* Wins award for 4th time, seals place among the game's greats (Adds quotes, details)

May 5 (Reuters) - Miami Heat forward LeBron James was named the National Basketball Association's Most Valuable Player for the 2012-13 season on Sunday.

James received 120 first-place votes from the panel of 121 sports writers and broadcasters selected to choose the award. Oklahoma's Kevin Durant finished second overall and the New York Knicks' Carmelo Anthony, who received the other first-place vote, placed third.

It was the fourth time in five years that the 28-year-old James had won the game's most prestigious individual award, elevating him among the sport's greatest players.

"When people ask me, I tell them I just try to be the best player on the court every night I step on the floor," James said.

Only four other players - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain - have won the trophy at least four times.

Abdul-Jabbar holds the record for six MVP wins, one ahead of Jordan and Russell and two in front of Chamberlain and now James.

James, who twice won the award with the Cleveland Cavaliers before moving to Miami, averaged 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.3 assists during the 2012-13 regular season, where the Heat finished with the best record in the NBA.

James was the only player in the NBA to lead his team in all three categories during the season.

He shot a career-high from the field (.565) and from three-point range (.406). He produced a record streak of six straight games with at least 30 points and a .600-or-better field goal percentage.

He received his award at a special presentation on Sunday, attended by his team mates, family and friends, and broadcast live on national television.

In an emotional and heartfelt acceptance speech, James extended his thanks to everyone who had supported him both as a person and as a player.

He turned to his team mates, who were wearing shorts and t-shirts, and said they deserved the award as much as he did,

"Nothing I receive individually is possible without those 14 guys, and the sacrifices they make," he said.

"This really doesn't mean much to me. I'm humbled and I'm happy about it but I wish it was 15 of these up here because what a great group of guys that allows me to be the MVP." (Reporting by Julian Linden in New York; Editing by Gene Cherry)

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Cummins, who turned 20 on Wednesday, is the great hope of Australian pace bowling but injury has prevented him from donning the baggy green cap since he took seven wickets in a remarkable test debut in South Africa in Oct. 2011.

The latest problem is a strain to his upper back sustained last October but he has continued to be awarded central contracts by CA, most recently last month.

"Depending on his continued progression, he may play in intra-squad and warm up matches if this is deemed appropriate based on his workloads but there is no intention for Pat to play in any of the tour games," CA's Pat Howard said in a news release.

"The aim is to have Pat available and prepared for Australia A series in South Africa in July/August."

CA are determined that Cummins will not be harmed long-term by being rushed back into action when he is not ready and have been heavily protective of him since he emerged onto the international scene as a teenager.

Cummins missed out on a place in the Australia senior squad for the first Ashes series but a successful A tour of South Africa would put him in the frame to play a part in the second series against England back in Australia later in the year.

England and Australia are playing back-to-back Ashes series this year to move the series out of its position directly ahead of the World Cup in the international cricket calendar.

The Australia A squad will depart for Britain on 25 May. (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by John O'Brien)

On the other hand, my withdrawal was totally unplanned, very unwelcome and ultimately eye-opening. Here is what I learned over the course of the experience.

9:00 AM: I work at home, and our access failed right around the time I get down to business. The usual modem restarts werent helping, and I suspected the modem needed to be replaced. I called Comcast, and went through the expected rigmarole (more modem restarts, power cycling, etc.). I phone-treed my way to a human rep, who told me the earliest service visit I could get would be Friday afternoon.

I panicked. She said she could put me in the running for an earlier appointment if someone else cancelled, and Id hear from a local dispatcher of some sort around noon.

As is routine these days, the call included a request to evaluate my customer service experience: Assuming the rep had done her job properly, it was suggested I might rate her outstanding. Why are businesses so obsessed with rating the performance of phone reps who have no power whatsoever? Sure, the rep did an outstanding job of informing me that I was screwed. Why no opportunity to rate Comcasts service infrascture? Press 4 if you think Comcast should hire more field technicians. Thats something Id weigh in on!

11 AM: To Comcasts credit, its been a few years since we had a real outage like this, and I was shocked to realize how much more dependent on Internet access Ive become. I could keep up with email and some Web stuff through a smartphone, but that wasnt adequate for more substantial research tasks. And it wasnt just work: Our evenings are all about Pandora and streaming Netflix these days.

I was getting depressed about being cut off, and then getting depressed about being depressed about being cut off. What the hell has happened to me?

Internet went out at 9 am, @ says earliest service appt Friday afternoon. Seriously?

12:28 PM: No call from the local dispatcher, butme an email address I could send details 2 so someone would look into this 4 u. I thumb-typed a short email, and went back to waiting.

@ plz email ur act# & phone# & details 2 comcastcares_support@comcast.com & we will look into this 4 u

3:30 PM: Cranky and listless and having done all the phone work and other non-Internet tasks on my agenda, I headed to the nearest Wi-Fi-friendly caf. I caught up on more substantial email and other Web-heavy tasks. With no call from the dispatcher and no reply to that Comcast address Id been given, I sent a more detailed and, lets just say colorful follow-up email. By now I was in full-on theatrical outrage mode, ranting about how the local utilities and even the phone company wouldnt leave me without service for three days. Within an hour a loudmouth college student at the next table had become intolerable, so I trudged home.

But just then: The phone rang. Comcast! Its some sort of regional manager, apologetic and human, offering me his cell-phone number. Within a half-hour, a service tech arrived and replaced the modem. As is so often the case, the front-liners like this manager and tech were great. Why does it always seem like the system is designed to make accessing them so difficult?

8 PM: As we fired up Netflix, I came to two principle conclusions about my brief exile. First, it appeared that complaining through social media really is a reasonable tactic for end-running a service bureaucracy.

The general's defense lawyer told The Associated Press on Thursday that he has already appealed Wednesday's verdict, saying the evidence was "invented" and calling it unacceptable that his client is being blamed for the crimes of a bygone era.

"This is speculation, 40 years later," Miguel Langon said while visiting Buenos Aires. "A criminal trial is completely different than a historical study. You have to have proof. ... These kinds of generalized statements can serve for a general analysis of the dictatorships of the Southern Cone, but against an individual? It just can't be."

Dalmao was a 23-year-old lieutenant in 1974, and was in charge of the jail where Nibia Sabalsagaray, a 24-year-old literature professor and communist activist, was taken from her Montevideo apartment. Hours later, she was dead.

Dalmao claimed she had committed suicide, hanging herself with a handkerchief from an iron peg in the wall that was just 4 inches (10 centimeters) above her head. The military that ran Uruguay from 1973-1985 agreed.

But Judge Dolores Sanchez dismissed the suicide claim, citing physical and psychological autopsies that showed evidence of torture and found that Sabalsagaray was optimistic and combative, not the type to kill herself.

Dalmao won't go to prison soon despite Wednesday's conviction. Now in his mid-60s, he's been hospitalized for months with a heart infection.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - South Korean President Park Geun-hye called on North Korea on Wednesday to end a "vicious circle" in which it raises and reduces tensions to win diplomatic rewards and buy time to build up its nuclear arms program.

In an address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, Park said she wanted to break the pattern in which North Korea "provokes a crisis" that draws sanctions from the international community, which later tries concessions to calm things down.

"Meanwhile, Pyongyang uses that time to advance its nuclear capabilities, and uncertainty prevails," she said.

"It is time to put an end to this vicious circle," Park said in English to loud applause in a packed U.S. Capitol.

South Korea's stable financial markets and strong economic fundamentals showed Seoul was unbowed by 10 weeks of nuclear war threats from North Korea, she told U.S. lawmakers in a special session presided over by Vice President Joe Biden and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner.

"The Korean government is reacting resolutely but calmly. We are maintaining the highest level of readiness," said Park.

"You may rest assured: No North Korean provocation will succeed," Park said. She echoed lines from her show of solidarity with President Barack Obama at the White House a day earlier, when Obama said Pyongyang had failed to shake their alliance of 60 years and gained nothing from saber-rattling.

The 61-year-old daughter of a former Cold War military dictator presented a vision of the future in which South Korea and its U.S. ally would deal firmly with North Korea while working for a more stable long-term peace.

"That future, I know, feels distant today," she said.

South Korea will never tolerate a nuclear-armed North Korea and would react "decisively" to provocations from the isolated, impoverished state that has conducted three nuclear tests since 2006, Park said.

"At the same time, I will not link humanitarian aid provided to the North Korean people, such as infants and young children, to the political situation," she said, in a reference to persistent malnutrition in the country of 25 million people.

"IT TAKES TWO HANDS TO CLAP"

She held out the possibility of aid and economic cooperation to build up trust with Pyongyang, the core North Korea policy of her successful campaign last year to become the first female leader of South Korea.

"But as we say in Korea, 'It takes two hands to clap,'" said Park.

To gain the economic benefits of re-engagement with South Korea, North Korea "must walk the path to become a responsible member of the community of nations," she said.

After it conducted a nuclear test in mid-February that drew swift U.N. Security Council sanctions, North Korea ramped up tensions in its neighborhood with near-daily threats to attack South Korea, the United States and U.S. military bases in Japan.

Pyongyang caused further alarm last month when it closed a jointly run industrial zone in North Korea, expelling most South Korean workers from the zone and virtually stopping all operations at the last remaining symbol of North-South cooperation.

Early this week, however, U.S. officials said North Korea had taken two Musudan missiles off launch-ready status and moved them from the country's east coast. This followed weeks of concern that Pyongyang had been poised for a test-launch.

There has also been a lull in bellicose rhetoric from North Korean state media, although Park said on Tuesday it was impossible to fathom Pyongyang's intentions.

Park told a gathering of business leaders at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce later on Wednesday that her country would resist protectionism during this era of sluggish global economic growth.

"Let me be clear: Korea is firmly committed to free trade (and) to economic openness," she told a luncheon, where executives marked the anniversary of a bilateral free trade agreement that has lowered barriers in South Korea, long a notoriously hard market for foreign firms to access.

"The overall picture is very positive for those sectors that were impacted, where there were tariff cuts," said Myron Brilliant, executive vice-president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

"There are still some issues to be worked through as you would expect a year into this deal," he said, listing medical supplies, data storage and the auto sector as areas where the two countries disagree on implementation of the trade pact.

(Reporting by Paul Eckert; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and David Brunnstrom)

“Let me help clear up some confusion based on my observations. It's all about innovation and a maturing marketplace. I have been asked why AT&T and Verizon have different earnings when the two companies on a similar track. If you pull the camera back and look at the maturing and changing industry things look much clearer. I see growth in wireless changing, but continuing. That goes for AT&T as well as Verizon, Sprint and others," saysJeff Kagan.

“AT&T and Verizon are actually on the same general track, but they are not on the track at the same time. AT&T moved into the smartphone market very early. This gave them strong growth years ago before competitors jumped into the same space. There were years when a visit to an AT&T store was much different than a visit to a Verizon or Sprint store. AT&T was loaded with smartphones while Verizon and Sprint were still mostly plain handsets. Then AT&T got the Apple iPhone and they took off like a bullet ahead of competitors," saysJeff Kagan.

“This is the part that many are not thinking about when comparing AT&T and Verizon. Having an early start in this smartphone market means more of their customer base would be smartphone users, earlier. And that was the case. Simply compare AT&T smartphone customers with Verizon or Sprint. The AT&T percentage is much further ahead," says Kagan.

That means AT&T would reach smartphone saturation ahead of Verizon and Sprint. That is what is happening. Kagan sees no general weakness from AT&T or strength from Verizon. They are on the same growth track, it's just that AT&T's growth track started years ahead of Verizon.

Kagan says, “Going forward, I see growth in the wireless industry coming from two different areas. One is more traditional. That means getting existing users to do more with their smartphones and therefore spend more. Two is helping other industries transform to the wireless model. This is already starting to happen in some industries like automotive, health care and retail as an example.”

Automotive gives drivers the ability to access the Internet from their dashboard or let riders surf the web as well as get information like weather, traffic directions and so on.

Also, the vehicle stays in touch with the manufacturer, and recommends service when it is time. And, this is going further and faster all the time.

Health care lets users track their vitals, like their diabetes numbers or blood pressure and have them instantly transmitted to the doctor's office. Better care and fewer actual doctor visits.

Retail recognizes users when they walk into the store, greets them, then sends personalized coupons depending where they are in the store and based on past purchases.

Plus every other industry will also move toward this wireless model as well. The potential for the wireless industry here is enormous. That means carriers like AT&T and Verizon, and handset makers.

So, growth in wireless will change, but will continue. That goes for AT&T as well as Verizon, Sprint and other carriers.

About Jeff Kagan

Jeff Kagan is an Industry Analyst who is regularly quoted by the media over 25 years.

He offers comment on wireless, telecom and tech news stories to reporters and journalists.

He is also known as a Tech Analyst, Wireless Analyst, Telecom Analyst and Principal Analyst depending on the focus of the story.

He follows wireless, telecom, Internet, cable television and IPTV. He also follows the wider and more general consumer electronics and technology space.

Visit his website: at jeffKAGAN.com to learn more and for disclosures.

Reporters: Jeff Kagan sends comments by email to reporters and the media. If you would like to be added to this email list please send request by email.

Clients: Call or email Jeff Kagan to discuss becoming a client. Kagan has worked with many companies over 25 years as consulting clients.

Contact: Jeff Kagan by email at jeff(at)jeffKAGAN(dot)com or by phone at 770-579-5810.

Kagan is an analyst, consultant, columnist and speaker.

Twitter: @jeffkagan

Jeff KAGANJeff Kagan, Tech Analyst, Industry Analyst770-579-5810

JIM THORPE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - The tiny hamlet of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, could lose its namesake, an American sports hero whose interment put the town on the map.

A family squabble has turned into a federal court battle over the remains of the legendary Native American athlete and Olympic medalist, who died in 1953 and whose life was depicted in "All American," a 1951 movie starring Burt Lancaster.

The dispute could take an important turn this week, when the borough court will announce on Thursday whether it will appeal a federal district court judge's decision that could eventually clear the way for Thorpe's remains to leave town.

Town Mayor Michael Sofranko said the council will respond to the input it gets from local residents--who number less than 5,000, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

"Residents need to say, I want the body to stay here,'" he said.

Jim Thorpe never lived in the eastern Pennsylvania town that took his name, but his remains were placed in a mausoleum here in an agreement with his widow allowing the settlement to be named after him.

Six decades later, a feud over where Thorpe should be buried has pitted his two sons, who want to move him back to native lands in Oklahoma, against his grandchildren, who want him to stay in the Pennsylvania town that erected statues and a monument "to one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century."

The battle escalated last month, when senior U.S. District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo issued a ruling in Harrisburg, PA, that upheld a federal law protecting Native American remains and ordered the borough to comply with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The order requires the borough to hire an archaeologist who will conduct an inventory of the remains.

After the ruling became front-page news in the local media, a resident of the nearby town of Lehighton, Jim Deeble and his wife Lorraine, said he was driven to visit the site after hearing that the body could be moved out of town.

"I think he should stay planted where he is," said Deeble, 73, a retired engineer, as he gazed at the memorial. "I don't see any purpose moving him around."

John Thorpe, 56, a grandson who lives in South Lake Tahoe, California, agrees. The grandson said he spoke to a traditional healer during a sun dance in Bastrop, Texas. "He told me that my grandfather made contact with him, and my grandfather told the medicine man, I'm at peace and want no more pain created in my name.'"

Another grandson, Mike Koehler, 74, who lives in Minocqua, Wisconsin, said the remains should be left where they are.

"Leave the man alone!," said Koehler. "For God's sake, let him rest in peace."

The current burial site of his grandfather, who played professional baseball and football and won gold medals at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden, happened by chance. The renowned athlete's third wife, Patricia, now deceased, was looking for a place to bury her husband when she saw a television report about two small towns, Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk, that were seeking to merge under a new name in 1953.

"She felt something needed to be done and she was in Pennsylvania at the time," John Thorpe said. "Patsy and the town came up with an agreement he would be buried there and the town would change its name and erect a monument."

One of Thorpe's sons, Bill Thorpe, 84, of Arlington, Texas has a different take on how his father's body ended up in Pennsylvania. He said his father's wife "farmed" his remains around to several cities after Thorpe died of a heart attack in California, where he lived a near-destitute existence in a mobile home.

"I think she was shopping his body, really," said Bill Thorpe.

He and his brother, Richard, are plaintiffs along with the Sac and Fox Nation, in the 2010 suit which lays the groundwork for the possible return of Thorpe's remains to Oklahoma.

If the borough does lose its namesake, few people think it would be the death knell for its vibrant tourist industry, which features train rides, whitewater rafting, quaint shops and restaurants, and tours of the old jail and gallows where migrant Irish coal miners known as the Molly Maguires were hanged in the 1880s.

(Reporting by Joe McDonald; Editing by Barbara Goldberg, Arlene Getz and Alden Bentley)

The money will go for 234 projects that will repair and rebuild parks, refuges and other agency facilities damaged by the storm and help get them ready for the summer season. Some of the money will go to repairs to help the Statue of Liberty in New York reopen in time for Independence Day. Sandy spared the statue itself, but badly damaged the island and facilities surrounding the statue.

"The funding we are making available today will help repair and rebuild facilities, reopen roads, and restore services in order to get our parks, refuges, beaches, and public lands fully operational and open to the public this summer," said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

The department is also releasing money for historic preservation efforts and investments in scientific data and studies to support storm recovery efforts.

Sandy pounded several states in late October, especially New York and New Jersey. It was the deadliest hurricane in the northeastern U.S. in 40 years and the second-costliest in the nation's history.

The National Hurricane Center estimated Sandy's damage at $50 billion, second only to the $108 billion caused by Hurricane Katrina in Gulf Coast states in 2005. Congress earlier this year approved more than $60 billion in storm aid for Sandy victims and their communities.

The deputy solicitor of the Municipal Court of Atlanta, Ronda Graham, said in a statement on Thursday that "the pending criminal matters against Ms. Reese Witherspoon and Mr. Jim Toth have been resolved."

Toth, 42, entered a guilty plea to drunk driving and received a $600 fine. He must also complete 40 hours of community service.

In a video of the arrest posted on the celebrity website TMZ, Witherspoon is shown accusing the state trooper who arrested her of harassment.

"Do you know my name?" she asks. "You're about to find out who I am."

The video was viewed more than 120,000 times on YouTube by Friday afternoon, and was picked up by other media outlets.

Witherspoon, who won a best actress Oscar for her portrayal of the country singer June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line," apologized for her actions in an interview on the "Good Morning America" television show on Thursday.

She said she panicked after Toth was arrested and had told the officer "crazy things" after having too many glasses of wine in an restaurant in Atlanta, where she is filming a movie.

"I have no idea what I was talking about. And I am so sorry. I was so disrespectful to him," the mother-of-three said.

They were stopped after Toth crossed a double line on the road and then failed a blood-alcohol test.

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; and Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)