Italy

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Cruise Captain Changed Route 'for Headwaiter'

Schettino invited waiter to the bridge to watch

(Newser) - The Costa Concordia's captain may have steered too close to shore so his head waiter's family could watch from a nearby island, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Just minutes before disaster struck, the head waiter's sister on the island of Giglio posted a Facebook message: "In...

Was Ship Captain Showing Off for Pal Onshore?

Costa Concordia's captain insists waters were marked safe

(Newser) - Was the Costa Concordia's captain showing off when he ran the ship aground off the coast of Giglio island? Investigators believe Captain Francesco Schettino may have ordered the ship too close to the island to greet someone on shore, reports the Telegraph . "Schettino approached the island of Giglio...

Ship Owner Blames Captain's 'Human Error'

Francesco Schettino seen drinking at onboard bar

(Newser) - The captain of the Costa Concordia is likely guilty in a disaster that has claimed at least five lives, the ship's owner says. "Preliminary indications are that there may have been significant human error on the part of the ship's master, Captain Francesco Schettino, which resulted in...

Cruise Ship Disaster: Death Toll Hits 5
 Cruise Ship Death Toll Hits 5 
Jan 15, 2012 11:13 AM CST

Cruise Ship Death Toll Hits 5

Elderly couple discovered at emergency gathering point

(Newser) - The death toll in the Costa Concordia disaster has hit five, as divers discovered the bodies of two elderly people at an emergency gathering point that submerged when the cruise ship tipped over, reports the AP . There are 15 people still unaccounted for today, after authorities pulled a cabin service...

Captain Detained in Cruise Disaster

Police consider charges of manslaughter, abandoning ship

(Newser) - Italian police today detained the captain of a cruise ship that ran aground last night , killing at least three and triggering a massive overnight evacuation off Italy's west coast, CNN reports. Authorities say they may charge captain Francesco Schettino for manslaughter and abandoning ship. They also want to know...

Dozens Still Missing From Cruise Ship

Three bodies have been recovered so far

(Newser) - As of this morning, authorities in Italy said up to about 70 people remain unaccounted for after a huge luxury cruise ship ran aground and tipped on its side near the Tuscany coast, reports AP . It's possible that number could come down as authorities get a better handle on...

Cruise Ship Runs Aground, 3 Bodies Found

Luxury liner shipwrecked off coast of Italy

(Newser) - At least three people were killed as a luxury cruise ship carrying about 4,200 ran aground off the coast of Italy last night, report AP and the AFP . The 950-foot-long cruise ship hit a reef near the small island of Giglio near Tuscany around 8pm, opening a 160-feet gash...

S&P Downgrades France, Italy, 7 Others

Paris and Austria lose AAA status

(Newser) - Standard & Poor's has downgraded the government debt of France, Austria, Italy, and Spain by one notch, but maintained Germany's at the coveted 'AAA' level. The cuts, which eliminated France and Austria's triple-A status, deal a heavy blow to the currency union's ability to fight...

Mafia Is Italy&#39;s &#39;No. 1 Bank&#39;
 Mafia Is Italy's 'No. 1 Bank' 
Jan 11, 2012 9:01 AM CST

Mafia Is Italy's 'No. 1 Bank'

New report says crime pays, and has cleaned up its act

(Newser) - How bad is Italy's debt crisis? So bad that the Mafia is now collectively "Italy's No. 1 bank," with roughly $83 billion in liquidity and about $127 billion in annual profits, according to a new report from a prominent Italian business group. Crime organizations such as...

Italy&#39;s Mount Etna Erupts
 Italy's Mount Etna Erupts 
Jan 6, 2012 8:15 AM CST

Italy's Mount Etna Erupts

Column of ash measured 16K feet

(Newser) - Mount Etna is at it again: Europe's most active volcano burst to life again yesterday morning, spewing lava and sending a pillar of ash 16,000 feet into the air, ITN reports. Experts say there's no danger to nearby villages, however, and so far no flights have been...

Italy Takes Quirky Approach to Catching Tax Evaders

Authorities raid posh ski resort, find lots of hard-to-explain Ferraris

(Newser) - Italian authorities paid a not-so-friendly visit to a ritzy ski resort to try to put a dent in an entrenched culture of tax evasion: They traced all the Ferraris and other luxury cars parked there and found that 42 belonged to people who had declared incomes of $38,700 or...

Collapse of Eurozone Begins in 2012: European Think Tank

 Euro Breakdown Starts Now 
think tank says
Jan 2, 2012 4:50 PM CST

Euro Breakdown Starts Now

CEBR gives Eurozone 99% failure rate over 10 years

(Newser) - Welcome to the year that the Eurozone begins its breakup and slides into certain doom—or so says one economic think tank in Europe. There is a 60% chance that "at least one country (and probably more) will leave" the euro in 2012, the head of the Centre for...

Italy Passes Austerity Measures Amid Strikes

Furious unions protest with transport shutdown

(Newser) - The Italian government today easily won a confidence vote on its package of austerity measures in the lower chamber of Parliament as more protest strikes hit the country. Premier Mario Monti had called the vote in the Chamber of Deputies to speed passage of the $39 billion in extra taxes...

Euro Dives Below $1.30
 Euro Dives Below $1.30 
Last time: Jan. 12
Dec 14, 2011 7:52 AM CST

Euro Dives Below $1.30

Italian bond sale drives price south

(Newser) - The euro has dropped below the $1.30 mark for the first time since January, after a less-than-ideal Italian bond offering stoked fears over the Europe's ongoing debt woes. The currency at times sagged as low as $1.2994 in European trading, after swinging between $1.2989 and $1....

Italian Author Opens Fire on African Traders

Right-wing extremist kills 2 in Florence

(Newser) - A far-right Italian author opened fire on Senegalese traders at two markets in the heart of Florence yesterday, killing two and seriously injuring three. Witnesses said Gianluca Casseri calmly got out of his car and took aim at the African vendors, the BBC reports. The 50-year-old science fiction author turned...

Meet World&#39;s Richest Cat
 Meet World's Richest Cat 
Dec 10, 2011 7:16 AM CST

Meet World's Richest Cat

Italy's Tomasso inherits owner's $13.4 million estate, sort of

(Newser) - Now that's some serious scratch—Tommaso, a 4-year-old former stray, is now the world's richest cat, the inheritor of $13.4 million worth of properties around Italy, reports the Guardian . Tommaso's rich owner, a 94-year-old childless widow, died last month, leaving her entire estate to her cat....

George Clooney Named as Berlusconi Witness

Star says he wasn't at Italian PM's 'bunga bunga' party

(Newser) - Coming soon to an Italian courtroom: The Berlusconi Bunga Bunga Trial, starring George Clooney, Silvio Berlusconi, a former belly dancer, and dozens of starlets and showgirls. Clooney is among the 214 defense witnesses to be called at the former Italian prime minister's trial on charges that he paid an...

Italy's Monti Forms Politician-Free Government

He's sworn in as PM ... ciao, Berlusconi!

(Newser) - It's a big day for Italy: Economist Mario Monti has been officially sworn in as PM—formally ending Silvio Berlusconi's 17-year-long run of political dominance—and he formed a new Italian government that doesn't include a single politician. Instead, he drew from the ranks of bankers, diplomats,...

On Last Day, Berlusconi Packs a Few Precious Items

Decides to keep sword, vase ... and photo of himself with George W. Bush

(Newser) - Today is Silvio Berlusconi's last day as the prime minister of Italy, and he did what any of us would do in our final moments on the job: packed up his stuff. But Berlusconi isn't exactly walking out with a cardboard box filled with picture frames and a...

Berlusconi's Party Backs Economist as New PM

Mario Monti faces gargantuan task

(Newser) - Silvio Berlusconi's conservative party is backing economist Mario Monti to put together a new coalition, leaving the man they call "professor" some outlandish shoes to fill and Italy's towering financial crisis to dig out of. And there's a catch: Monti's got to do it all...

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