about their relationship.

Corina said detectives have tried at least 10 times to interview Wagner but have been refused. He said some of the refusals have come from the actor's attorney, and that detectives at one point traveled to Colorado to try to speak with Wagner but were unsuccessful.

Corina said the latest inquiry had turned up new evidence.

"Most of the people we've talked to were never talked to 30 years ago," he said. "We've got a lot of new information."

Asked if the information might lead to criminal charges, Corina said that would be up to prosecutors if they are presented a case.

"All we can do is collect the facts," he said. "We're still trying to collect all the facts."

Corina said new people have emerged with information each time the case is in the news. Detectives would like to interview other people who haven't agreed to talk, he said.

Coroner's officials released an update autopsy report on Monday that detailed the reasons Wood's death certificate was changed last year from a drowning death to "drowning and other undetermined factors."

The updated report states the change was made in part because investigators couldn't rule out that some of the bruises and marks on Wood's body happened before she went into the water.

"Since there are unanswered questions and limited additional evidence available for evaluation, it is opined by this medical examiner that the manner of death should be left as undetermined," Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran wrote in the report completed in June.

Officials also considered that Wood wasn't wearing a life jacket, had no history of suicide attempts and didn't leave a note as reasons to amend its report and the death certificate.

Wood was famous for roles in films such as "West Side Story" and "Rebel Without a Cause" and was nominated for three Academy Awards during her lifetime.

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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

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Life, Interrupted: Brotherly Love

Life, Interrupted

Suleika Jaouad writes about her experiences as a young adult with cancer.

There are a lot of things about having cancer in your 20s that feel absurd. One of those instances was when I found myself calling my brother Adam on Skype while he was studying abroad in Argentina to tell him that I had just been diagnosed with leukemia and that — no pressure — he was my only hope for a cure.

Today, my brother and I share almost identical DNA, the result of a successful bone marrow transplant I had last April using his healthy stem cells. But Adam and I couldn’t be more different. Like a lot of siblings, we got along swimmingly at one moment and were in each other’s hair the next. My younger brother by two years, he said I was a bossy older sister. I, of course, thought I knew best for my little brother and wanted him to see the world how I did. My brother is quieter, more reflective. I’m a chronic social butterfly who is probably a bit too impulsive and self-serious. I dreamed of dancing in the New York City Ballet, and he imagined himself playing in the N.B.A. While the sounds of the rapper Mos Def blared from Adam’s room growing up, I practiced for concerto competitions. Friends joked that one of us had to be adopted. We even look different, some people say. But really, we’re just siblings like any others.

When I was diagnosed with cancer at age 22, I learned just how much cancer affects families when it affects individuals. My doctors informed me that I had a high-risk form of leukemia and that a bone marrow transplant was my only shot at a cure. ‘Did I have any siblings?’ the doctors asked immediately. That would be my best chance to find a bone marrow match. Suddenly, everyone in our family was leaning on the little brother. He was in his last semester of college, and while his friends were applying to jobs and partying the final weeks of the school year away, he was soon shuttling from upstate New York to New York City for appointments with the transplant doctors.

I’d heard of organ transplants before, but what was a bone marrow transplant? The extent of my knowledge about bone marrow came from French cuisine: the fancy dish occasionally served with a side of toasted baguette.

Jokes aside, I learned that cancer patients become quick studies in the human body and how cancer treatment works. The thought of going through a bone marrow transplant, which in my case called for a life-threatening dose of chemotherapy followed by a total replacement of my body’s bone marrow, was scary enough. But then I learned that finding a donor can be the scariest part of all.

It turns out that not all transplants are created equal. Without a match, the path to a cure becomes much less certain, in many cases even impossible. This is particularly true for minorities and people from mixed ethnic backgrounds, groups that are severely underrepresented in bone marrow registries. As a first generation American, the child of a Swiss mother and Tunisian father, I suddenly found myself in a scary place. My doctors worried that a global, harried search for a bone marrow match would delay critical treatment for my fast-moving leukemia.

That meant that my younger brother was my best hope — but my doctors were careful to measure hope with reality. Siblings are the best chance for a match, but a match only happens about 25 percent of the time.

To our relief, results showed that my brother was a perfect match: a 10-out-of-10 on the donor scale. It was only then that it struck me how lucky I had been. Doctors never said it this way, but without a match, my chances of living through the next year were low. I have met many people since who, after dozens of efforts to encourage potential bone marrow donors to sign up, still have not found a match. Adding your name to the bone marrow registry is quick, easy and painless — you can sign up at marrow.org — and it just takes a swab of a Q-tip to get your DNA. For cancer patients around the world, it could mean a cure.

The bone marrow transplant procedure itself can be dangerous, but it is swift, which makes it feel strangely anti-climactic. On “Day Zero,” my brother’s stem cells dripped into my veins from a hanging I.V. bag, and it was all over in minutes. Doctors tell me that the hardest part of the transplant is recovering from it. I’ve found that to be true, and I’ve also recognized that the same is true for Adam. As I slowly grow stronger, my little brother has assumed a caretaker role in my life. I carry his blood cells — the ones keeping me alive — and he is carrying the responsibility, and often fear and anxiety, of the loving onlooker. He tells me I’m still a bossy older sister. But our relationship is now changed forever. I have to look to him for support and guidance more than I ever have. He’ll always be my little brother, but he’s growing up fast.

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Suleika Jaouad (pronounced su-LAKE-uh ja-WAD) is a 24-year-old writer who lives in New York City. Her column, “Life, Interrupted,” chronicling her experiences as a young adult with cancer, appears regularly on Well. Follow @suleikajaouad on Twitter.

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Bank of America, Citigroup earnings disappoint investors

NEW YORK — Bank of America Corp.'s and Citigroup Inc.'s lackluster earnings led Wall Street to question how long it will take two of the country's biggest banks to emerge from the shadow of the financial crisis.

While BofA's fourth-quarter profit fell 63% and Citi's climbed 25%, both disappointed investors who are growing impatient with the firms' efforts to cleanse their books of problem mortgages and prune sagging businesses.

Both banks' bottom lines sank under the weight of settlements and steep legal expenses that only seem to keep mounting as state and federal officials seek payback for the housing meltdown that led up to the financial crisis.

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"Not only are the companies growing tired, but the investors are as well," said Todd Hagerman, a banking analyst at Sterne Agee.

"What is going to be the ultimate resolution?" Hagerman added. "They're obviously struggling to put the legacy mortgage [problem] behind them — it's been going on for four years now."

Investors dumped shares of the two banks, which were among the most actively traded Thursday. BofA's stock shed 50 cents, or 4%, to $11.28 a share; Citi's stock lost $1.24, or 3%, to $41.24.

The big banks' performance during the fourth quarter highlighted varying fortunes for the industry four years after the crisis.

Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported strong results, largely because of the boom in mortgages. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the giant New York investment bank, also surprised analysts with strong fourth-quarter profit.

BofA's problems stem mainly from its disastrous 2008 acquisition of Countrywide Financial Corp. of Calabasas, which had become the largest U.S. home lender by aggressively writing subprime and other high-risk loans.

The takeover made BofA the country's No. 1 mortgage originator, with 22% of the market in 2009, according to trade publisher Inside Mortgage Finance. But after losing tens of billions of dollars on soured Countrywide loans, the bank retreated from the mortgage business and now has less than 5% of the market.

In the fourth quarter, BofA booked a $2.7-billion charge related to its recent settlement with Fannie Mae involving mortgages originated by Countrywide. The bank also had to swallow a $1.1-billion hit for its portion of a settlement reached last week among regulators and major banks over foreclosure abuses. The bank reported a further litigation expense of $900 million.

Net income was $732 million, or 3 cents a share, down from $2 billion, or 15 cents, a year earlier. Revenue fell 25% to about $19 billion on the bank's legal settlements, sale of mortgage-servicing rights and accounting adjustments.

Among its many retrenchments, Bank of America stopped participating in two big parts of the mortgage business — using independent brokers to generate loans and buying mortgages from smaller lenders. It's now focused on selling home loans through its own branches, mainly to customers it already has — a business BofA Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said was growing.

"Our retail mortgage production has increased by an average of 10% per quarter over the past three quarters," Moynihan told analysts. "The pipeline today remains as strong as it was at the end of the third quarter."

BofA cited improved results in its global markets operation, commercial lending and wealth management, the latter being mainly Merrill Lynch & Co., the brokerage it acquired in 2008.

At Citi, profit was dragged down in part by $1.3 billion in legal costs and related expenses. Of that, the bank said $305 million would go toward its share of the foreclosure settlement reached with regulators last week.

Executives declined to specify what accounted for the rest of those costs, but Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been "reviewing various consumer products" in the industry and is "currently reviewing us." He declined to elaborate.

Also dragging on earnings: Citi released less of its reserves set aside to cushion the bank against loan losses. Citi freed up $86 million of reserves in the quarter, significantly less than the $1.5 billion released during the same period in 2011. Banks release reserves as their borrowers' credit improves, making them less likely to default on their loans.

Citi earned $1.2 billion, or 38 cents a share, up from $956 million, or 31 cents, in the fourth quarter 2011. Excluding restructuring and other one-time accounting charges, Citi earned 69 cents a share in the fourth quarter — lower than what Wall Street analysts had estimated.

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JPMorgan, Goldman profits rise sharply

NEW YORK — Two major Wall Street banks reported a surge in profits during the last three months of 2012, but analysts cast doubt on whether that will continue this year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the country's largest bank by assets, posted $5.7 billion in earnings in the fourth quarter, a 53% increase from the same period a year ago. Investment banking giant Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reported earnings of $2.8 billion, nearly tripling its haul from the same period a year ago.

The results sailed past analyst projections, providing a window into Wall Street's profitability as the economy struggles to recover and as the industry grapples with new banking regulations.

"We're definitely coming out of the abyss," said Ken Leon, a banking analyst at S&P Capital IQ. But, he cautioned: "We are not anywhere near euphoria."

Investors sent both firms' shares higher Wednesday, during a week in which Citigroup, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley will also report earnings.

JPMorgan's profit was buoyed by growth tied to an improving housing market, investment banking and its own investments. The bank reported big jumps in mortgages — originations of $52 million, up 33%. Commercial loans grew 14% in the fourth quarter, to a record $128 billion.

The bank's profit also got a boost from reserves released because of borrowers' improving credit and the decreased likelihood they would default on their loans.

JPMorgan's earnings were weighed down by an approximately $700-million expense for its chunk of the so-called Independent Foreclosure Review settlement. The bank was one of 10 major financial companies that reached the $8.5-billion settlement — announced last week — with federal regulators to end their probe of alleged foreclosure abuses.

While the bank saw a 12% jump in profit overall last year thanks in large part to a decline in provisions for credit losses, revenue was essentially flat compared to 2011.

Despite JPMorgan's surge in profit, the bank's board punished Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon for management failures that led to the bank suffering about $6 billion in losses from risky derivatives bets made by a trader nicknamed the "London Whale."

JPMorgan's board of directors slashed Dimon's pay 50%, saying he "bears ultimate responsibility" for missteps by the bank's chief investment office. The losses were disclosed last May.

"This was one huge, embarrassing mistake," he said.

One of the highest-paid and most-respected figures on Wall Street, Dimon will take in $11.5 million in 2012 compensation, down from a $23-million pay package in 2011.

His 2012 salary remained flat at last year's $1.5 million, but his overall compensation includes $10 million in restricted stock units, down sharply from the previous year. Dimon said he respected the board's decision.

Charles Elson, director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, said the rare docking of a major bank chief's pay made an important symbolic statement that executives should be paid based on their performance.

"It's not going to change his lifestyle," Elson said of Dimon's pay cut, "but it certainly makes the point."

Looking ahead, Dimon expressed optimism about the economy.

"Consumers, businesses, housing and small businesses — they're all in pretty good shape," he said in a call with analysts.

But sustaining growth in mortgage origination could prove challenging this year, and low interest rates make traditional banking less profitable, analysts said.

"Traditional banking is not making nearly as much money," said Lance Roberts, who heads StreetTalk Advisors, an investment advisory firm. "There's a big disconnect between the profitability of the banks and Main Street America."

While Goldman's profit in investment banking and trading surged, the bank's results were lifted by its own private-equity investments and an 11% reduction in compensation, Goldman's biggest expense. Goldman has become a profit powerhouse and its employees are among the most highly compensated on Wall Street.

JPMorgan's stock added 47 cents, or 1%, to $46.82 in trading Wednesday. Goldman gained $5.50, or 4%, to $141.09 a share.

andrew.tangel@latimes.com

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NVIDIA’s ‘Project SHIELD’ Console Faces Three Challenges

Despite being announced at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show, NVIDIA’s Project SHIELD isn’t the first game-console-in-a-controller to be announced this year. That honor goes to the GameStick, an indie project being funded on Kickstarter. As relative newcomers to the gaming scene, GameStick‘s creators face an uphill battle for acceptance, from both potential buyers and game developers.

But despite NVIDIA‘s established position as a gaming hardware company, it may have a struggle ahead of it, too. Here are three problems which may hinder Project SHIELD‘s adoption.

The size

Unlike GameStick, which is sort of like a classic NES gamepad with a detachable memory stick that plugs into the TV, Project SHIELD is a completely self-contained console. It’s thick and bulky, enormous compared to any of today’s controllers, or even Nintendo’s 3DS XL game console. The closest thing it compares to is an original Xbox controller, before the redesign, but with a flip-up multitouch screen that’s five inches across and has 720p resolution.

You’re not going to be able to just toss Project SHIELD in your pocket, like a smartphone or iPod or very small tablet. It’ll be portable in roughly the same sense that an iPad or netbook is portable, in that you’ll need a handbag or carrying case to put it in. This puts it in a separate size category from most of its competitors, and makes it less convenient to carry around.

The cost

Project SHIELD’s Tegra 4 processor will let it play Tegra-enhanced HD Android games straight from the Google Play store, as well as stream PC games from gaming PCs running Steam and equipped with certain types of NVIDIA graphics cards. Besides that, it’s a full-fledged Android device running Jelly Bean.

But at what cost? Google’s $ 199 Nexus 7 tablet lacks a built-in game controller, doesn’t have a much bigger screen, and uses a less powerful Tegra 3 processor. Dedicated game consoles like the 3DS XL and PlayStation Vita are priced in the same ballpark as the Nexus 7. NVIDIA has yet to announce how much Project SHIELD will cost, or even when it will be on store shelves.

The Tegra-enhanced HD graphics

For many, this will be a plus. There are a lot of Tegra HD (or “THD”) games on the Google Play store right now which boast improved graphics over the versions that run on other graphics processors.

It complicates things for game developers, though, who have to write a separate version just for Tegra processors. Unlike normal ARM processors and Android itself, Tegra is owned solely by NVIDIA, which means there are a lot of tablets and smartphones out there which can’t run those versions of these games. It also means gamers may have to repurchase certain games for Project SHIELD, in order to get the enhanced versions.

Looking towards the future

Things aren’t all gloomy. So far, NVIDIA’s managed to keep developer interest in the Tegra platform, and has gotten a lot of people excited about Project SHIELD. Its partnership with Valve also puts it in position to take advantage of the excitement surrounding Big Picture mode, and the upcoming gaming PCs (like Piston) designed to work with it and connect to a television.

Finally, a wireless game controller can cost upward of $ 50 by itself, so seen in that light Project SHIELD may not turn out to be so expensive — assuming gamers buy Tegra HD titles and NVIDIA graphics cards to use it with.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

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Obama calls for research on media in gun violence

NEW YORK (AP) — Hollywood and the video game industry received scant attention Wednesday when President Barack Obama unveiled sweeping proposals for curbing gun violence in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting.

The White House pressed most forcefully for a reluctant Congress to pass universal background checks and bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines like the ones used in the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre.

No connection was suggested between bloody entertainment fictions and real-life violence. Instead, the White House is calling on research on the effect of media and video games on gun violence.

Among the 23 executive measures signed Wednesday by Obama is a directive to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and scientific agencies to conduct research into the causes and prevention of gun violence. The order specifically cited "investigating the relationship between video games, media images and violence."

The measure meant that media would not be exempt from conversations about violence, but it also suggested the White House would not make Hollywood, television networks and video game makers a central part of the discussion. It's a relative footnote in the White House's broad, multi-point plan, and Obama did not mention violence in entertainment in his remarks Wednesday.

The White House plan did mention media, but suggested that any effort would be related to ratings systems or technology: "The entertainment and video game industries have a responsibility to give parents tools and choices about the movies and programs their children watch and the games their children play."

The administration is calling on Congress to provide $10 million for the CDC research.

The CDC has been barred by Congress to use funds to "advocate or promote gun control," but the White House order claims that "research on gun violence is not advocacy" and that providing information to Americans on the issue is "critical public health research."

Since 26 were killed by a gunman at Sandy Hook in December, some have called for changes in the entertainment industry, which regularly churns out first-person shooter video games, grisly primetime dramas and casually violent blockbusters.

The Motion Picture Association of America, the National Association of Broadcasters, National Cable & Telecommunications Association and the Independent Film & Television Alliance responded to Wednesday's proposal in a joint statement:

"We support the president's goal of reducing gun violence in this country. It is a complex problem, and as we have said, we stand ready to be a part of the conversation and welcome further academic examination and consideration on these issues as the president has proposed."

After the Newtown massacre, Wayne Pierre, vice-president of the National Rifle Association, attacked the entertainment industry, calling it "a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and sows violence against its own people." He cited a number of video games and films, most of them many years old, like the movies "American Psycho" and "Natural Born Killers," and the video games "Mortal Kombat" and "Grand Theft Auto."

President Obama's adviser, David Axelrod, had tweeted that he's in favor of gun control, "but shouldn't we also question marketing murder as a game?"

Others have countered that the same video games and movies are played and watched around the world, but that the tragedies of gun violence are for other reasons endemic to the U.S.

The Entertainment Software Association, which represents video game publishers, referenced that argument Wednesday in a statement that embraced Obama's proposal.

"The same entertainment is enjoyed across all cultures and nations, but tragic levels of gun violence remain unique to our country," said the ESA. "Scientific research an international and domestic crime data point toward the same conclusion: Entertainment does not cause violent behavior in the real world."

Several R-rated films released after Newton have been swept into the debate. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former California governor and action film star, recently told USA Today in discussing his new shoot-em-up film "The Last Stand": "It's entertainment. People know the difference."

Quentin Tarantino, whose new film "Django Unchained" is a cartoonish, bloody spaghetti western set in the slavery-era South, has often grown testy when questioned about movie violence and real-life violence. Speaking to NPR, Tarantino said it was disrespectful to the memory of the victims to talk about movies: "I don't think one has to do with the other."

In 2011, the Supreme Court rejected a California law banning the sale of violent video games to children. The decision claimed that video games, like other media, are protected by the First Amendment. In dissent, Justice Stephen G. Breyer claimed previous studies showed the link between violence and video games, concluding "the video games in question are particularly likely to harm children."

In the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that the government can't regulate depictions of violence, which he said were age-old, anyway: "Grimm's Fairy Tales, for example, are grim indeed."

___

AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang contributed to this report from Los Angeles

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