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Nicole Winfield

Pope Benedict XVI waves to faithful as he arrives to lead a Mass at Revolution Square in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday March 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Pope wraps up Cuba visit with Mass, Fidel meeting

Nicole Winfield, Paul Haven The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - 9:41am

HAVANA, Cuba -- Pope Benedict XVI wraps up his visit to Cuba on Wednesday with an open-air Mass in the shrine of the Cuban revolution, hoping to revive the Catholic faith in this communist-run country. His other appointment: a meeting with Fidel Castro.

Catholic Church, Cuba, Fidel Castro, Pope Benedict, Religion, International Read more Comments

In this undated photo released by the Italian Navy Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship is seen grounded off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Italian Navy)

Cruise line offers $14,460 per person for ruined Italy trip

Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, January 27, 2012 - 11:13am

ROME -- Costa Crociere SpA offered uninjured passengers (euro) 11,000 ($14,460) apiece Friday to compensate them for lost baggage and the psychological trauma they suffered after their cruise ship ran aground and capsized off Tuscany.

But some passengers are already refusing to accept the deal, saying they can't yet put a figure on the costs of the trauma they endured.

Costa Concordia, Cruise ship, Cruise ship sinking, International Read more Comments

Still image from video shows former Costa Concordia crew member Domnica Cemortan gesturing during a television interview recorded on January 17, 2012 in Chisinau. Cemortan, who happened to be onboard the cruise ship during the disaster off the coast of Tuscany last Friday, defended the captain's action in the interview. Photograph by: Zhurnal Tv via Reuters Tv, Reuters

Woman with Italian ship captain defends his effort

Alison Mutler, Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, January 20, 2012 - 11:14am

ROME -- A young Moldovan woman who says she was called to the bridge of the stricken Costa Concordia to help evacuate Russian passengers defended the embattled captain on Thursday, saying he worked tirelessly and "saved over 3,000 lives."

Costa Concordia, Cruise ship, Cruise ship captain, Cruise ship sinking, Sinking, International Read more Comments

FILE In this In this Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012 file photo Francesco Schettino, right, the captain of the luxury cruiser Costa Concordia, which ran aground off Italy's tiny Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, is taken into custody by Carabinieri in Porto Santo Stefano, Italy. Seamen have expressed almost universal outrage at Capt. Francesco Schettino, accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and of abandoning his crippled cruise ship off Tuscany while passengers were still on board. The charge of abandoning his ship carries a potential sentence of 12 years in prison. Seafaring tradition holds that the captain should be last to leave a sinking ship. But is it realistic to expect skippers _ only human after all _ to suppress their survival instinct amid the horror of a maritime disaster? To ask them to stare down death from the bridge, as the lights go out and the water rises, until everyone else has made it to safety? From mariners on ships plying the world's oceans, the answer is loud and clear: Aye. (AP Photo/Giacomo Aprili, File)

Doomed ship's captain told port: 'It's just a blackout'

Collen Barry, Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, January 19, 2012 - 10:39am

ROME -- A new audiotape emerged Thursday of the first contact between Livorno port officials and the Costa Concordia -- and the captain is heard insisting that his cruise ship only had a blackout a full 30 minutes after it had rammed into a reef.

Costa Concordia, Cruise ship, Cruise ship captain, Cruise ship sinking, Disaster, Sinking, International Read more Comments

Tales emerge of missing and dead in cruise ship disaster

Collen Barry, Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, January 18, 2012 - 10:47pm

Tales emerge of missing and dead in ship disaster

ROME -- An Italian dad and his 5-year-old daughter. A retired American couple treating themselves after putting four children through college. A Hungarian musician who helped crying children into lifejackets, then disappeared while trying to retrieve his beloved violin from his cabin.

As details emerged Wednesday about the missing and the dead in the grounding of the Costa Concordia, the captain was quoted as saying he tripped and fell into the water from the listing vessel and never intended to abandon his passengers.

Costa Concordia, Cruise ship, Cruise ship industry, Disaster, Sinking, Survival, International Read more Comments

The cruise ship Costa Concordia lays on its side after running aground Friday evening on the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. Five more bodies were found Tuesday in the crippled cruise ship off Tuscany, and a shocking audio recording emerged in which the ship's captain was heard making excuses as the Italian coast guard repeatedly ordered him to return on board to oversee the ship's evacuation. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Search for cruise ship survivors called off; 22 still missing

Colleen Barry, Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, January 18, 2012 - 1:01pm

ROME -- Italian rescue workers suspended operations Wednesday after a stricken cruise ship shifted slightly on the rocks near the Tuscan coast, creating deep concerns about the safety of divers and firefighters searching for the 22 people still missing.

Costa Concordia, Cruise ship, Ocean, Search, Sinking, International Read more Comments

Francesco Schettino the captain of the luxury cruiser Costa Concordia , which ran aground off Italy's Tuscan coast speaks during a TV interview in Porto Santo Stefano Italy Saturday Jan. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/MediaSat, via APTN )

Cruise ship captain pleaded not to reboard ship

Colleen Barry, Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - 11:42am

ROME -- Five more bodies were pulled Tuesday out of the crippled cruise ship off Tuscany, and a shocking audio emerged in which the ship's captain was heard making excuses as the Italian coast guard repeatedly ordered him to return and oversee the ship's evacuation.

Prosecutors have accused Capt. Francesco Schettino of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his ship before all passengers were evacuated during the grounding of the Costa Concordia cruise ship Friday night.

Audiotape, Costa Concordia, Cruise ship, Sinking, International Read more Comments

The cruise ship Costa Concordia leans on its side Monday, Jan.16, 2012, after running aground near the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, last Friday. The rescue operation was called off mid-afternoon Monday after the Costa Concordia shifted a few inches (centimeters) in rough seas. The fear is that if the ship shifts significantly, some 500,000 gallons of fuel may begin to leak. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Environmental fears mount in Italian cruise wreck

Frances D'Emilio, Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, January 16, 2012 - 5:25pm

ROME -- Italy's cruise liner tragedy turned into an environmental crisis Monday, as rough seas battering the stricken mega-ship raised fears that fuel might leak into pristine waters off Tuscany that are part of a protected sanctuary for dolphins, porpoises and whales.

The ship's jailed captain, meanwhile, lost the support of the vessel's Italian owner as he battled prosecutors' claims that he caused the deadly wreck that killed at least six and left 29 missing.

Cruise ship, Ocean, Sinking, Environmental concerns, International Read more Comments

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

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

Cruise ship runs aground off Italy; 3 bodies found, 69 missing

Frances D'Emilo, Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

Last updated Sunday, January 15, 2012 - 9:40am

PORTO SANTO STEFANO, Italy -- Survivors from a luxury cruise ship that ran aground and tipped over, leaving at least three dead and 69 people still unaccounted for, described Saturday a chaotic evacuation, as plates and glasses crashed and they crawled along upended hallways trying to reach safety.

Cruise ship, Italy, Ocean, Ship aground, Tourists, Accident, Featured, International Read more Comments

(ANDREW MEDICHINI/The Associated Press) In this Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2004 file photo, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi waves from a balcony of Rome’s Campidoglio City Hall overlooking the Roman Forum, where the EU Constitution was signed by the representatives of 25 countries on Oct. 29, 2004. Premier Silvio Berlusconi resigned in Rome, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, after the Parliament’s lower chamber passed European-demanded reforms, ending a 17-year political era and setting in motion a transition aimed at bringing Italy back from the brink of economic crisis. The 75-year-old billionaire media mogul, who came to power for the first time in 1994 using a soccer chant “Go Italy” as the name of his political party, became Italy’s longest-serving post-war premier.

End of an era: Italy’s Berlusconi resigns

Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, November 12, 2011 - 4:51pm

ROME — Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi resigned Saturday after parliament’s lower chamber passed European-demanded reforms, ending a 17-year political era and setting in motion a transition aimed at bringing the country back from the brink of economic crisis.

Finance, Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, International Read more Comments

Mario Monti stands at the beginning of a voting session on economic reform measures demanded by the European Union, that should pave the way for Premier Silvio Berlusconi to leave office in a matter of days, at the Senate in Rome, Friday, Nov. 11, 2011. The prospect of a transitional government headed by respected non-partisan economist Mario Monti calmed markets for a second day, with Italy's 10-year borrowing rate down a further 0.21 percentage point to 6.59 percent. Shares were buoyant too, with the Milan stock index was up 1.7 percent in early trading at 15,477. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Italian Senate approves economic reform bill

Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, November 11, 2011 - 11:56am

ROME -- Italy's Senate approved crucial economic reforms demanded by the European Union on Friday, the first step in paving the way for Premier Silvio Berlusconi to resign as early as this weekend and a transitional government to be formed.

Economy, Italy, International Read more Comments

(ROBERTO MONALDO/The Associated Press) Italian Premier Silvio Berlusoni waves to journalists as he leaves the Quirinale, Presidential palace, after meeting with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, in Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011. Berlusconi says his decision to resign after parliament passed economic reforms is for the good of the country, and to settle financial markets that have lost confidence in Italy’s ability to rein in debt and spur growth.

Markets punish Italy to make sure Berlusconi goes

Colleen Barry, Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, November 9, 2011 - 9:01am

ROME — Financial markets pounded Italy on Wednesday, sending a clear message that they want Premier Silvio Berlusconi out immediately despite his plan to stick around a little longer.

Business, Economy, Global Economy, Italy, Resignation, Silvio Berlusconi, Stock Market, International Read more Comments

Blasts rock 2 embassies in Rome

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, December 23, 2010 - 10:25am

ROME -- Package bombs exploded at the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome on Thursday, injuring the two people who opened them, officials said. Police ordered checks at all embassies after a false alarm was also reported at the Ukrainian embassy.

No one immediately claimed responsibility, but authorities appeared to discout domestic anarchists or protesters.

Bombing, Italy, Terrorism, International Read more Comments

(The Associated Press) Catacomb archeological superintendent Fabrizio Bisconti points out a painting discovered with the earliest known icons of the Apostles Peter and Paul in a catacomb located under a modern office building in a residential neighborhood of Rome on Tuesday.

Lasers uncover first icons of Sts. Peter and Paul

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - 7:50pm

ROME -- Twenty-first century laser technology has opened a window into the early days of the Catholic Church, guiding researchers through the dank, musty catacombs beneath Rome to a startling find: the first known icons of the apostles Peter and Paul.

Archaeology, Religion, Technology, History, International Read more Comments