| In a ceremony steeped in centuries of ritual and arcane tradition, 115 cardinals entered the marble-floored Sistine Chapel in the heart of the Vatican on Tuesday at the start of what could be days of cloistered deliberations. Only one will emerge as pope. The race to succeed Benedict XVI, who stunned the world last month by resigning from the seat of St. Peter, is wide open, with speculation that the election, known as the conclave, could be longer than the average two to three days of those from the last century. But as the cardinals cast their first vote and crowds outside St. Peter's Basilica waited to see the first trails of smoke coming from a chimney on the roof of the chapel, at least three have emerged as front runners. Leading the field is Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan, who if elected would bring the papacy back to Italy after a 35-year gap in which the seat was held by two foreigners: John Paul II, a Pole, and Benedict, a German. Scola, 71, can count on up to 50 votes in the first round of voting, according to the Italian press, who benefit from behind-the-scenes, anonymous briefings from their own cardinals. Next comes Cardinal Odilo Scherer, the archbishop of São Paulo in Brazil, who can reportedly muster a guaranteed 15 to 18 votes and who, if elected, would become the first pope from the Americas. Close on his heels is Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the ebullient archbishop of New York, who has the vote of 10 to 15 of his brother "princes of the church." These voting blocs would have to be substantially expanded during the course of the conclave – to be elected pope a cardinal needs two-thirds of the votes. So who are these men and what would their election mean for the future of the Catholic Church as it struggles to deal with growing secularization, the scandal of pedophile priests, the rise of militant Islam, and a host of other challenges? THE ITALIAN FRONTRUNNER Cardinal Scola has impeccable pedigree as a "papabile" or papal candidates. He has been both patriarch of Venice and archbishop of Milan, two posts which in the 20th century gave the church no fewer than five popes. He was a favorite to be elected pope in 2005 following the death of John Paul II. Could it be second time lucky in 2013? His conservative doctrinal views make him an ideological heir of Benedict XVI, although he has more progressive attitudes on issues such as immigration, and is a keen proponent of the need to open dialogue with Islam. His election would mean continuity for the papacy at a time when many Catholics feel that it instead needs rejuvenation and reform – Scola is seen as another Benedict, albeit with a more personal touch. "If you like Benedict XVI, you'll love Scola; even if you don't, you'll find it hard not to be charmed," wrote John Allen, a Vatican analyst with the US-based National Catholic Reporter. "He's an extroverted, optimistic, remarkably authentic, Italian-speaking version of the [former] Pope." He has an iron-willed conviction in the need for continuity with Catholic tradition and has been close to conservative groups such as Communion and Liberation. The son of a truck driver, Scola was born in 1941 in Malgrate, on the shores of Lake Como, in northern Italy. He once swam across the lake in the middle of winter, showing signs of the determination and tenacity which later marked him out as a high-flier in the Italian church. One of Scola's strengths is the fact that he is not associated with the Vatican bureaucracy, whose image has been badly tarnished by infighting between Italian cardinals. THE BRAZILIAN CONTENDER He faces a formidable rival in the guise of Cardinal Scherer, the archbishop of São Paulo. As a doctrinal conservative, he too is seen as an ideological heir to Benedict XVI, who as pope emeritus is enjoying retirement in a ridge-top castle overlooking a volcanic lake outside Rome. Scherer is regarded as the head of a bloc of cardinals who will resist serious reform of the Curia, the church's powerful governing body. Its reputation has been damaged by reports of feuding, turf battles, and incompetence which emerged last year from the "Vati Leaks" scandal, when Benedict's butler was caught stealing confidential papal documents and leaking them to the media. Scherer has strong ties to the Curia and has a seat on the supervisory board of the Vatican bank, another institution that has been tarnished by allegations of mismanagement and murky conduct. The Brazilian will disappoint Catholics hoping for a more reformist, liberalizing pontiff – he takes hardline positions on contentious issues such as gay marriage. At the age of 63, he is one of the youngest cardinals, ensuring that his papacy will probably be a long one. Scherer became the archbishop of Sao Paulo in 2007 and was named a cardinal later the same year. His fair complexion and blue eyes are testament to his European origins – he was the seventh of 13 children in a family that descended from German immigrants, born and raised in southern Brazil. "They were an incredibly poor farming family down in the far south of the country, in Rio Grande do Sul," says Gina Marques, Vatican correspondent for TV Globonews, a Brazilian network. "It's a state with a very strong immigrant population from Germany." Scherer is unlikely to bring Carnival-style razzamatazz to the papacy, being regarded as rather aloof and not particularly charismatic. "He is seen as much more German than Brazilian," says Ms. Marques. "He's pretty dour, and he's no reformist. There would be very little change of direction for the church if he is elected." Scherer has first-hand experience of some of the key issues facing the church – despite its population of some 124 million Catholics, Brazil is increasingly secular. Not only has the Catholic Church lost followers, it has also been challenged by the growth of the Pentecostal Church. Scherer is very much a Vatican insider – he served for seven years as the head of the powerful Congregation for Bishops. THE EBULLIENT AMERICAN Timothy Dolan, 63, the archbishop of New York, is a wild card in the conclave. His good humor and larger-than-life character have won him many allies, particularly in the media. But he is regarded as having a slim chance of actually being elected pope. He may simply be too brash for many of his brother cardinals, and there is widespread resistance to the idea of an American pope – the church has traditionally tried to keep the papacy out of the hands of the superpower of the day, whether that was the Holy Roman Empire in medieval times, or the United States today. THE REST OF THE FIELD That leaves a string of at least half a dozen other cardinals who are also considered to have a fighting chance of being chosen. They range from Marc Ouellet, a French Canadian cardinal, to Sean O'Malley, who is the archbishop of Boston and nicknamed "the Capuchin Cardinal." There is Leonardo Sandri of Argentina, Peter Erdo of Hungary, and Luis Tagle of the Philippines, who if elected would be the first Asian pontiff. The 115 red-hatted cardinals will be shut off from the outside world until they have made their choice, eating and sleeping in a purpose-built residence within the walls of the Vatican and banned from using telephones, accessing the Internet, and using social media networks like Twitter and Facebook – on pain of excommunication. From Wednesday they will vote four times a day, with the ballot papers burned twice a day in a specially installed stove in the Sistine Chapel. Black smoke signifies that no cardinal has the required 77 or more votes, and more balloting is required, while white smoke indicates "Habemus Papam" – we have a pope – and will send Rome into a frenzy of celebration, with church bells peeling and tens of thousands of people expected to flock to St. Peter's Square. |
Who's on the short list to be the new pope?
America's new love: Water
| It wasn't too long ago that America had a love affair with soda. Now, an old flame has the country's heart. As New York City grapples with the legality of a ban on the sale of large cups of soda and other sugary drinks at some businesses, one thing is clear: soda's run as the nation's beverage of choice has fizzled. In its place? A favorite for much of history: Plain old H2O. For more than two decades, soda was the No. 1 drink in the U.S. with per capita consumption peaking in 1998 at 54 gallons a year, according industry tracker Beverage Digest. Americans drank just 42 gallons a year of water at the time. But over the years, as soda increasingly came under fire for fueling the nation's rising obesity rates, water quietly rose to knock it off the top spot. Americans now drink an average of 44 gallons of soda a year, a 17 percent drop from the peak in 1998. Over the same time, the average amount of water people drink has increased 38 percent to about 58 gallons a year. Bottled water has led that growth, with consumption nearly doubling to 21 gallons a year. Stephen Ngo, a civil defense attorney, quit drinking soda a year ago when he started running triathlons, and wanted a healthier way to quench his thirst. Ngo, 34, has a Brita filter for tap water and also keeps his pantry stocked with cases of bottled water. "It might just be the placebo effect or marketing, but it tastes crisper," said Ngo, who lives in Miami. The trend reflects Americans' ever-changing tastes; it wasn't too far back in history that tap water was the top drink. But in the 1980s, carbonated soft drinks overtook tap as the most popular drink, with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo putting their marketing muscle behind their colas with celebrity endorsements from the likes of pop star Michael Jackson and comedian Bill Cosby. Americans kept drinking more of the carbonated, sugary drink for about a decade. Then, soda's magic started to fade: Everyone from doctors to health advocates to government officials were blaming soft drinks for making people fat. Consumption started declining after hitting a high in the late 1990s. At the same time, people started turning to bottled water as an alternative. Its popularity was helped by the emergence of single-serve bottles that were easy to carry around. Until then, bottled water had mainly been sold in "big jugs and coolers" for people who didn't trust their water supply, said John Sicher, publisher of Beverage Digest. The new soft drink-like packaging helped fast-track bottled water's growth past milk and beer. In fact, the amount of bottled water Americans drink has risen nearly every year for more than two decades, while the estimates of how much tap water people drink has fluctuated up and down during that time. When taken together, water finally overtook soda in 2008, according to Beverage Digest. (It's difficult to track how much tap water people drink and how much is used for other things like washing dishes, so experts estimate consumption.) Analysts expect water to hold onto to its top spot for years to come. But whether people will drink from the tap or a bottle is uncertain. Based on current trajectories, Michael Bellas, the CEO of the industry tracker Beverage Marketing Corp., predicts that bottled water alone could overtake soda within the next decade. That's not counting enhanced and flavored waters, which are growing quickly but remain a small part of the bottled water industry. Currently, people drink 21 gallons of bottled water a year. That compares with 37 gallons of other water, which includes tap, sparkling, flavored and enhanced waters such as Coca-Cola's vitaminwater. But there are numerous factors that could tilt the scales in favor of tap water. Because of concerns that plastic bottles create too much waste, experts say bottled water could be hit by a public backlash similar to the one that has whipsawed the soda industry with pushes for bans and taxes. New York City was preparing for a ban on cups of sugary drinks that are larger than 16 ounces starting on Tuesday. But on Monday — a day before the ban was to begin — a judge invalidated the regulation. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who originally proposed the ban, vowed to appeal the judge's ruling. Bottled water already is starting to face similar opposition. The town of Concord, Mass. earlier this year banned the sale of water bottles that are less than a liter. And the University of Vermont became the first public university to ban the sale of bottled water. Meanwhile, other cities are waging campaigns to promote tap water. New York City, which touts the high quality of its tap water, offers portable fountains at events around the city. "Good old marketing has convinced people that they should spend a lot of money on bottled water," says Salome Freud, chief of New York City's distribution water quality operations. Although companies such as Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. would rather have people buy bottled waters, they're even more invested in getting people to drink more soda again. That's because soda and other drinks that the companies make, such as sports drinks and juices, are more profitable than bottled water. With bottled water, people tend to buy whatever is cheapest. That's a habit that forces companies to keep prices relatively low, which eats into profits. It's why companies are investing so heavily in developing nations such as China and India, where the appetite for soda continues to grow. In the U.S., annual soda sales are more than five times as big as bottled water at $75.7 billion a year, according to Beverage Digest. In terms of volume, soda is only twice as big as bottled water. At Coca-Cola, the No. 1 soda maker, three-quarters of its volume in gallons comes from soft drinks, compared with 8 percent for its bottled waters including Dasani. PepsiCo, the No. 2 soda maker, gets 64 percent of its volume from soft drinks and only 7 percent from its Aquafina bottled water. It's why Coca-Cola, which holds 13 percent of the bottled water market compared with PepsiCo's 10 percent, doesn't seem to think bottled water will ever overtake soda. In an emailed statement, the Atlanta-based company noted that soft drinks remain a far larger category than bottled water and that it sees "upside" for sodas over the next several years. However, the company added that it saw "great potential" for bottled water. Like its competitors, Coca-Cola said it's focusing on growing its portfolio of bottled waters profitably by offering brands such as Smartwater and its flavored vitaminwater, which fetch higher prices. In the meantime, the chairman and former CEO of Nestle Waters North America, Kim Jeffery, is waiting for bottled water's moment in the spotlight. Nestle, the Swiss company that makes Poland Spring, Nestle Pure Life, Deer Park and other brands, has nearly half of the share of the bottled water market. At a beverage industry conference late last year, Jeffery noted that bottled water is "the elephant in the room." And given the growing warnings over drinking too many calories — including from juice, milk and other sugary drinks — Jeffery said he's confident that water will continue to grow in popularity. "For thousands of years, water was beverage of choice for human beings," he said. "Now we're reverting back to that." |
Focus shifting in Congress from automatic cuts to dueling budget plans
| With little prospect of getting rid of the automatic spending cuts that kicked in on March 1, the Congress and the White House will move on to bigger budget battles this week as dueling Republican and Democratic proposals land in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Neither budget plan is likely to be enacted. But the proposals to be submitted by Republican Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington should frame the debate over the government's taxing and spending priorities for the next few months and possibly into the 2014 Congressional elections. The budgets from Ryan and Murray, who chair the budget committees in the two chambers, are widely seen as wish-lists unacceptable to the opposing party, underscoring the depth of the fiscal divide. Ryan plans to unveil on Tuesday a slightly modified version of the budgets passed by the House in each of the past two years, cutting spending by $5 trillion over a decade and partially privatizing the Medicare health plan for retirees and dismantling President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul law. With the help of $620 billion in new tax increases on the wealthy as a result of the January "fiscal cliff" deal, Ryan's plan aims to balance the budget by 2023, compared with 2040 in his last year's proposal. But further tax increases are out of the question, he said on Sunday. Murray has signaled that her budget will aim to give the economy some breathing room to allow faster growth in the next few years, while maintaining social safety net programs and making critical investments in education and research. Her budget is not expected to achieve balance as Ryan's does, but will aim to shrink deficits down to a sustainable level that will allow debt as a percentage of the economy to start declining. The plan will get there by eliminating some of the estimated $1 trillion in "tax expenditures" - subsidies paid through tax deductions, credits and other exclusions. Based on Murray's comments and recent Senate Democratic proposals to replace the automatic cuts, these loophole closures will focus on the wealthy. "At a time when we absolutely must cut where we can, looking at ways we can close special tax breaks that aren't targeted to help the middle class or our economy just makes sense," Murray told a Senate Budget Committee hearing last week. "There's no good reason, for example, that taxpayers currently subsidize millionaires more, when they purchase a second home, or a yacht, than they do middle-class families purchasing their first home." Many Republicans, including Ryan, also want to close these loopholes, but they want to divert the savings to reduce tax rates. This sort of comprehensive tax reform, they argue, will create a simpler, cleaner tax code that will foster economic growth. The budget proposals will focus on the 2014 fiscal year that starts on October 1, leaving in place the first $85 billion in automatic cuts - called the "sequestration" - at least for the time being. A Senate Democratic bill to fund the government through the end of the current fiscal year will make no effort to replace the cuts, focusing instead on ways to grant agencies authority to better manage their expenditures. "We know that coming up with the $85 billion to solve sequester has to be done at the leadership and presidential level," the bill's author, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, said last week. The White House on Monday acknowledged that elimination of the across-the-board spending cuts will likely come only as part of a larger, comprehensive budget deal with Republicans, many of whom are determined to keep the $85 billion in savings. "So, our focus now, as the president has said, is on working with Congress" on the regular budget process, "and through that process hopefully produce a bipartisan agreement on deficit reduction," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. NEW STARTING LINES The week marks "a transitional moment" for Congress, said one aide, because it represents a return to the normal legislative process of considering budget resolutions in both chambers. For more than two years, Washington has lurched from crisis to crisis amid "leadership-brokered" deficit deals and stop-gap spending extensions. The Democratic-controlled Senate has not passed a formal budget resolution in nearly four years. By returning to so-called "regular order," the Republican-controlled House in particular aims to engage more lawmakers in the process of deciding how to cut deficits so that there is more support among rank-and-file members for the finished product. The last two major deficit deals were reached at the last minute at the highest levels of the White House and Congress, staving off a potentially devastating debt default in 2011 and averting a massive tax increase on January 1. Obama will continue his efforts to engage congressional Republicans and Democrats directly, by holding meetings with lawmakers this week. Obama's shift to a "charm offensive" in dealing with members of Congress likely reflects a sense of public weariness from endless budget battles, said Steve Bell, a former staff director of the Senate Budget Committee and now with the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank. "It's important to change the subject away from debts and deficits and instead talk about things where you can make progress - immigration reform, for example, or on guns," Bell said. With the effects of the automatic spending reductions yet to fully kick in, the president may be counting on public pressure to build on for an alternative to the deep cuts, Bell said. In the meantime, the president can establish links with members of Congress of both parties and work on other issues. |
Bieber recovering after fainting at London concert
| Justin Bieber is recovering after fainting backstage at a concert in London. A spokeswoman for Bieber said late Thursday that the 19-year-old pop star was given oxygen and took a 20-minute reprieve after fainting backstage at London's O2 Arena. Bieber posted a shirtless photo of himself in a hospital bed late Thursday with the caption: "Gettin better listening to Janis Joplin." Before that on Twitter he thanked "everyone pulling me thru tonight."
"Best fans in the world," he wrote. "Figuring out what happened. Thanks for the love." Jazz Chappell, a 20-year-old concertgoer who brought her younger sister and her friend to the show, said Bieber announced he couldn't breathe and needed water. He resumed performing, but then had to be helped offstage by a backup dancer. In the nearly 30 minutes he was offstage, some fans started to leave. Once his manager announced what had happened, Chappell said many fans in the audience were gasping and crying, while others kept cheering for him to return. "I thought, 'Give the guy a break. He just fainted. He's not a performing horse. Let him rest a second,'" said Chappell. In a video of the concert posted online, Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, appeared onstage and told the crowd that the singer was feeling "very low of breath" but would come back to finish the show. In another video posted online that claims it is from Thursday's show, Bieber appears out of breath during a performance of his uptempo hit, "Beauty and a Beat." He begins to fade as he is dancing and puts his hand on his forehead and bends over to catch his breath. Chappell said Bieber, who's in London to perform four concerts at the O2, later returned and performed low-energy renditions of his hits "Boyfriend" and "Baby." Braun later tweeted "everyone please give him a little space and he will be ok. Im sure he appreciates the support ... Tough kid proud night once again he always finishes the show. Full out. True pro..." The incident caps a difficult week for Bieber. He was forced to apologize to outraged fans who accused him of taking the stage almost two hours late for his first concert at the O2 on Monday. He insisted he was only 40 minutes late and blamed "technical issues." He took to Twitter to vent his frustrations with the media's portrayal of the incident. Bieber's Friday night concert at the O2 remained scheduled as of early Friday morning. |
Illinois home care program for elderly is almost out of money
| Illinois warned that it will run out of money next week to pay for a program that allows 80,000 elderly and disabled people to live at home, the latest illustration of the state's fiscal crisis. The Illinois agency that oversees home healthcare providers said in a letter on Thursday that the money was "projected to be exhausted by March 15," 3-1/2 months before the fiscal year ends on June 30. The shortfall will force some smaller nonprofit home healthcare agencies to close, trigger layoffs at others and leave thousands of elderly people scrambling for alternatives to in-home care, said Bob Thieman, executive director of the Illinois Association of Community Care Program Healthcare Providers. "The state's going to pay for this one way or another. If these seniors cannot be picked up by other in-home providers, they're going to wind up in nursing homes, which will cost a lot more," he said. Illinois is mired in a financial crisis caused by skyrocketing costs of public-sector pensions, which Governor Pat Quinn this week said are draining money from other social services. The state legislature has failed to approve reforms to the pensions that will reduce the cost, which has prompted the state to delay paying its bills to balance the budget. State officials say the situation is improving, but Thieman said it is getting worse for home healthcare providers. They already wait as long as six months to get paid by the state. Illinois has advised them to continue submitting invoices but says they will not be compensated immediately. The department blamed the action on overdue bills from last year, which it said ate up a quarter of the $687 million budgeted for the current year to help elderly people remain independent by paying for in-home care. It would be the second time in two years that the money ran out before the end of the fiscal year, Thieman said. This year's warning came much earlier than last year and was caused by a much larger backlog of bills. "This one is critical," Thieman said, predicting hardship for providers. The program serves about 80,000 people each month, according to the Department on Aging. The 40 providers - ranging from nonprofits such as Catholic Charities to for-profit companies such as Addus HealthCare - employ about 25,000 home care assistants, according to Thieman. No other U.S. state has institutionalized late payment of bills like Illinois, according to the National Council of State Legislatures. The state's backlog of unpaid bills stood at $8.7 billion at the end of fiscal 2012, or about a quarter of the state's annual revenues. Financial watchdogs say it could soar to nearly $22 billion in five years unless the state takes action to curb its public pension costs. The state currently has $96.8 billion in unfunded pension liabilities and has the lowest credit rating among the states rated by Moody's and S&P. In January Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka asked lawmakers to either approve spending more money or require state agencies with surplus funds to return them for others to use. The legislature approved some additional funding but it did not include money for the elderly and people with disabilities, said Topinka's spokesman, Brad Hahn. |
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Egypt's army intervenes in Port Said clashes
| PORT SAID, Egypt (AP) — The military intervened in clashes between thousands of protesters and police in a restive Egyptian canal city on Sunday, the latest in a cycle of violence that killed two security members and two civilians, and which continues to rock Egypt two years after the uprising that ousted longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak. Also on Sunday, a court ruled that Mubarak will face a new trial next month on charges related to the killings of hundreds of protesters during the revolution that forced him from power. Around 5,000 protesters threw rocks and firebombs at police in Port Said late Sunday, the scene of a civil strike now in its second week. Riot police responded with tear gas and bird shot in street battles that lasted for hours. The battle outside the police and government buildings started early Sunday and continued until past midnight. At one point, Egyptian soldiers intervened by forming a line between the two sides, as protesters climbed the tanks chanting support for the country's armed forces that, unlike the police, have not cracked down on rioters in the city. "The people and the army are one hand!" the demonstrators shouted, urging the soldiers to side with them. Late on Sunday, the military spokesman denied that soldiers were firing at the police in a short statement indicating the tense situation. "The armed forces personnel are on the scene to protect the government building and to separate the protesters and the interior ministry force," military spokesman Ahmed Mohammed Ali said in a statement posted on his official Facebook page. Health official Helmy el-Afani said 325 people were injured in the clashes. Most suffered tear gas inhalation while others were wounded by bird shot. The Interior Ministry said one policeman was killed by gunfire, and one soldier and at least 10 policemen were wounded. A medical official in Port Said later said one of the policemen died of his gunshot wounds and two civilians were killed but the cause of their deaths was not immediately clear. He was speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Many residents of Port Said are demanding retribution for what they claim was excessive police force that led to the deaths of more than 40 civilians in late January. Most were killed during what the security forces said was an attempt by some to storm a prison there. The embattled Interior Ministry, which oversees Egypt's police force, was unable to contain the anger in the city at the time and the president leaned on the military to protect key installations and buildings. Sunday was the first time the army intervened between police and protesters in Port Said since the military was put in charge of securing the city in late January. The police had all but disappeared since. Protests swept the city Jan. 26 after a Cairo court issued death sentences against 21 people, most from Port Said, for their part in Egypt's deadliest soccer riot in February 2012. The latest street battles broke out when word emerged that 39 defendants in the case had been transferred to prisons outside the city. A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the case, said the transfer was necessary to ensure calm before a March 9 court hearing that is expected to issue new verdicts for police officers and other Port Said defendants also charged in connection with the soccer incident. In Cairo, die-hard soccer fans of the Al-Ahly club, known as the Ultras, are also gearing up for the March 9 verdict. They staged protests around the capital on Sunday that blocked traffic going to the airport, and closed off an area around the central bank. Most of those killed in the Port Said stadium were Al-Ahly Ultras fans, and the group is pressing for retribution from Port Said soccer fans as well as security officials. In Cairo, police briefly cleared protesters from Tahrir Square — once the epicenter of protests against Mubarak. The demonstrators, who have held a sit-in there for the past three months, returned soon after, burning two police vehicles near the famed Egyptian Museum. By nightfall, a handful protesters and riot police continued to clash along a major street near the square. Amid the tension, President Mohammed Morsi met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Cairo for more than two hours on Sunday, a day after the top American diplomat met six opposition figures out of 11 who were invited. The other five declined to meet Kerry because of Washington's insistence that all Egyptians take part in next month's elections. Morsi and his government argue that parliamentary elections will help put the country on the right track, enabling him and the legislature to tackle a deteriorating economy. But the opposition argues that elections are likely to inflame the already tense atmosphere and have called for a boycott of the vote. The mostly liberal and secular opposition accuses the Islamist president of failing to seek consensus over critical issues, such as the drafting of the constitution and the elections law. Morsi opponents accuse him of working to empower his Muslim Brotherhood and ensuring its lock on power. Meanwhile, the opposition has threatened to escalate its anti-government street campaign and organize its boycott of the elections. The retrial of Mubarak, beginning April 13, is likely to intensify the tense political atmosphere in Egypt. It is due to start about a week before the beginning of parliamentary elections. Many Egyptians want to see a conviction against Mubarak that leads to a death sentence for the former autocrat for his role in the crackdown that killed nearly 900 people during the 2011 uprising against his regime. Mubarak, 84, has been in detention since April 2011 and is currently being held in a military hospital. He and his former interior minister were each sentenced in June to life in prison for failing to prevent the killing of demonstrators during the 18-day uprising that ended his 29-year rule. In January, an appeals court overturned the sentences and ordered a retrial, raising public anger over what was seen as a shoddy prosecution in the first case. Morsi promised during his election campaign that he would put former regime officials back on trial if new evidence was discovered. The proceedings in Mubarak's retrial could help resolve unanswered questions over who ordered the crackdown and who executed it. Nearly all security officials were acquitted in separate trials related to the deaths of protesters. In January, the appeals court ruled that during Mubarak's first trial, the prosecution's case lacked concrete evidence and failed to prove the protesters were killed by the police, indirectly giving credence to the testimony of top Mubarak-era officials that "foreigners" and others were behind the killings between Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, 2011. Authors of a recently concluded confidential report by a fact-finding mission appointed by Morsi told reporters that they have established the use of deadly firearms by the police against protesters. Judge Samir Aboul-Maati said the retrial before a criminal court will include six other senior security officials who were acquitted in the first trial. Mubarak's two sons and a business associate also will be retried on corruption charges. The sons, onetime heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa, are in jail while on trial for insider trading and using their influence to buy state land at a fraction of its market value. Their business associate, Hussein Salem, was tried in absentia. He is currently in Spain. ___ El Deeb and Associated Press Writer Aya Batrawy contributed reporting from Cairo. |
