Florida home where sinkhole swallowed man is partially razed

Hillsborough County firefighters recover a U.S. flag from the house, where Jeffrey Bush was swallowed by a sinkhole, before its demolition in Seffner, Florida March 3, 2013. REUTERS/Scott Audette

SEFFNER, Florida (Reuters) - A wrecking crew on Sunday partly razed a Florida house where a sinkhole had swallowed up a man as he slept but the demolition team went about its job as carefully as possible to preserve the home's contents for survivors.

Rescue workers had given up the search for Jeff Bush, a 37-year-old landscaper, on Saturday. He was officially declared "presumed dead" by county officials after disappearing into the hole, which opened up under his bedroom on Thursday night.

Sinkholes are common in Florida due to the state's geology and they are virtually impossible to predict.

With a crowd of a few dozen family members and others watching, a boom crane clawed at the one-story home in suburban Tampa for about two hours, demolishing about half of it. The job was due to be completed on Monday.

Jeremy Bush, Jeff's brother, who had jumped into the sinkhole in a futile attempt to save him, said the family was discussing plans for a memorial service and a possible marker at the site.

Asked how he was feeling, Bush, 36, told Reuters: "Just sad, sad that they couldn't get my brother out."

"He was a good guy. He would give you the shirt off his back," Bush said of his brother.

Five other people in the house, which is owned by the family of Jeremy Bush's fiancée, had been preparing for bed Thursday when they heard a loud crash and Jeff Bush screaming.

STABILIZING THE PIT

Once the house is torn down, efforts will begin to stabilize the sinkhole, said William Puz, a spokesman for Hillsborough County. The hole was about 30 feet (9 meters) wide and 60 feet (18 meters) deep and filled with clay and debris. It is unlikely that Bush's body will ever be retrieved, officials said.

The crane's bucket first removed the garage eaves from the house and a U.S. flag there, carrying it to the sidewalk. Hillsborough County Fire Rescue workers folded the flag and handed it to family members.

The crane then probed through the master bedroom and swept family memorabilia, boxes, luggage, dresser drawers, framed photos, a woman's purse and other items out of the house and placed them near the sidewalk.

Crane operator Dan Darnell had an "emotional meeting" with family members after the work was halted, Puz said.

Before the demolition started, Jeremy Bush, a landscaper like his brother, was escorted by a deputy sheriff to the entrance of the driveway where he knelt and put flowers on the ground, bowing his head for a few minutes.

Wanda Carter, 49, who grew up in the house, said she could not watch as it was being torn down.

"We have each other and that's all that matters," Carter told reporters as she clutched a large family Bible, its cover torn off and bearing marks from the crane's bucket.

Sinkholes in Florida are caused by the state's porous geological bedrock, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

As acidic rainwater filters into the ground, it dissolves the rock, causing erosion that can lead to underground caverns, which cause sinkholes when they collapse.

Two nearby houses have been evacuated because the sinkhole has weakened the ground underneath them, and their residents probably will never be allowed inside again, said Jessica Damico of Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.

They were allowed 20 to 30 minutes in their homes on Saturday to gather belongings.

(Writing by Ian Simpson; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Eric Beech)

Violent start in Kenyan election; police killed

An entertainer performs a traditional Maasai jumping dance for the crowd prior to the arrival of Kenyan Presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta, at his campaign's final rally at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, Kenya, Saturday March 2, 2013. Kenya's top two presidential candidates - Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga - held their final rallies Saturday before large and raucous crowds ahead of Monday's vote, which is the first nationwide election since Kenya's December 2007 vote descended into tribe-on-tribe violence that killed more than 1,000 people. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Kenyan Presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta, left, and his running mate William Ruto, right, talk together at the final election rally of Kenyatta's The National Alliance party at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, March 2, 2013. Kenya's top two presidential candidates - Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga - held their final rallies Saturday before large and raucous crowds ahead of Monday's vote, which is the first nationwide election since Kenya's December 2007 vote descended into tribe-on-tribe violence that killed more than 1,000 people. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Five years after more than 1,000 people were killed in election-related violence, Kenyans on Monday began casting votes in a nationwide election seen as the country's most important — and complicated — in its 50-year history.

Police issued alerts late Sunday of impending attacks, and the violence began even before the voting. Police in the coastal city of Mombasa reported a 2 a.m. attack by a gang of dozens; early reports indicated several officers — perhaps four or five — were killed.

Multiple factors indicated violence was likely: The police said late Sunday that criminals were planning to dress in police uniforms and disrupt voting in some locations.

In addition, intelligence on the Somali-Kenya border indicated Somali militants planned to launch attacks; a secessionist group on the coast threatened — and perhaps already carried out — attacks; the tribes of the top two presidential candidates have a long history of tense relations; and 47 new governor races are being held, increasing the chances of electoral problems at the local level.

Perhaps most importantly, Uhuru Kenyatta, one of two top candidates for president, faces charges at the International Criminal Court for orchestrating the 2007-08 postelection violence. If he wins, the U.S. and Europe could scale back relations with Kenya, and Kenyatta may have to spend a significant portion of his presidency at The Hague.

Kenyatta's running mate, William Ruto, also faces charges at the ICC.

Kenyatta, a Kikuyu who is the son of Kenya's founding president, faces Raila Odinga, a Luo whose father was the country's first vice president. Polls show the two in a close race, with support for each in the mid-40-percent range. Eight candidates are running for president, making it likely Odinga and Kenyatta will be matched up in an April run-off, when tensions could be even higher.

Near the Somali border, Garissa County Commissioner Mohamed Ahmed Maalim said Sunday that officials intercepted communications that indicated terror attacks were planned, including explosive attacks and kidnappings. "They are planning to interrupt the elections, but we will not allow them do so," he said.

Maalim said soldiers are patrolling the region to prevent attacks from al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group. He said 300 specialized troops known as GSU are patrolling the Dadaab refugee camp, where more than 400,000 Somalis live.

In Mombasa, police officer Aggrey Adoli said Monday that police were attacked by a marauding gang while on patrol.

At the Nairobi Chapel, an evangelical church in the capital, three pastors took turns Sunday praising the attributes of some tribes, drawing cheers from the congregation. The Kikuyus were praised for being entrepreneurial, the Luos for valuing education, and the Kalenjins — Ruto's tribe — for their loyalty.

"Tomorrow we celebrate our cultural diversity as a nation," Nick Korir said in his sermon.

"We ask you to shame all prophets of doom," a cleric at an evangelical church in Nairobi called Mavuno told a packed congregation. "This is a country we are all proud of despite the divisions that people talk about. There is a Kenya after tomorrow."

In the weeks leading up to Monday's vote, described by Odinga as the most consequential since independence from the British in 1963, peace activists and clerics have been praying that this time the election is peaceful despite lingering tensions.

Odinga's acrimonious loss to President Mwai Kibaki in 2007 triggered violence that ended only after the international community stepped in. Odinga was named prime minister in a coalition government led by Kibaki, with Kenyatta named deputy prime minister.

The candidates held their final rallies Saturday, a day of political attacks and denials following published comments in the Financial Times attributed to Odinga that election violence could be worse than 2007-08 if the vote is rigged.

The Financial Times on Sunday said that its story, because of an editing error, "may have left the incorrect impression" that Odinga "would not respect the result of a free and fair presidential election. We are happy to be able to clarify this point."

Some 99,000 police officers will be on duty during an election in which some 14 million people are expected to vote. Kenyans will also be electing new lawmakers, governors and other officials.

Kenyatta, 51, the son of Jomo Kenyatta, the country's founding president, is one of the country's wealthiest men. He studied at Amherst College in the U.S. before returning home to become a businessman and later his father's political heir.

In 2011 Forbes magazine listed him as the wealthiest Kenyan, worth at least $500 million, although he was dropped from a subsequent list because his personal wealth was hard to separate from that of his close relatives. The Kenyattas are said to own hundreds of thousands of acres of prime land across the country, a controversial point in a nation where millions do not own even a small plot of land.

Gladwell Otieno, a Kenyan who runs a think tank called The Africa Center for Open Governance, said it would "be difficult for (Kenyatta) to claim that he can do much" to tackle Kenya's historical land problem. But despite the baggage of wealth and the ICC charges, Kenyatta's team has done a good job of marketing him as "a youthful candidate" of hope, Otieno said.

"Our main concern has been the fact that he is indicted at the ICC," Otieno said. "A government led by him would immediately be paralyzed."

Odinga, 68, who has been prime minister since 2008, believes he was cheated out of victory in the last election. Odinga's refusal to accept the results in 2007 helped fuel tribal tensions, with many here seeing Kibaki's win as another example of the Kikuyus' overly broad influence.

A win by Odinga would make him the country's first Luo president, a feat never accomplished by his father, Oginga Odinga, who was Kenya's first vice president and himself a hero of the anti-colonial movement. The elder Odinga fell out with Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, straining Kikuyu-Luo relations for decades.

In a rally Friday in Kisumu, Odinga's hometown and the biggest Luo-dominated city, Odinga repeatedly used words like "freedom" and "change" to emphasize the epochal moment it would be for his people if he wins.

"Be prepared for freedom," he said. "This country is at the verge of total liberation."

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Associated Press reporter Daud Yussuf in Garissa contributed to this report.

Political uncertainty deepens in Bulgaria as thousands protest

SOFIA (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Bulgarians angry over poverty and corruption protested in more than a dozen cities on Sunday, as a lack of clear support for any political party mired the country in limbo days after the government was toppled.

Prime Minister Boiko Borisov quit along with his center-rightgovernment on Wednesday after two weeks of sometimes violent protests. He remains in office until an interim government is appointed, most likely next week, which will take Bulgaria to elections due on May 12.

However Bulgarians are still struggling to unite behind a single political leader or give voice to a clear set of demands.

Polls suggest neither Borisov's rightist GERB party nor the opposition Socialist Party has enough support for an overall majority, and whichever wins the election will have to try to assemble a coalition to form a working government.

Thousands of people took to the streets of cities including the capital Sofia, Plovdiv, Burgas, Blagoevgrad, Ruse and Sliven on Sunday - a national holiday that marks the 135th anniversary of Bulgaria's liberation from Ottoman rule.

In the biggest rally, about 50,000 protested in the Black Sea city of Varna, local media reported.

"It is obvious that the protesters are not united and this could very quickly destroy the enthusiasm of the people," said Georgi Trendafilov, a demonstrator in Sofia downtown.

Borisov was hospitalized with high blood pressure on Sunday for a second time this week.

Following a three-day spell at hospital, doctors have advised the former bodyguard and karate black belt to take full rest and refrain from sports. The outgoing prime minister plays for a third division soccer team, Vitosha Bistritsa.

Hospital officials said he was admitted with hypertension at lunch time and it was too early to say when he would be discharged.

Six years after joining the European Union, Bulgaria trails far behind other members. Its justice system is subject to special monitoring by Brussels and it is excluded from the passport-free Schengen zone because of other members' concerns about graft.

The country's public debt is one of the lowest in the bloc. But business cartels, corruption and wages that are less than half the EU average have kept many from feeling the benefit.

It also has the cheapest electricity costs in the EU but an increase in prices since last July under an energy market liberalization has made it harder for Bulgarians to heat their homes through a cold winter.

POWER PROTESTS

The demonstrations began with a handful of youngsters protesting against high electricity bills. Eventually, hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians took to the streets, angered by their low living standards.

President Rosen Plevneliev said an interim government would aim for stability by sticking to the 2013 budget, which foresees a deficit of 1.3 percent of GDP, and implementing previous commitments such as a 9 percent increase in pensions from April.

He also said he would set up a 35-member public council to advise the interim government and represent the people's interests. But consultations for the establishment of the council at the presidency collapsed on Saturday.

Representatives of protesters, objecting to the inclusion of some wealthy businessmen, walked out of the talks. They said they could not "sit at the same table with those they were fighting".

"We are going out to fight until the end, we will not negotiate with oligarchs," said Angel Slavchev, one of the leaders of the demonstrations. A trade union leader also quit, objecting to the composition of the council.

Earlier this week, Borisov dismissed the idea of a governing national unity coalition.

Support for Borisov's rightist GERB party has fallen over the last year, and it is now neck-and-neck with the opposition Socialist Party.

Just before resigning, Borisov had proposed to cut electricity prices by 8 percent and alarmed investors by saying the government would revoke the distribution license of the Czech utility CEZ, risking a diplomatic row with the Czech Republic and EU.

The energy regulator proposed a smaller, 6.4 percent cut on Friday, a few days after CEZ and the other two distributors, Austria's EVN and the Czech firm Energo-Pro, said they had done nothing wrong.

(Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Peter Graff)

Catholics ponder future with new pope

SAO PAULO (AP) — Faithful attending Sunday Mass on five continents for the first time since Pope Benedict XVI's retirement had different ideas about who should next lead the Roman Catholic Church, with people suggesting everything from a Latin American pope to one more like the conservative, Polish-born John Paul II. What most agreed on, however, was the church is in dire need of a comeback.

Clergy sex abuse scandals and falling numbers of faithful have taken their toll on the church, and many parishioners said the next pope should be open about the problems rather than ignore them.

Worshippers in the developing world prayed for a pope from a poorer, non-European nation, while churchgoers in Europe said what was more important was picking a powerful figure who could stop the steep losses in Catholic numbers.

Some South African Catholics called for what they said was a more pragmatic approach to contraception given the AIDS epidemic devastating that continent. They also suggested ending the celibacy requirement for priests, insisting on what's viewed as the traditional importance of a man having a family.

Catholics likely will find out this week whether such hopes become reality, as cardinals worldwide arrive in Rome for a conclave that could elect a new pontiff. Many expect the church to pick another European to replace the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who resigned on Thursday.

In Brazil, the Vatican has seen its numbers chipped away by neo-Pentecostal churches offering the faithful rollicking music-filled services and hands-on practical advice. It's an approach matched by the massive Mother of God sanctuary led by Brazil's Grammy-nominated "pop-star priest" Marcelo Rossi.

More traditional Catholics snub Rossi's "charismatic" masses, but many point to his style of aggressive evangelization as the way forward in the world's biggest Catholic nation, which has seen Catholics drop from 74 percent of the population in 2000 to 65 percent a decade later.

"I'm certain the most important step in surpassing the challenges facing the church is having a new pope who renews the believers," said Solange Lima, a 32-year-old new mother who spoke over the roar of a Christian rock band at Mother of God. "A Brazilian pope could do this. Look at the faithful here, this place is a laboratory for what needs to be done."

The archbishop of Sao Paulo, Odilo Scherer, is considered by many to be Latin America's leading candidate to become pope.

That message of change was echoed by chimney sweep Zbyszek Bieniek, who was among 200 worshippers at a Mass in Warsaw's 13th century St. John's Cathedral. For him, the sex abuse scandal that has enveloped the church will be the next pope's most pressing challenge.

"The key thing will be to clear the situation and calm the emotions surrounding the church in regard to the comportment of some of the priests, the cases of pedophilia and sexual abuse," Bieniek said. "The new pope should tell the truth about it and make sure that such things don't happen again and are no longer swept under the rug."

Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, is still much admired in his native Poland and elsewhere, and many faithful around the globe said the next pope should strive to be as beloved as him.

"I have been praying for a new pope to be just like Pope John Paul II, who was close to the people and was very humble," said Charlene Bautista, while attending Mass in the working-class Baclaran district in Manila, Philippines.

The Southeast Asian country, for the first time, has a cardinal being mentioned as a papal candidate, Father Antonio Luis Tagle. That encouraged the Rev. Joel Sulse as he celebrated Sunday Mass at the Santuario de San Antonio parish in an upscale residential enclave in Manila's Makati business district.

"How we wish that, you know, there will be a pope coming from the third or fourth world," he said, so that the pontiff would understand the suffering in poor nations.

Some were looking for even more radical change.

Nigerian medical laboratory technician Boniface Ifeadi, who was worshipping at the Holy Trinity church in Johannesburg, said while he believes in abstinence, the reality of human nature makes it difficult to follow church doctrine that's generally against condom use. Benedict did say in a 2010 interview that if a male prostitute were to use a condom to avoid passing on HIV to his partner, he might be taking a first step toward a more responsible sexuality.

It was a significant shift given the Vatican's repeated position that abstinence and marital fidelity were the only sure ways to stop the virus.

Some nuns and priests even give out condoms in Africa, which has the highest number of AIDS victims of any continent in the world. South Africa suffers the biggest number of AIDS cases of any country.

"The church must take sexuality out of its preaching because what they are saying is not what is happening on the ground and that is why they are losing members," said Ifeadi, a father of three girls.

The Rev. Russell Pollitt of Holy Trinity said he believed the fact that the numbers of cardinals from the West outweighed those from the developing world lessens the chances of a pope from Africa, but he didn't think that necessarily would be a bad thing.

"Our African cardinals tend to be conservative and likely would be less open to any new initiative that I think the church is in need of — someone new to bring about an openness for new dialogue about ecumenism, about our relationship with other religions, about priestly celibacy and homosexuality," he said.

Yet not everyone was seeking change.

In Washington, D.C., a parishioner at St. Matthews Cathedral said he sought a continuation of the conservative line of the last two popes in the coming papal choice.

"I'd like to see a very strong leader who would bring the church back to its traditionalist past and its best years, in a sense, picking up where Benedict left off," said parishioner John Gizzi. "Pope Benedict had a tough job, much like Rudy Guilianni in New York, and he cleaned up a mess. He took a lot of criticism for it, he made enemies, but he left the place better off when he came in."

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Associated Press writers Michelle Faul in Johannesburg, Jim Gomez in Manila, Monika Scislowska in Warsaw and APTN producer Thomas Ritchie in Washington contributed to this report.

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Syrian opposition head visits rebel areas in north

A Kurdish female member of the Popular Protection Units stands guard at a check point near the northeastern city of Qamishli, Syria, Sunday, March 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)

In this image taken from video filmed on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 and released Saturday evening, March 2, 2013, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks during an interview with the Sunday Times, in Damascus, Syria. Iran and Syria condemned a U.S. plan to assist rebels fighting to topple Assad on Saturday and signaled the Syrian leader intends to stay in power at least until 2014 presidential elections. Assad told the Sunday Times in the interview timed to coincide with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's first foreign trip that "the intelligence, communication and financial assistance being provided is very lethal." Kerry announced on Thursday that the Obama administration was giving an additional $60 million in assistance to Syria's political opposition and would, for the first time, provide non-lethal aid directly to the rebels.

BEIRUT (AP) — Following rebel gains, the leader of the Syrian opposition made his first visit Sunday to areas near the embattled northern city of Aleppo as fighters trying to oust President Bashar Assad captured a police academy and a border crossing along the frontier with Iraq.

Assad, meanwhile, lashed out at the West for helping his opponents in the civil war, delivering a blistering rebuke to Secretary of StateJohn Kerry's announcement that the U.S. will for the first time provide medical supplies and other non-lethal aid directly to the rebels in addition to $60 million in assistance to Syria's political opposition.

Aleppo, the nation's largest city, has been a major front in the nearly 2-year-old uprising. Government forces and rebels have been locked in a stalemate there since July.

Mouaz al-Khatib met Sunday with Syrians in the two rebel-held Aleppo suburbs of Manbah and Jarablus, a statement said. The stated goal of his trip — his first since being named the leader of theSyrian National Coalition late last year — was to inspect living conditions.

But his foray to the edge of Aleppo also could be an attempt to boost his group's standing among civilians and fighters on the ground, many of whom see the Western-backed political leadership in exile as irrelevant and out of touch.

The areas along Syria's northern border with Turkey are largely ruled by rival brigades and fighter units that operate autonomously and have no links to the political opposition.

Al-Khatib's visit came as rebels captured a police academy west of Aleppo after an eight-day battle that killed more than 200 Syrian soldiers and rebels, activists said. Anti-Assad fighters also stormed a central prison in the northern city of Raqqa and captured the Rabiya border crossing in the east along the border with Iraq, activists said. Iraqi officials said the crossing in northern Ninevah province has been closed.

The territorial gains are a significant blow to Assad, although his forces have regained control of several villages and towns along a key highway near Aleppo International Airport — an achievement that could signal the start of a decisive battle for Syria's commercial capital.

Also Sunday, the government troops launched an offensive in central Syria, sweeping through Latakia and Hama provinces, trying to dislodge rebels from towns and villages. The army also shelled opposition strongholds around Damascus, pounding areas such as Harasta, Daraya, Douma and Zbadani with artillery and airstrikes in what opposition groups said were the regime's "desperate attempts" to reverse the rebel advances.

The rebels have trying to storm the capital for weeks, pushing ever closer to Assad's seat of power.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition group, said the rebels seized the police academy in Khan al-Asal after entering the sprawling government complex with captured tanks.

At least 120 regime soldiers and 80 rebels were killed in the fighting, according to Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman. He said the rebels control all buildings inside the complex, which was abandoned by Assad's forces early Sunday.

The Syrian conflict started in March 2011 as a popular uprising against Assad's authoritarian rule, then turned into a full-blown civil war after the rebels took up arms to fight a government crackdown on dissent. The United Nations estimates that 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting.

Assad maintains his troops are fighting "terrorists" and Islamic extremists seeking to destroy Syria, and he accuses the West and its Gulf Arab allies of supporting them in achieving their goal.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Assad criticized the U.S. and Britain for sending financial and other non-lethal aid to the opposition. He set harsh terms for talking to his opponents, dialing back earlier hints of flexibility about talks.

He told the British newspaper that he is ready for dialogue with armed rebels and militants, but only if they surrender their weapons. Recently, the Syrian government offered to participate in talks, but didn't address the question of laying down arms.

"We are ready to negotiate with anyone, including militants who surrender their arms. We are not going to deal with terrorists who are determined to carry weapons to terrorize people, to kill civilians, to attack public places or private enterprise and to destroy the country," Assad said in the interview, conducted in Damascus. "We fight terrorism."

The opposition, including fighters on the ground and the Syrian National Coalition umbrella group, has rejected talks with Damascus until Assad steps down, a demand he has repeatedly rejected.

Kerry met Thursday with Syrian opposition leaders in Italy, where he said the U.S. will for the first time provide the non-lethal aid directly to the fighters in addition to $60 million in assistance to the political opposition.

Assad said the "intelligence, communication and financial assistance being provided is very lethal."

He bitterly criticized British Prime Minister David Cameron's push for peace talks as "naive, confused, unrealistic" while London tries to end the European Union's arms embargo so that the rebels can be supplied with weapons.

"We do not expect an arsonist to be a firefighter," he said, dismissing any notion that Britain could help end the civil war. "How can we ask Britain to play a role while it is determined to militarize the problem?"

Britain's aim to send aid to moderate opposition groups was misguided, Assad said, adding that such groups do not exist in Syria. Arming the rebels would have grave consequences, he warned.

"We all know that we are now fighting al-Qaida, or Jabhat al-Nusra, an offshoot of al-Qaida, and other groups of people indoctrinated with extreme ideologies," he told the newspaper.

Jabhat al-Nusra fighters have been the best organized and most effective force on the opposition side, leading successful rebel assaults on military installation around the country. Al-Nusra has also claimed responsibility for car bombs and suicide attacks on government institutions in Damascus. The U.S. has designated the group a terrorist organization, saying its fighters have ties with al-Qaida.

British Foreign Secretary Foreign Secretary William Hague said Assad's comments were proof that the Syrian leader was out of touch with reality.

"I think this will go down as one of the most delusional interviews that any national leader has given in modern times," Hague said in an interview Sunday with the BBC.

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Associated Press writers Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, and Maamoun Youssef in Cairo and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.