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Frances D’emilio

The luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia lays on its side after running aground the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. A luxury cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull and forcing the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel early Saturday, the Italian coast guard said. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Night of chaos, fear after cruise ship ran aground

Frances D’emilio, Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, January 14, 2012 - 5:02pm

PORTO SANTO STEFANO, Italy — The first course had just been served in the Costa Concordia’s dining room when the wine glasses, forks and plates of cuttlefish and mushrooms smashed to the ground. At the magic show in the theater, the trash cans tipped over and the theater curtains turned on their side. Then the hallways turned upside down, and passengers crawled on bruised knees through the dark. Others jumped alone into the cold Mediterranean Sea.

Cruise ship, Sinking, Accident, International Read more Comments

Metalworkers march through downtown Turin, Italy, Monday, Dec. 12, 2011. Union leaders in Italy are calling on workers to stage a three-hour strike to protest austerity measures that Premier Mario Monti hopes will save the country from financial ruin. The union leaders say the measures hit too hard at pensioners and workers and not hard enough at the wealthy (AP Photo/Fabio Ferrari, Lapresse)

Italian markets nervous as unions strike over cuts

Colleen Barry, Frances D’emilio The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, December 12, 2011 - 8:52am

ROME — Italian financial market jitters worsened on Monday, as workers angry about government austerity reforms went on strike and held nationwide rallies while investors turned skeptical about an EU pact to save the euro.

Business, Economy, Euro, Protest, Stock Market, Strike, European Union, International Read more Comments

(PIER PAOLO CITO/The Associated Press) In this Nov. 4, 2011 file photo, Pope Benedict XVI blesses the faithful as he leaves St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican aboard a mobile platform at the end of a Vespers ceremony. Pope Benedict XVI insisted on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011, that all of society’s institutions and not just the Catholic church must be held to “exacting” standards in their response to sex abuse of children, and defended the church’s efforts to confront the problem.

Pope: sex abuse ‘scourge’ for all society

Frances D’emilio The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, November 26, 2011 - 6:33pm

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI insisted on Saturday that all of society’s institutions and not just the Catholic church must be held to “exacting” standards in their response to sex abuse of children, and defended the church’s efforts to confront the problem.

Child Sex Abuse, Catholic Church, Child Abuse, Pedophiles, Pope Benedict, Priest sex abuse, International Read more Comments

(ANDREW MEDICHINI/The Associated Press) In this Friday, July 15, 2011 file photo, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi votes over a crucial euro70 billion ($99 billion) austerity package aimed at convincing investors that the eurozone’s third-largest economy won’t be swept into the debt crisis, at the lower house of parliament, in Rome. Pressure mounted on Premier Silvio Berlusconi to resign so a new government could pass the economic reforms Italy needs to avoid financial disaster, as the country’s borrowing rates spiked Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, and talk of early elections intensified.

Key Berlusconi ally urges him to step aside

Colleen Barry, Frances D’emilio The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - 8:17am

ROME — Silvio Berlusconi’s main coalition ally urged the Italian premier to step aside Tuesday as political uncertainty in the eurozone’s third-largest economy rocked financial markets for yet another day.

Debt Crisis, Economy, Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, Europe, International Read more Comments