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Italy's 'sex trial' has more twists, turns

Last updated Friday, April 20, 2012 - 11:24am

ROME -- Silvio Berlusconi admitted Friday that he had been paying a number of girls, but insisted that he was only providing financial support to those whose lives had been ruined by a highly publicized investigation into alleged orgies at his villa.

Courts, Politics, Sex scandal, International Read more Comments

FILE - This is a Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. file photo of Italian Navy scuba divers as they return after working on the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. Divers searching the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship found four more bodies Wednesday Feb. 22, 2012, including that of a missing 5-year-old Italian girl, authorities said. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito, File)

Divers find 8 more bodies in crusie ship wreckage

Frances D'Emilio The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, February 22, 2012 - 12:53pm

ROME -- Divers searching the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship off a Tuscan island found eight bodies Wednesday on one of the passenger decks, including that of a missing 5-year-old Italian girl, authorities said.

Costa Concordia, Cruise ship aground, Cruise ships, Cruise shipwreck, International Read more Comments

FILE In this undated photo released by the Italian Navy Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, scuba divers inspect the Costa Concordia cruise ship grounded off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. A veritable treasure now lies beneath the pristine Italian waters where the massive cruise liner ran aground last month. In the chaotic evacuation of more than 4,200 people from the Costa Concordia, passengers and crew abandoned almost everything on board: jewels, cash, champagne, antiques, 19th century Bohemian crystal glassware, thousands of art objects and even 300-year-old woodcut prints by a Japanese master. (AP Photo/Italian Navy GOS handout)

Cruise shipwreck has plenty of sunken treasures

Vanessa Gera The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, February 2, 2012 - 1:29pm

ROME -- In the chaotic evacuation of the Costa Concordia, passengers and crew abandoned almost everything on board the cruise ship: jewels, cash, champagne, antiques, 19th century Bohemian crystal glassware, thousands of art objects including 300-year-old woodblock prints by a Japanese master.

In other words, a veritable treasure now lies beneath the pristine Italian waters where the luxury liner ran aground last month.

Costa Concordia, Cruise ship, Cruise ship aground, Cruise ship sinking, Cruise shipwreck, 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

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

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

Pope: sex abuse 'scourge' for all society

Frances D'Emilio The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, November 26, 2011 - 11:17am

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, Pope Benedict, Religion, International Read more Comments

(GREGORIO BORGIA/The Associated Press) Italy’s premier-designate Mario Monti speaks to the media after finishing his meetings with Italian political leaders and civil society organizations’ representatives at the Senate, in Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011. Monti will submit his list for a new government to the Italian president Giorgio Napolitano on Wednesday.

Monti forms new Italian government

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - 8:23am

ROME — Economist Mario Monti announced Wednesday he has formed a new Italian government, opting to put technocrats instead of bickering politicians in his cabinet to enact reforms that can save the country from financial disaster.

Debt Crisis, Euro, 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

Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann, left, reads out the the verdict that overturns Amanda Knox's conviction and acquits her of murdering her British roomate Meredith Kercher, at the Perugia court, Italy, Monday Oct. 3, 2011. An Italian appeals court has thrown out Amanda Knox's murder conviction and ordered the young American freed after nearly four years in prison for the death of her British roommate. Knox collapsed in tears after the verdict was read out Monday. Her co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito, also was cleared of killing 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in 2007. (AP Photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Pool)

Italian judge says Knox may know 'real truth'

Frances D'Emilio The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, October 6, 2011 - 11:19am

ROME -- The Italian judge who was part of the jury which acquitted Amanda Knox said Wednesday the American and her ex-boyfriend might know the "real truth" about who killed her British roommate.

Murder, Amanda Knox, Courts, International Read more Comments

Ferrari says his son gives advice to Armstrong

Andrew Dampf The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, September 23, 2011 - 1:54pm

ROME -- Lance Armstrong is receiving training advice from the son of banned Italian physician Michele Ferrari, the doctor says.

Responding to allegations that appeared in Italian media this week linking him to the center of a widespread doping ring, Ferrari denied any wrongdoing in a statement posted online Thursday.

Corriere della Sera reported Wednesday that Ferrari's son also was involved in the distribution of performance-enhancing drugs, and that Armstrong called the son before last year's Tour de France, referring to him as "No. 1."

"My son Stefano is administering a website which offers personalized training consultancy to various cyclists and triathletes; Lance Armstrong is among them," Ferrari said in the statement.

Cycling, Lance Armstrong, Olympic Sports, Sports, Xterra Read more Comments

Italy's Berlusconi in prostitution probe

The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, January 14, 2011 - 4:21pm

ROME -- Prosecutors are investigating whether Premier Silvio Berlusconi had sex with a teenage prostitute and then abused his power in trying to cover up the encounters with the girl, officials said Friday.

Italy, Prostitution, 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