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Labels: LifestyleiPhone, iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop dies at 96
Labels: HealthC. Everett Koop, who raised the profile of the surgeon general by riveting America's attention on the then-emerging disease known as AIDS and by railing against smoking, has died in New Hampshire at age 96.
The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth said in a release that Koop died peacefully in his home in Hanover on Monday. They did not disclose a cause of death
Koop wielded the previously low-profile post of surgeon general as a bully pulpit for seven years during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations.
An evangelical Christian, he shocked his conservative supporters when he endorsed condoms and sex education to stop the spread of AIDS.
He carried out a crusade to end smoking in the United States -- his goal had been to do so by the year 2000. A former pipe smoker, he said cigarettes were as addictive as heroin and cocaine.
Koop's impact was great, although the surgeon general has no real authority to set government policy. He described himself as "the health conscience of the country."
"My only influence was through moral suasion," Koop said just before leaving office in 1989. By then, his Amish-style silver beard and white, braided uniform were instantly recognizable.
Out of office, he switched to business suits and bow ties, but continued to promote public health causes, from preventing childhood accidents to better training for doctors.
"I will use the written word, the spoken word and whatever I can in the electronic media to deliver health messages to this country as long as people will listen," he promised.
In 1996, he rapped Republican hopeful Bob Dole for suggesting that tobacco is not invariably addictive, saying Dole's comments "either exposed his abysmal lack of knowledge of nicotine addiction or his blind support of the tobacco industry."
Although he eventually won wide respect with his blend of old-fashioned values, pragmatism and empathy, Koop's nomination in 1981 met a wall of opposition from women's groups and liberal politicians.
Critics said President Reagan selected Koop, a pediatric surgeon from Philadelphia, only because of his conservative views -- especially his staunch opposition to abortion.
Foes noted that Koop traveled the country in 1979 and 1980 giving speeches that predicted a progression "from liberalized abortion to infanticide to passive euthanasia to active euthanasia, indeed to the very beginnings of the political climate that led to Auschwitz, Dachau and Belsen."
But Koop, a devout Presbyterian, was confirmed after he told a Senate panel he would not use the surgeon general's post to promote his religious ideology. He kept his word.
In 1986, he issued a frank report on AIDS, urging the use of condoms for "safe sex" and advocating sex education as early as third grade.
He also maneuvered around uncooperative Reagan administration officials in 1988 to send an educational AIDS pamphlet to more than 100 million U.S. households -- the largest public health mailing ever done.
Koop personally opposed homosexuality and believed sex should be saved for marriage. But he insisted that Americans, especially young people, must not die because they were deprived of explicit information about how the HIV virus was transmitted.
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Arias Had No Remorse: Prosecutor
Labels: Business
Prosecutor Juan Martinez hammered alleged murderer Jodi Arias today with accusations that she felt no remorse when she lied over and over again about killing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander.
"Ma'am you have a problem with telling the truth don't you?" Martinez asked as his first question today, the 11th day Arias has been on the stand explaining her role in Alexander's death.
"Not typically," Arias responded.
Martinez then took Arias through a series of lies she admittedly told in the days after she stabbed and shot Alexander to death on June 4, 2008, lying to friends, investigators and even Alexander's grandmother, going so far as to send a dozen irises to his grandmother expressing her sympathy.
See the Evidence in the Jodi Arias Murder Trial
Arias, 32, has testified that she killed Alexander in self-defense during a violent argument and lied about it out of "shame."
But prosecutors say that the 27 stab wounds, a slashed throat, and two bullets she fired at Alexander's head prove that she murdered him. She could face the death penalty if convicted.
Catching Up on the Trial? Check Out ABC News' Jodi Arias Trial Coverage
Today Martinez tried to raise doubts about Arias' earlier testimony in which she depicted Alexander as an increasingly menacing and sexually demanding lover by grilling her about the lies she told after she killed Alexander.
Martinez pointed out that Arias lied to Detective Esteban Flores of the Mesa, Ariz., police department as he investigated Alexander's death. She initially denied to the detective that she was at Alexander's Mesa, Ariz., home when he was killed, and later said he was murdered by a pair of masked intruders.
Jodi Arias Testimony: Prosecution's Cross-Examination Watch Video
Jodi Arias Remains Calm Under Cross-Examination Watch Video
Jodi Arias Doesn't Remember Stabbing Ex-Boyfriend Watch Video
"You told (Flores) you would help him, but that was a lie right? You weren't there to tell the truth. You were there for another purpose: to make sure he didn't get the truth.... You were hoping, ma'am, that (Flores) would believe what you were saying so you could walk out of jail," Martinez said.
Arias argued with Martinez, claiming that she lied to investigators out of shame, and lied to friends immediately after the death out of confusion.
"My mind wasn't right during all that period," Arias said referring to the hours immediately following the killing when she drove through the Arizona desert and made phone calls to ex-boyfriend Matthew McCartney and new love interest Ryan Burns.
"It's like I wasn't accepting it in my mind... because I never killed anyone before," she said.
Martinez also suggested that Arias tried to find out the status of the investigation into Alexander's death so that she could know if she were about to be arrested. When a friend of Alexander's called her to report the news about Alexander's death, Arias asked about details into the investigation, the prosecutor said. She also called Alexander's Mormon bishop and asked him what he knew about the case, and then asked friends and family members what they knew, according to Martinez.
"You needed to see what you needed to know to make sure you weren't charged. What purpose would there be for that information other than to benefit you?" Martinez asked. "You called [the bishop] at 3 a.m. You call him and spoke to him because you wanted to get the information about what he knew about the investigation. That was going to help you."
Timeline of the Jodi Arias Trial
Martinez also went over lies that Arias told to her friend, Leslie Udy, and Ryan Burns, both of whom she saw in Utah the day after killing Alexander. She talked to both about Alexander as if he were still alive. Martinez pointed out that Arias even made out with Burns in his bedroom during their visit.
But Arias claimed that it was Burns who lied about their encounter.
"And with Mr. Burns, didn't you get on top of him and grind on him?" Martinez asked.
Arias said she was on top of Burns at one point, but they did not "grind."
"Well, when you were romantic kissing, he did put his hand between your legs, didn't he?" Martinez said, referring to Burns' own testimony in court weeks earlier.
"No," Arias said. "It could be that he's full of crap...when he says he got near my vaginal area."
"This is the person who lied to him, to (friends), to Detective Flores, and yet you're telling us someone else is full of crap," Martinez asked incredulously.
"When it comes to that, yes," she said.
Vatican 'Gay lobby'? Probably not
Labels: WorldSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Benedict XVI not stepping down under pressure from 'gay lobby,' Allen says
- Allen: Benedict is a man who prefers the life of the mind to the nuts and bolts of government
- However, he says, much of the pope's time has been spent putting out fires
Editor's note: John L. Allen Jr. is CNN's senior Vatican analyst and senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.
(CNN) -- Suffice it to say that of all possible storylines to emerge, heading into the election of a new pope, sensational charges of a shadowy "gay lobby" (possibly linked to blackmail), whose occult influence may have been behind the resignation of Benedict XVI, would be right at the bottom of the Vatican's wish list.
Proof of the Vatican's irritation came with a blistering statement Saturday complaining of "unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories," even suggesting the media is trying to influence the papal election.
Two basic questions have to be asked about all this. First, is there really a secret dossier about a network of people inside the Vatican who are linked by their sexual orientation, as Italian newspaper reports have alleged? Second, is this really why Benedict XVI quit?
John L. Allen Jr.
The best answers, respectively, are "maybe" and "probably not."
It's a matter of record that at the peak of last year's massive Vatican leaks crisis, Benedict XVI created a commission of three cardinals to investigate the leaks. They submitted an eyes-only report to the pope in mid-December, which has not been made public.
It's impossible to confirm whether that report looked into the possibility that people protecting secrets about their sex lives were involved with the leaks, but frankly, it would be surprising if it didn't.
There are certainly compelling reasons to consider the hypothesis. In 2007, a Vatican official was caught by an Italian TV network on hidden camera arranging a date through a gay-oriented chat room, and then taking the young man back to his Vatican apartment. In 2010, a papal ceremonial officer was caught on a wiretap arranging liaisons through a Nigerian member of a Vatican choir. Both episodes played out in full public view, and gave the Vatican a black eye.
Pope Benedict XVI
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In that context, it would be a little odd if the cardinals didn't at least consider the possibility that insiders leading a double life might be vulnerable to pressure to betray the pope's confidence. That would apply not just to sex, but also potential conflicts of other sorts too, such as financial interests.
Vatican officials have said Benedict may authorize giving the report to the 116 cardinals who will elect his successor, so they can factor it into their deliberations. The most immediate fallout is that the affair is likely to strengthen the conviction among many cardinals that the next pope has to lead a serious house-cleaning inside the Vatican's bureaucracy.
It seems a stretch, however, to suggest this is the real reason Benedict is leaving. For the most part, one should probably take the pope at his word, that old age and fatigue are the motives for his decision.
That said, it's hard not to suspect that the meltdowns and controversies that have dogged Benedict XVI for the last eight years are in the background of why he's so tired. In 2009, at the height of another frenzy surrounding the lifting of the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying traditionalist bishop, Benedict dispatched a plaintive letter to the bishops of the world, voicing hurt for the way he'd been attacked and apologizing for the Vatican's mishandling of the situation.
Even if Benedict didn't resign because of any specific crisis, including this latest one, such anguish must have taken its toll. Benedict is a teaching pope, a man who prefers the life of the mind to the nuts and bolts of government, yet an enormous share of his time and energy has been consumed trying to put out internal fires.
It's hard to know why Benedict XVI is stepping off the stage, but I doubt it is because of a "gay lobby."
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John L. Allen Jr.
Brazil cardinal suggests church look to Latin America
Labels: Technology
APARECIDA: Catholicism in Latin America is "lively and dynamic," Brazilian Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis said Sunday, suggesting that the church look to Latin America for leadership.
Damasceno is one of the 117 "cardinal electors" that will participate in the upcoming conclave to elect a new pope. No favourite has to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, who announced that he is stepping down at the end of the month.
The 76 year-old Damasceno, who is also head of Brazil's Conference of Catholic Bishops, told AFP in a phone interview that, unlike in Europe, the faith is strong in Latin America.
"The church in Latin America is enjoying a very special moment, with strong missionary enthusiasm," Damasceno told AFP.
That enthusiasm serves to bolster flagging interest for Catholicism in Europe, a region "undergoing a very intense process of secularisation and that suffers from a crisis of religious vocations."
Openly campaigning for the papacy is taboo, but cardinals discreetly drop hints about their preferences.
Brazilian bishops believe that it is "fundamental" for the next pope to be a person who is a pastoral figure, Damasceno said, "open to dialog with the contemporary world and sensitive to social problems."
Damasceno, himself a candidate, is one of five Brazilians who will be at the conclave. They include Odilo Scherer, 63, who was ordained by Benedict in 2007 and heads the five million strong archdiocese of Sao Paulo, and Salvador archbishop Geraldo Majella Agnelo, 79.
Brazil has the most Catholics in the world, but in recent years evangelical and Protestant churches have made considerable inroads, especially among the poor.
- AFP/jc
Jimmie Johnson does it again
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Jimmie Johnson led 17 laps, says he was confident in his car
- Danica Patrick becomes first woman to lead green-flag lap at the race
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. was a runner-up for the third time in four years
- Some fans injured in Saturday incident were scheduled to attend race, official says
(CNN) -- Racing at the Daytona International Speedway can be like playing the lottery against 42 other drivers who all have a ticket, all seem to have an equal shot at winning.
While luck can certainly help, so does experience, something Jimmie Johnson put to use as the laps wound down in NASCAR's season-opening and most prestigious race of the season.
Johnson won the Daytona 500 on Sunday, edging out Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished second for the third time in four years.
Johnson, who won the race for the second time, led 17 laps on the track where speeds are limited by a restrictor plate. The result is close racing, with cars separated by hundredths of a second.
It's a race that often involves a big wreck near the end, so Sunday drivers were content to line up one by- ne and go around and a round and around for the first 180 laps. Then Johnson took over.
"I had a lot of confidence leading the train," Johnson said of being the first car in line as drivers raced around the 2 1/2-mile track. "I knew I had a fast car."
Bleacher Report: Johnson finds way to win
His crew chief, Chad Knaus said that despite the uncertainty of racing this season with the latest generation of NASCAR cars -- which are lighter and sleeker -- they knew for weeks what they wanted to do.
"Jimmie did a great job of following that plan," said Knaus, who sat out the team's 2006 Daytona 500 win because of a suspension.
Bleacher Report's snap reaction
Danica Patrick through the years
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Danica Patrick, the first woman to win the pole position at the Daytona 500, led three times, including five laps under green -- also becoming the first woman to lead a lap at the race not under a yellow flag caution. She finished eighth, the highest finish ever for a female driver at the race.
"At the end of the day, it was a solid day," she said. "We stayed basically in the top 10 all day, so it was nice."
Crew chief Tony Gibson beamed after the race.
"She did great under pressure," he said.
Bleacher Report: Danica Patrick proves her chops
Earnhardt did his best to earn his second win in the "Great American Race," but his last-lap charge came up short. With just over a mile to go, Earhardt, followed by veteran driver Mark Martin, went low on the track. With Martin's car pushing Earnhardt's the two pushed into contention, but Johnson maneuvered in front of his teammate Earnhardt.
The 54-year-old Martin crossed the finish line third.
"We just kinda ran out of steam out of (turn) four," Earnhardt said. "We made a good move, but there just was not enough race track."
Some of the fans who were injured by flying debris Saturday during a crash late in the Nationwide Series Drive4COPD 300 were to attend the Daytona 500, speedway president Joie Chitwood said Sunday morning.
At least 28 fans were injured when more than a dozen cars piled up in the final curve of Saturday's race. Some of the debris went over a 22-foot-high fence that was built in 2010, and some of it went through holes as the fence was mangled when a car slammed into it and bounced back onto the track.
Saturday's wreck occurred when several closely packed cars were jostling for position at top speeds of about 175 mph. They got tangled up, setting off a dangerous chain reaction that ensnared several vehicles.
Driver Kyle Larson's vehicle ended up flying into a fence that separates the track from spectators. The car broke into pieces, including tires and a fiery engine.
Larson walked away from the crash, even after the front part of his No. 32 car was gone. He and the other nine drivers involved told reporters that they were checked at a medical tent on the Daytona infield and released.
Danica Patrick, first woman to lead a lap at Daytona 500
Labels: HealthRicky Stenhouse Jr., left, hugs his girlfriend Danica Patrick before her start in the NASCAR Nationwide Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013, in Daytona Beach, Fla. / AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.Danica Patrick made more history at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday.
She became the first woman to lead a lap and was the highest female finisher in the famed Daytona 500. She led five laps and finished eighth. Janet Guthrie had the previous best finish for a woman in the Daytona 500 — 11th in 1980.
Danica Patrick
Danica Patrick on making NASCAR history
"You spend a lot of time thinking about what to do when the time comes," Patrick said. "I kept asking up above what was working. You needed a hole, you needed people to help you out. I had a little bit of help today here and there, but I felt like if I was going to dive low, I had a feeling I was going to get freight-trained. ... At the end of the day, it was a solid day."
Patrick, the former IndyCar star and current Sprint Cup rookie, was in position to make a run at winner Jimmie Johnson in the final laps. But Patrick faded, dropping from third to eighth as more experienced drivers passed her.
"We stayed basically in the top 10 all day long," she said. "You can't really complain about that. It was nice."
Patrick stayed out of trouble in a 200-lap race that saw several top contenders knocked out early.
Patrick started the "Great American Race" on the pole after becoming the first woman to qualify in the top spot. She failed to lead the first lap, though, falling behind three-time race winner Jeff Gordon.
- Danica Patrick crashes in Daytona qualifier
- Daytona 500: Danica Patrick in spotlight
Nonetheless, it was a big moment for NASCAR and Patrick.
But Patrick got her chance to be out front near the midway point. Fans were on their feet as Patrick beat Michael Waltrip to the front of the field on a restart. She led laps 90 and 91 and three more later before making a pit stop.
Patrick also made history as an IndyCar driver. She led 19 laps as a rookie in the 2005 Indianapolis 500, becoming the first woman to lead open-wheel racing's premier event. She finished fourth.
Pistorius' Brother Facing Own Homicide Trial
Labels: Business
The attorney for Oscar Pistorius' family said today that the Olympian's brother is facing a culpable homicide charge relating to a 2008 road accident in which a motorcyclist was killed.
Carl Pistorius, who sat behind his younger brother, Oscar, every day at his bail hearing, will now face his own homicide trial for the accident five years ago, which his attorney, Kenny Oldwage, said he "deeply regrets."
Carl Pistorius is charged with culpable homicide, which refers to the unlawful negligent killing of another person. The charges were initially dropped, but were later reinstated, Oldwage said in a statement.
Full Coverage: Oscar Pistorius Case
Pistorius quietly appeared in court on Thursday, one day before his Paralympic gold-medalist brother was released on bail, Oldwage said. His next appearance is scheduled for the end of March.
Liza van Deventer/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images
'Blade Runner' Murder Charges: Oscar Pistorius Out on Bail Watch Video
Oscar Pistorius Granted Bail in Murder Case Watch Video
It was the latest twist in a case that has drawn international attention, after 26-year-old Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee who ran in both the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, was charged with the premeditated murder of his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
On Saturday, Carl Pistorius' Twitter handle was hacked, according to a family spokeswoman, prompting the Pistorius family to cancel their social media accounts.
Steenkamp's parents speak about the Valentine's Day shooting that ended their daughter's life in a sit-down interview on South African television tonight.
On Saturday, the model's father, Barry Steenkamp, told the Afrikaans-language Beeld newspaper that Pistorius will have to "live with his conscience" and will "suffer" if his story that he shot Steenkamp because he believed she was an intruder is false.
RELATED: Oscar Pistorius Case: Key Elements to the Murder Investigation
After a four-day long bail hearing, Pistorius was granted bail Friday by a South African magistrate.
The court set bail at about $113,000 (1 million rand) and June 4 as the date for Pistorius' next court appearance.
Pistoriuis is believed to be staying at his uncle's house as he awaits trial. As part of his bail conditions, Pistorius must give up all his guns, he cannot drink alcohol or return to the home where the shooting occurred, and he must check in with a police department twice a week.
Analysis: Italian election explained
Labels: WorldSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Silvio Berlusconi is campaigning to win his old job back for the fourth time
- The eurozone's third largest economy is hurting, with unemployment surpassing 11%
- Pier Luigi Bersani of the center-left Democratic Party is expected to narrowly win
- Italy's political system encourages the forming of alliances
(CNN) -- Little more than a year after he resigned in disgrace as prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi is campaigning to win his old job back -- for the fourth time.
Berlusconi, the septuagenarian playboy billionaire nicknamed "Il Cavaliere," has been trailing in polls behind his center-left rival, Per Luigi Bersani.
But the controversial media tycoon's rise in the polls in recent weeks, combined with widespread public disillusionment and the quirks of Italy's complex electoral system, means that nothing about the race is a foregone conclusion.
Why have the elections been called now?
Italian parliamentarians are elected for five-year terms, with the current one due to end in April. However in December, Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party (PdL) withdrew its support from the reformist government led by Mario Monti, saying it was pursuing policies that "were too German-centric." Monti subsequently resigned and the parliament was dissolved.
Berlusconi -- the country's longest serving post-war leader -- had resigned the prime ministerial office himself amidst a parliamentary revolt in November 2011. He left at a time of personal and national crisis, as Italy grappled with sovereign debt problems and Berlusconi faced criminal charges of tax fraud, for which he was subsequently convicted. He remains free pending an appeal. He was also embroiled in a scandal involving a young nightclub dancer - which led him to be charged with paying for sex with an underage prostitute.
MORE: From Venice to bunga bunga: Italy in coma
He was replaced by Monti, a respected economist and former European Commissioner, who was invited by Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano to lead a cabinet of unelected technocrats. Monti's government implemented a program of tax rises and austerity measures in an attempt to resolve Italy's economic crisis.
Who are the candidates?
The election is a four-horse race between political coalitions led by Bersani, Berlusconi, Monti, and the anti-establishment movement led by ex-comedian Beppe Grillo. Polls are banned within two weeks of election day, but the most recent ones had Bersani holding onto a slender lead over Berlusconi, followed by Grillo in distant third.
READ MORE: Will Monte Paschi banking scandal throw open Italy's election race?
The center-left alliance is dominated by the Democratic Party, led by Bersani. He is a former Minister of Economic Development in Romano Prodi's government from 2006-8 -- and has held a comfortable lead in polls, but that appears to be gradually being eroded by Berlusconi.
Italy's political system encourages the forming of alliances, and the Democratic Party has teamed with the more left-wing Left Ecology Freedom party.
The 61-year-old Bersani comes across as "bluff and homespun, and that's part of his appeal -- or not, depending on your point of view," said political analyst James Walston, department chair of international relations at the American University of Rome.
He described Bersani, a former communist, as a "revised apparatchik," saying the reform-minded socialist was paradoxically "far more of a free marketeer than even people on the right."
Bersani has vowed to continue with Monti's austerity measures and reforms, albeit with some adjustments, if he wins.
At second place in the polls is the center-right alliance led by Berlusconi's PdL, in coalition with the right-wing, anti-immigration Northern League.
Berlusconi has given conflicting signals as to whether he is running for the premiership, indicating that he would seek the job if his coalition won, but contradicting that on other occasions.
In a recent speech, he proposed himself as Economy and Industry Minister, and the PdL Secretary Angelino Alfano as prime minister.
Roberto Maroni, leader of the Northern League, has said the possibility of Berlusconi becoming prime minister is explicitly ruled out by the electoral pact between the parties, but the former premier has repeatedly said he plays to win, and observers believe he is unlikely to pass up the chance to lead the country again if the opportunity presents itself.
Berlusconi has been campaigning as a Milan court weighs his appeal against a tax fraud conviction, for which he was sentenced to four years in jail last year. The verdict will be delivered after the elections; however, under the Italian legal system, he is entitled to a further appeal in a higher court. Because the case dates to July 2006, the statute of limitations will expire this year, meaning there is a good chance none of the defendants will serve any prison time.
He is also facing charges in the prostitution case (and that he tried to pull strings to get her out of jail when she was accused of theft) -- and in a third case stands accused of revealing confidential court information relating to an investigation into a bank scandal in 2005.
Despite all this, he retains strong political support from his base.
"Italy is a very forgiving society, it's partly to do with Roman Catholicism," said Walston. "There's sort of a 'live and let live' idea."
Monti, the country's 69-year-old technocrat prime minister, who had never been a politician before he was appointed to lead the government, has entered the fray to lead a centrist coalition committed to continuing his reforms. The alliance includes Monti's Civic Choice for Monti, the Christian Democrats and a smaller centre-right party, Future and Freedom for Italy.
As a "senator for life," Monti is guaranteed a seat in the senate and does not need to run for election himself, but he is hitting the hustings on behalf of his party.
In a climate of widespread public disillusionment with politics, comedian and blogger Beppe Grillo is also making gains by capturing the protest vote with his Five Star Movement. Grillo has railed against big business and the corruption of Italy's political establishment, and holds broadly euro-skeptical and pro-environmental positions.
How will the election be conducted?
Italy has a bicameral legislature and a voting system which even many Italians say they find confusing.
Voters will be electing 315 members of the Senate, and 630 members of the Chamber of Deputies. Both houses hold the same powers, although the Senate is referred to as the upper house.
Under the country's closed-list proportional representation system, each party submits ranked lists of its candidates, and is awarded seats according to the proportion of votes won -- provided it passes a minimum threshold of support.
Seats in the Chamber of Deputies are on a national basis, while seats in the senate are allocated on a regional one.
The party with the most votes are awarded a premium of bonus seats to give them a working majority.
The prime minister needs the support of both houses to govern.
Who is likely to be the next prime minister?
On current polling, Bersani's bloc looks the likely victor in the Chamber of Deputies. But even if he maintains his lead in polls, he could fall short of winning the Senate, because of the rules distributing seats in that house on a regional basis.
Crucial to victory in the Senate is winning the region of Lombardy, the industrial powerhouse of the north of Italy which generates a fifth of the country's wealth and is a traditional support base for Berlusconi. Often compared to the U.S. state of Ohio for the "kingmaker" role it plays in elections, Lombardy has more Senate seats than any other region.
If no bloc succeeds in controlling both houses, the horse-trading begins in search of a broader coalition.
Walston said that a coalition government between the blocs led by Bersani and Monti seemed "almost inevitable," barring something "peculiar" happening in the final stages of the election campaign.
Berlusconi, he predicted, would "get enough votes to cause trouble."
What are the main issues?
There's only really one issue on the agenda at this election.
The eurozone's third largest economy is hurting, with unemployment surpassing 11% -- and hitting 37% for young people.
Voters are weighing the question of whether to continue taking Monti's bitter medicine of higher taxation and austerity measures, while a contentious property tax is also proving a subject of vexed debate.
Walston said the dilemma facing Italians was deciding between "who's going to look after the country better, or who's going to look after my pocket better."
He said it appeared voters held far greater confidence in the ability of Monti and Bersani to fix the economy, while those swayed by appeals to their own finances may be more likely to support Berlusconi.
But he said it appeared that few undecided voters had any faith in Berlusconi's ability to follow through on his pledges, including a recent promise to reverse the property tax.
What are the ramifications of the election for Europe and the wider world?
Improving the fortunes of the world's eighth largest economy is in the interests of Europe, and in turn the global economy.
Italy's woes have alarmed foreign investors. However, financial commentator Nicholas Spiro, managing director of consultancy Spiro Sovereign Strategy, says the European Central Bank's bond-buying program has gone a long way to mitigating investors' concerns about the instability of Italian politics.
Why is political instability so endemic to Italy?
Italy has had more than 60 governments since World War II -- in large part as a by-product of a system designed to prevent the rise of another dictator.
Parties can be formed and make their way on to the political main stage with relative ease -- as witnessed by the rise of Grillo's Five Star Movement, the protest party which was formed in 2009 but in local and regional elections has even outshone Berlusoni's party at times.
Others point to enduringly strong regional identities as part of the recipe for the country's political fluidity.
READ MORE: Italian Elections 2013: Fame di sapere (hunger for knowledge)
Auto racing: Late crash mars Daytona Nationwide finish
Labels: Technology
DAYTONA BEACH: A fiery car crash sent Kyle Larson's car airborne and flying debris injured a number of fans Saturday in the waning moments of the NASCAR Nationwide Series season-opener.
The wreck, which occurred almost as Tony Stewart was taking the chequered flag for victory, appeared to begin when Regan Smith was turned sideways and took several competitors behind him in a pack.
Larson, making his first start in the NASCAR stock car second-tier series, then sailed into the catch-fencing.
Larson's car tore a hole in the fence, and his engine sheared off with at least one tire and other debris flying into the stands.
ESPN quoted Daytona Beach police as saying 15 fans were injured, one critically.
"Our prayers and thoughts are with everybody they are working on," NASCAR President Mike Helton said.
Emergency medical personnel immediately went into the stands to treat those hurt, but NASCAR officials could not immediately confirm the number and nature of the injuries. None of the drivers was injured.
"There was obviously some intrusion into the fence, and fortunately with the way the events are equipped, there was plenty of emergency workers ready to go," Helton told ESPN. "They all jumped on it pretty quickly.
"Right now, it's just a function of trying to determine what all damage is done," added Helton, who said some injured fans were being taken to local hospitals.
Another big crash, involving 11 cars, took place with five laps remaining, with driver Michael Annett taken to hospital after hitting a barrier.
"We've always known since racing started this is a dangerous sport," Stewart said. "As much as we want to celebrate, I'm more concerned about the fans and the drivers right now."
- AFP/jc
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