Italian stallions in Modena, Italy

A 1934 Fiat 508 Coppa d’Oro (Gold Cup) is on display at the Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari in Modena, Italy. (Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters)

A man who was synonymous with a generation of gogglewearing daredevils, travelling at breakneck speeds and at times crashing spectacularly, Enzo Ferrari once personified the glamour and danger of 20th Century motorsports.

And although the car manufacturer shuffled off to the great starting grid in the sky more than 20 years ago, March sees the opening of the newEnzo Ferrari Museum in his hometown of Modena. His birthplace and workshop have been restored, while a striking new building has sprung up next door, designed – with characteristic Ferrari subtlety – in the shape of a bright yellow car bonnet. Inside this museum, various exhibits help bring to life the bitter rivalries that existed between Ferrari and other automobile manufacturers of the era. A minor traffic jam of classic cars includes the first car that Enzo Ferrari ever built.

Berlusconi trial: Judges throw out corruption case

Silvio Berlusconi says the charges against him are politically motivated

Judges have thrown out a bribery case against former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, because it expired under the statute of limitations.

Mr Berlusconi was accused of paying his former British tax lawyer, David Mills, to lie in court to protect his interests.

The case dates back to the 1990s.

Mr Berlusconi, who denies wrongdoing, says this and other court cases against him are all part of a politically-motivated smear campaign.

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Analysis

Alan Johnston BBC News, Rome

So Mr Berlusconi now has one less court case to worry about. But he remains engaged in three others, and waging his legal battles seems to have absorbed quite a bit of his energy since he resigned as prime minister.

And he has in general been getting used to playing a very much quieter role than he once enjoyed.

For one thing, the country is now in the hands of Mario Monti’s government of unelected technocrats. And all of Italy’s professional politicians are taking something of a backseat. But Mr Berlusconi has also talked of actually wanting to step more into the background. He says it is time to hand his party’s leadership on to a younger generation.

But many Italians will feel that his current comparative quiescence is rather out of character. They will expect to hear more from him when the technocrat government’s time expires and the full-blooded political fray begins again in earnest.

He is on trial separately on charges of tax fraud and sex with an under-age prostitute.

The prosecution alleged Mr Mills was given $600,000 (£382,000) to lie in court about Mr Berlusconi’s business interests.

Mr Mills – who was not on trial – denies that any such payment was made.

In December he told a court he was “deeply ashamed” for falsely claiming that Mr Berlusconi had given him $600,000.

Mr Mills said the money had actually come from an associate he had not wanted to admit dealing with.

Of the other three cases Mr Berlusconi still faces, potentially the most damaging for the former Italian leader involves Moroccan nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug, also known as Ruby.

Prosecutors allege Ms Mahroug attended several parties at Mr Berlusconi’s residence last year and was paid for sex while she was still 17, an offence according to Italian law. Both she and the prime minister deny having sex. She says she did receive 7,000 euros (£5,900), but it was as a gift after a party.

Live – Six Nations

71 mins: Italy 15-19 England Dickson with a solid clearance but Italy have a line-out on England’s 22. England have been so much better in the first half an hour of this second half but the Stadio Olimpico is in full throttle as Italy threaten. Benvenuti tries to wriggle a way through the England defence before England’s forwards turn the ball over… Dickson finds Parisse with the box kick but the ball goes loose, Cole secures and England thrust clear…

68 mins: Italy 15-19 England England make a real dog’s dinner of the restart and Botes has the chance to get his side to within one point again – not sure what’s happened there, looked like he was kicking a balloon. That’s a very naughty kick, however, from the South African, England papered into a corner in their own 22…

65 mins: Italy 15-19 England As a man opposite me saws through an Eccles cake with a Bic biro – as if today could get any more surreal, work-wise – Parisse is hit hard and England have a turnover bang in front of the posts. Dan Cole showing the scars of war, his right ear bloodied and bruised, but the Leicester man ruins opposite number Lo Cicero andFarrell pops over the penalty from just right of the posts.

Lawrence Dallaglio on BBC One: “It’s all too delicately poised. It’s fair to say it wasn’t a great first half but it’s come to life and is there for either side now.”

62 mins: Italy 15-16 England The snow starts to fall again in Rome as Corbisiero is whistled for incorrect binding. Hartley finds Parling at the line-out and England come again. England swing it right and then left and here goes Botha on a barrel… Barritt with the half-break but after a number of phases Italy nick it back… Botes charged down again, Barritt thinks he’s scored but it was an England knock-on…

Adam Roberts on Twitter:  ”Dickson = game changer. We seem to have found the gain line all of a sudden.”

57 mins: Italy 15-16 England Morgan under a high ball and here goes the Scarlets man on a trundle… and again, the number eight showing the Italy defence a clean pair of heels. Barritt very nearly slips a try-scoring pass inside but Italy’s scramble defence snuffs out the threat.

55 mins: PENALTY Italy 15-16 England Dickson has made England tick-tock a bit faster since his introduction – taps and goes, snipes, quicker all round. Farrell slippers over the three-pointer, England have the lead.

53 mins: Italy 15-13 England More urgency from England now and here’s Morgan on a charge before Robshaw gets his head down and lets the hooves fly. Dickson has a snipe, grubber kick through and that’s handy defence from Tobias Botes, Italy’s replacement scrum-half. Deliberate knock-on, Farrell with the chance to regain the lead for England.

50 mins: Italy 15-13 England Farrell bangs over the extras and England are right back in it. Ben Morgan enters the fray, on for Phil Dowson; Lee Dickson on for Ben Youngs at scrum-half.

Lawrence Dallaglio on BBC One: “What a time to score for England just when they really needed it, how important a try might that be in the context of this match?”

50 mins: TRY Italy 15-11 England Parisse with another line-out steal against the head and suddenly Stuart Lancaster knows what it’s reallylike to be England’s head coach: uncomfortable… Hodgson with the charge-down try, that’s two in two weeks and his eighth try for England…

46 mins: PENALTY Italy 15-6 England Burton misses touch again with a penalty out of hands before it all goes off as Parisse is taken out after a chip and charge, Croft the villain. Not sure there was much in that, Parisse has hit the deck like a swooning Victorian lady from a Jane Austen tome. Whatever, it’s a penalty chance… Kris Burton has squeezed it through, England in a serious spot.

From Max Gruenke on Twitter:  ”Wow, we’re passing! A forgotten art of the English team. #bbcsixnations”

44 mins: Italy 12-6 England Italy with the rolling maul, the hosts into England’s 22. Burton with the attempted drop-goal and it’s a duffer. Masi on the switch as Italy win the ball back before Gori pops up a box kick – Barritt rat-a-tats a kick deep into enemy territory but he’s pinged for not rolling away.

41 mins: Italy 12-6 England Hodgson with the restart and here comes Dowson with a strong carry. England go through the phases, trying to get a foothold in the game, but the ball is eventually coughed up and it’s a penalty to Italy. Burton cocks the hammer, big territory gained…

Jeremy Guscott on BBC One: “England are doing nothing at pace, nothing with great momentum, and Italy really capitalised on English mistakes at the end of the half. Italy have had important wins all along during their time in the Six Nations and what a position to get into now. This crowd just can’t wait their team to come out again.”

Lawrence Dallaglio on BBC One: “England were going to settle for 6-0 up and then there were two lapses in concentration. England didn’t clear their lines and now the Italians have really got the crowd behind them it’s going to be tough for England.”

1658: First of all, I must apologise for all the technical problems we – and therefore you – have been having. We’re going old school – it might not look beautiful but I’ll endeavour to make the words as sexy as possible. Think of it like a lovely lady poured into a hessian sack.

40 mins: Benvenuti – Italy 12-6 England UNBELIEVABLE! Two tries in two minutes for Italy, Benvenuti latching onto an attempted offload from Foden and running in a try from roughly the halfway line. England caught with their pants down just before half-time – that’s changed the tone of the dressing room chat, I’d wager.

38 mins Venditti try - Italy 5-6 England But here come Italy, assaulting England’s lines – Burton with the grubber and England’s defenders miss it… fumble from Foden – apologies, it was a ricochet off the chest, andVenditti is all over it, sliding in to score the first try of the game. Burton misses with the extras…

35 mins: … almost the identical spot from the first kick, Farrell , all Terry Butchered up in head bandages, just makes it over to double England’s lead.

34 mins: Castrogiovanni is dragged to his feet, looks like he’s going to continue, only to signal to the bench that his race his run. Looks like a cracked rib – when Castro looks in pain, you know it must be serious, he has the constitution of a Hereford bullock.

England with a destructive scrum and it’s a penalty to Lancaster’s young side, Farrell with another attempt at a three-pointer…

32 mins: Zanni fumbles at the line-out and England are on it in a flash. Youngs with the box-kick and here comes Masi… Gori with the high one and Parisse pockets it and Italy surge forward… Burton on the loop, long pass, Benvenuti spills it. Castrogiovanni has done himself a mischief, looks like he’s winded…

Lawrence Dallaglio on BBC One: Brad Barritt was a bit too early, a bit too keen in all honesty. Most referees would have let that go because we’ve had a lot of stoppages, but it’s the right call.

31 mins: Italy forcing the play down the blind-side – Burton with a half-break before Gori looks to offload and the ball slithers into touch. England’s line-out looks to have been hammered into shape after those early crinkles. Bit of argy-bargy between Hartley and the Italy front-row, Barritt pinged for tackling Canale in the air.

Matt Dawson on BBC Radio 5 live: Sergio Parisse made a mess of a wraparound, David Strettle put the shoe on it and was scythed down – it was obstruction and quite rightly the penalty was given to England. The referee blew because he thought the Italian defender was going to pick the ball up but Owen Farrell smashed him.

26 mins: Italy 0-3 England No mistakes from Farrell , straight and true from a decent distance…

25 mins: Parisse, of all people, puts his side in all sorts of bother with an errant pass on the turn and it looked like Burton clipped Strettle’s heels as the English wing looked to steal a march. An Italian gets there first but that’s a penalty to England…

23 mins: Ashton swings it wide to Foden after a kick down the middle from Burton and the Northampton full-back gets plenty of purchase on his clearance. Quick off the top of the line-out by Italy and the hosts put phases together… before Burton kicks it away… again…

21 mins Bit of ping-pong before England force the turnover. This ain’t pretty. In fact, this match is so ugly it would make a purist want to punch his own eyes out. Croft with the one-handed take at the line-out, England with possession in Italy’s 22. Hodgson looking to swtich with Barritt but the Saracens centre knocks it forward and Burton clears his lines…

Emi Repetto:  ”Wish England would played incisive rugby, we have equal talent to Wales, Ireland and definitely France, why don’t we use it?”

Steam rising off both packs as they ready themselves to engage – like cattle in a way, but cattle in rugby shirts. Strettle with a hefty tackle on McLean but the Italy wing retains possession. Ashton fields a Burton kick over his shoulder and calls a mark… misses touch…

Alex Babb:  ”Ben Youngs needs to wipe the sleep from his eyes, has he just woken up from a little pre-match cat nap? #bbcsixnations”

6 mins Hodgson with a steepler – that’s got snow on it, literally – but Italy recover it, only for Burton to fail to find touch. Burton now with an up-and-under but it’s all a little bit aimless at the moment, Ashton underneath it and he makes some ground. Another line-out stolen, England creaking at the set-piece, and this time Burton slippers a cute tactical kick through.

Matt Dawson on BBC Radio 5 live: “England are playing multi, multi-phases but putting too many players into contact. There’s three or four players against pretty much no-one and therefore there’s a mis-match in Italy’s favour.”

3 min Edoardo Gori of Treviso clears his lines after a solid scrum from Italy. England come again, through Robshaw and Corbisiero, but again a lack of accuracy snaps the momentum. Youngs on the loop and Botha shows the hands of a tin man, popping the ball forward. Turnover ball and Burton inexplicably kicks it away…

… England nick it back and here goes Palmer on a charge. The ball is flung left again but Hartley’s pass to Croft doesn’t find its mark – Italy scrum.

1 min Kris Burton gets us under way and there’s the first blast of the whistle from French referee Jerome Garces, England penalty. Hartley towels down the ball and finds his man at the line-out before Youngs kicks the ball away. Dowson under a high one and he dummies and goes. Youngs takes his eye off it, the ball skips through his legs from the back of a ruck and Italy nick it…

1545: This Stadio Olimpico takes some filling but it looks like they’ve given it a good shot – it’s positively brimming. It was in this very stadium, of course, that we were first treated to the Whitbread “wiggle”, back at the athletics world champs in 1987. Ashton will have that in the old memory bank, surely? Bit of Gladiator being belted out and here come the anthems.

BBC Sport website’s chief sportswriter Tom Fordyce:  ”Blower update (it’s what Twitter was made for): approx 3rd of pitch cleared in 10min. With 20min to start, on track for a Roman miracle.”

1540: I must report the Stadio Olimpico pitch looks like a right old patchwork quilt of a mess – blocks of white next to blocks of green, a little bit cubist. Phil Dowson retains his place at number eight for England today despite an iffy first game last week. Before that Murrayfield debut, young Dowson joked he’d been “a Saxon since the Crusades began”. I believe that album came out in 1984, so that’s a very long time.

Italy performance director Carlo Checchinato: “I think the guys have shown over the last match and the last few years that they are at a very good standard. Every time we play we have a chance to win and today I think we have a better chance even if England are very strong. I think and I hope the guys will play one of the matches of their lives to get this victory.”

1536: I fancy Italy to win this – new coach, new hope; vasty experienced side; big question marks remain over new-look England. The Azzurri by three? I wouldn’t bet against it…

1533: We’re off, TV-wise. Ongoing problems with my live text, alas – we’ve got our best men and women on it. Let’s not try to get too down about it – in times like this, best to remember many of your grandparents had more pressing things on their minds at your age, like which grade of coal they were likely to have for dinner. It does raise a philosophical question though: does my live text exist if you are unable to see it?

1521: Jonathan, London: “So excited about the Italy game – Lancaster has made the right decision to keep faith with his new recruits. I am cooking a full English breakfast for 4pm and inviting my Italian friends round.”

1526: Veteran lock Marco Bortolami has been promoted from the bench for Italy and wins his 90th cap in place of Cornelius van Zyl. The only other change from the side beaten by France is Clermont-Auvergne centre Gonzalo Canale in for Alberto Sgarbi. The Italian starting XV have a combined total of 698 caps to England’s 248.

From Marlon Fernandez: “Italy will give a tough game, they really improved last year and will give a fight at their home stadium.” Get involved via #bbcsixnations

BBC pitch-side reporter Sonja McLaughlan in Rome: “Brief exchange with Dave Strettle as I walked along the touchline. He says ‘it’s not the best’ underfoot on the pitch.”

1518 : TEAM LINE-UPS Italy: 15-Andrea Masi, 14-Giovanbattista Venditti, 13-Tommaso Benvenuti, 12-Gonzalo Canale, 11-Luke McLean, 10-Kris Burton, 9-Edoardo Gori; 1-Andrea Lo Cicero, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3-Martin Castrogiovanni, 4-Quintin Geldenhuys, 5-Marco Bortolami, 6-Alessandro Zanni, 7-Robert Barbieri, 8-Sergio Parisse (capt) Replacements: 16-Tommaso D’Apice, 17-Lorenzo Cittadini, 18-Antonio Pavanello, 19-Mauro Bergamasco, 20-Fabio Semenzato, 21-Tobias Botes, 22-Luca Morisi

England: 15-Ben Foden, 14-Chris Ashton, 13-Brad Barritt, 12-Owen Farrell, 11-David Strettle, 10-Charlie Hodgson, 9-Ben Youngs; 1-Alex Corbisiero, 2-Dan Cole, 3-Dylan Hartley, 4-Mouritz Botha, 5-Tom Palmer, 6-Tom Croft , 7-Chris Robshaw (capt), 8-Phil Dowson Replacements: 16-Rob Webber, 17-Matt Stevens, 18-Geoff Parling, 19-Ben Morgan, 20-Lee Dickson, 21-Jordan Turner-Hall, 22-Mike Brown

1514: Some remarkable stats from last weekend’s match between Scotland and England – Stuart Lancaster’s men managed only 72 passes to Scotland’s 238, but somehow still managed to win. Meanwhile, Italy’s new coach Jacques Brunel has promised a more expansive game, and it certainly looked that way in their brave defeat by France. I’m not going to lie to you, we’re having a few technical problems at the moment – I beseech you to remain patient.

1501: Just seen a couple of photos from Rome and the groundstaff are out in force with their big red shovels, clearing snow from the pitch. It looks seriously Baltic over there, they’re all trussed up like Scott and Oates.

It’s unlikely to be an expansive affair at the Stadio Olimpico – England wings Strettle and Ashton might as well take to the field in mittens. Scratch that, one suspects they might as well not take to the field at all. Italy have pushed England close in Rome on the last two occasions, losing 19-23 in 2008 and 12-17 in 2010. Could this be Italy’s year after 17 attempts since 1991?

1455: Alright? Yeh, fine thanks. The second weekend of the 2012 Six Nations Championship and first up it’s Italy v England in Rome. The Azzurri are playing a Six Nations game at the 82,000-capacity Stadio Olimpico for the first time, which might be intimidating for the English – if it’s full.

Snow in Rome but news filtering through that it’s set to stop an hour before the start of play (1600 GMT) and they’ll be spraying the lines orange or some such. The build-up kicks off on the telly on BBC One from 1530 GMT.

Cold Spell Slams Europe

A young boy and his mother skate on the partly frozen river Elbe as the skyline of the eastern German city of Dresden is silhouetted in the background on Thursday. A cold snap kept Europe in its icy grip, pushing the death toll past 150 as countries from Italy to Ukraine struggled to cope with temperatures that reached record lows in some places.

Europe freeze: More deaths in Ukraine and Poland

Heavy snowfalls have caused major disruption across the continent

Another 20 people have died in Ukraine and nine in Poland as temperatures fall below -30C (-22F), officials say.

Europe’s current cold snap has claimed more than 110 lives so far, including 63 in Ukraine and 29 in Poland.

The Serbian authorities say about 11,000 villagers have been cut off by snow and blizzards in remote areas.

Emergency services have described the situation, close to Serbia’s south-western borders with Kosovo and Montenegro, as very serious.

In places, the snow has reached a depth of 2m (6ft 6in). Fourteen municipalities are affected, emergency official Predrag Maric told the BBC, adding that the unusual harshness of the winter was causing problems for the sick and the elderly in particular.

Heavy snow has also caused widespread disruption in northern and central Italy. Weather experts say it is the coldest week in the country for 27 years.

More than 600 passengers were trapped on an unheated train in the Apennines for seven hours on Wednesday night when the brakes and electrical cables froze.

Wind chill

The coldest temperatures have been recorded in Russia and Kazakhstan.

Serbian journalist Predrag Ivkovic, says snow is piled high in parts of the country

In the Urals and Siberia, the temperature fell to -40C (-40F) while in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, a forecaster told Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency the wind-chill factor meant the real temperature was down to -52C, even though the air temperature was -35C.

In southern Russia, cars and lorries became stuck in snow drifts between Novorossiisk and Krasnodar.

Heavy snow has also hit Turkey, with 50cm falling in Istanbul on Wednesday. An avalanche in the south-east of the country killed a woman in her home, reports say.

Another avalanche blocked a main road connecting the provinces of Bitlis and Diyarbakir.

Rescuers in Germany were unable to save an elderly woman after she had gone swimming in the frozen waters of a gravel pit in Lower Saxony. Reports said she had often swum in the lake.

Europe freeze: Heavy snow across continent

Scenes of snow and cold weather around Europe

Heavy snow has caused disruption across Europe, carpeting much of Italy to the south and Turkey to the east.

The freeze that has swept south through the continent has caused at least 80 deaths, mainly in Ukraine and Poland.

Temperatures were so low that some areas in Romania along the shores of the Black Sea froze.

In central Italy, heavy goods lorries were barred from motorways and several top-flight football matches have fallen victim to the wintry conditions.

Ukrainian officials reported that the number of deaths attributed to the freeze had risen to 43, with 13 people falling victim to hypothermia in the past 24 hours.

Schools and colleges in the capital, Kiev, were shut on Wednesday because of the severe cold.

School closures were also reported in northern Greece, where temperatures of -16C (3F) were recorded.

Villages were cut off in Bosnia where temperatures fell to -10C

Several towns and cities in Bulgaria saw record lows, with -29C reported in Kneja in the north for the second day running. For much of the country an “orange” alert was in place, warning of dangerously low temperatures.

A 57-year-old man froze to death in a village in the north-west and 450 schools were closed across the country.

In Bosnia and Serbia helicopters were used to airlift supplies to villages cut off by drifting snow.

Seven more deaths were reported in Poland, bringing to more than 20 the number who have fallen victim to the cold snap. Five were said to have been homeless people.

German media reported that ice and sub-zero temperatures had led to the deaths of two women: a pedestrian froze after falling into a drainage ditch and a driver was killed when she lost control of her car on an icy road.

For a second night running, matches in Italy’s Serie A were called off

In Turkey, three crew-members from a ship that sank during a storm in the Black Sea were pulled out alive by coastguard near the north-western port of Eregli but eight others were missing.

The bulk carrier Vera, with a crew of 10 Ukrainians and a Georgian, had been carrying a cargo of scrap metal from Rostov in Russia to Izmir in western Turkey.

Snowfalls were recorded as far south as southern Italy and Corsica, where at least 20cm of snow covered the centre of the Mediterranean island.

Italian rail services were reduced because of the wintry conditions. In Sicily, a one-year-old boy was fatally injured when his mother’s car went into a stream swollen by torrential rain.

Several football matches in Italy’s Serie A were postponed on Tuesday night and there were doubts that Wednesday’s clash between Inter Milan and Palermo would take place. Workers cleared snow from the pitch at the Renato Dall’Ara stadium in Bologna but the match against Fiorentina was later postponed.

The cold snap, according to forecasters, is due to an area of high pressure that has extended across Europe from Siberia and is expected to reach its peak at the weekend.

BBC weather presenter Peter Gibbs said he expected the bitter weather to continue for several more days across most of Europe, with cold winds and snow also spreading further south to affect the Balearic Islands and parts of northwest Africa by the weekend.

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Italy cruise ship rescuers find 13th body By the CNN Wire Staff

The body of a 12th victim of the Costa Concordia disaster — a woman wearing a lifejacket — was found on the wreck of the cruise ship on Saturday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: The body of a woman is found, still wearing a life jacket, authorities say
• Search-and-rescue teams resume work after stopping overnight for safety
• Authorities are preparing to remove 2,400 tons of fuel from the ship
• The Costa Concordia hit rocks on January 13 with about 4,200 people aboard

Giglio, Italy (CNN) — Italian search-and-rescue teams have found another body aboard the partly sunken cruise ship Costa Concordia, civil protection office spokeswoman Francesca Maffini said Sunday.

The woman is the 13th confirmed victim of the wreck on January 13.

Divers are working to recover the body, which was found underwater on bridge number 7, Maffini said. The victim was wearing a life jacket, she said.

The discovery leaves about 19 people still missing since the ship hit rocks in the shallow waters off the coast of Tuscany, according to CNN count.

A 12th body was found within the ship Saturday afternoon, according to Italian authorities.

The body of a woman wearing a life jacket was discovered in an area of the ship that was under water, Maffini said.

A committee comprising the parties involved in the rescue told a briefing for reporters and residents on the island that search and rescue efforts will continue — but that the environmental risk is also becoming urgent.

Cruise rescue operation resumes

Photos: Cruise ship runs aground off Italy

Costa Concordia tragedy: A look back

‘Many heroes’ on ship says passenger

Officials said they cannot predict how long it will take to clear the wreckage, since that depends on maritime conditions and technical difficulties, but all legal, environmental and human factors will be taken into account.

“It’s time for Italy to show it can do something right and do it well,” Gabrielli said.

Gabrielli, who leads Italy’s civil protection agency, warned that the task ahead was complicated and daunting, not least because it takes about 45 minutes to search each cabin, using special cameras and divers.

The giant Costa Concordia had 1,500 cabins on board.

Gabrielli said no fuel oil had yet leaked from the ship — only kitchen and engine oil — and that he did not see an immediate risk of the 2,400 tons on board escaping.

A plan to remove the fuel oil has been approved, he said, and will begin once experts give the go-ahead.

Booms have been put in place around the ship to stop the spread of oil and other pollutants such as detergents and sewage chemicals. With 4,000 people aboard, the ship was the size of a small town, Gabrielli said.

Fuel will be replaced with water as it is removed from the ship’s tanks to keep the ship balanced, said Adm. Ilarione Dell’Anna, head of coastal authorities for the port city of Livorno.

Gabrielli said Costa Cruises, the company that owns the cruise ship is cooperative and was proving responsible, despite past errors.

Both Costa Cruises and authorities have criticized Capt. Francesco Schettino, who is under house arrest and faces possible charges of manslaughter, shipwreck and abandoning ship.

An audio recording obtained by Italy’s Repubblica newspaper and published Saturday shows that the captain, at least at the outset of the incident, assured authorities he would do the right thing.

According to the recording, an Italian Coast Guard official asks Schettino how many people needed to be evacuated to the top of the ship to be rescued on life boats.

Cruise survivors: ‘It was pitch black’

Coast guard looks at wrecked Concordia

Woman defends cruise ship captain

“About two of three hundred people still,” the captain says.

The Coast Guard asks — will everyone evacuate, or will someone stay behind?

“I will stay here,” Schettino answers, saying that he believed that the boat was done leaning over.

Other audio recordings previously released, however, indicate that Schettino did not stay on board, but left the ship, to the anger of authorities.

The office of prosecutor Francesco Verusio said it would lodge an appeal against the investigating judge’s decision to grant the captain house arrest.

Verusio has said he that the captain should be in jail given the flight risk, and the gravity of his crimes.

Schettino’s lawyer, Bruno Leporatti, spoke to Italian news channel Sky Tg24 on Friday, urging people to reserve judgment on the captain until they have all the facts.

Schettino’s leadership has been repeatedly questioned. Earlier this week, a cook from the ship told a Filipino television station that the captain ordered dinner for himself and a woman at about 10:30 p.m. — less than an hour after the collision.

However, a Moldovan woman, Domnica Cemortan, 25, who also works for the cruise line but said she was on the Concordia as a passenger, defended the captain in a TV interview.

“I’ve heard in Russian media that the captain left the ship first, or among the first. But this is not true,” she said.

Prosecutors have accused the captain of piloting the ship too fast to allow him to react to dangers, causing the shipwreck, according to legal papers.

There were roughly 4,200 people on the Costa Concordia when it ran aground — about 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members. The vast majority fled the ship safely.

Costa Concordia disaster: Cruise firm faces US lawsuit

Costa Cruises has blamed the ship’s captain, who denies responsibility, for the incident

The company operating a cruise ship that ran aground off Italy is facing a class-action lawsuit in the US.

Italy’s consumer association Codacons and two US law firms told the BBC they would file the suit against Costa Cruises on behalf of the passengers.

They want at least $160,000 (£105,000) for each passenger on the ship.

Costa Cruises, owned by US-based Carnival Group, has blamed the ship’s captain for last week’s crash, in which at least 11 people were killed.

The Costa Concordia hit rocks off the coast of the Tuscan island of Giglio with more than 4,200 people on board a week ago. Hundreds were injured and 21 remain missing.

Mitchell Proner, a lawyer with Proner & Proner, said: “Along with Codacons, we have formed an association and our firms are collectively going to be filing a suit in Miami, by Wednesday next week, on behalf of all the victims of the Costa Concordia disaster.”

‘Rogue captain’

Mr Proner said claimants would be seeking compensation for continued medical care, loss of earnings as well as the psychological impact they had suffered while trying to get off the ship.

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“Start Quote

Not only is Costa owned by an American company but they have brought themselves into our stream of commerce”

Mitchell Proner US lawyer

• Eyewitness accounts
• Maps and figures
• Accident costs owner $95m

He said that some of the claimants – currently 110 – would seek two or three times the minimum claim, while the worse cases could seek as much as 1m euros.

Costa Cruises said it was open to the concerns of all consumer associations and individual passengers.

“The company understands those concerns and will respond in due course, but for now, it wants to concentrate on dealing with the immediate tragedy,” said a spokesman for the company.

“As an initial gesture, it has already sent letters to all those passengers on board asking them to detail their expenses and any costs they might have incurred so reimbursements can be made.”

The firm has blamed Capt Francesco Schettino for committing “grave errors of judgement” by steering the ship too close to Giglio on an “unauthorised manoeuvre”.

Capt Schettino is currently under house arrest suspected of manslaughter, which he denies.

The firm has begun the process of launching a civil claim against him in Italy. But Mr Proner said that the firm could not pin all responsibility for the disaster on a “rogue captain”.

“It’s easy to say this captain acted alone,” he said.

“There are indications that there have been regular route deviations in the past. There should have been safeguards on board, where were the alarms?

“At the time of the Titanic it might have been easy to say that radars didn’t exist. Nowadays, with all the technology, it isn’t. There had to be a failure in the system that allowed this to happen.”

‘Protecting rights’

The president of Codacons, Marco Ramadori, said Costa Cruises’ offer was insufficient.

“They are offering to refund the cost of the ticket as if you had missed a plane and lost your luggage. You cannot compare the two,” he said.

Costa passengers are reported to have signed a contract when buying their cruise that any litigation will take place under Italian law.

But Mr Proner said that he thought it likely that the US courts would accept the case.

“The US has a long tradition of protecting rights and not only is Costa owned by an American company but they have brought themselves into our stream of commerce,” he said.

“There were 120 Americans on board and they will demand access to their rights.”

The rescue operation was suspended for the third time on Friday. For several hours, choppy conditions threatened to shift the wreck into deeper water.

The operation resumed on Friday evening, but hopes are fading that the 21 still missing will be found alive.

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Cruise disaster

• ‘I never saw the captain’
• What next for ship?
• How safe are cruise ships?
• How crash happened

Fears grow for Concordia missing

Controlled explosions are being carried out by divers

Rescue crews have blasted holes in a stricken cruise ship in order to gain easier access as hopes fade of finding survivors among the 29 people missing.

Six people are known to have died after the Costa Concordia crashed into rocks off Italy’s west coast on Friday night.

The ship’s owners have blamed the captain for Friday’s crash, saying he changed course towards an island.

Capt Francesco Schettino has been detained on suspicion of manslaughter and is due to appear shortly in court.

Capt Schettino, 52, has also been accused of abandoning his vessel before all the passengers had been evacuated.

He is to answer questions from a magistrate who will decide if he is to remain in custody.

Italy says it will declare a state of emergency over the incident, and provide funding to help avert any environmental disaster.

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I haven’t received any precise information about her – it seems the situation has become worse for my daughter”

Saturnino Soria Father of missing waitress Erika Soria

• Can a stricken cruise ship be salvaged?
• Costa Concordia: What happened
• In pictures: Cruise disaster

The Italian environment minister said liquid was leaking from the ship, but it was unclear if it was fuel.

Meanwhile, Italian officials have denied a newspaper report that a seventh body had been found overnight on the vessel.

Captain ‘in difficult position’

Shortly after daybreak on Tuesday rescue crews blasted several holes in the ship, now lying on its side metres from Giglio island, off the Tuscan coast, in order to gain access to areas they have not been able to search.

Italian coastguard officials said the number of people believed to be missing had jumped to 29 from the previous estimate of 16, but gave no reason for the change.

The missing are thought to include four crew members, as well as passengers from the US, Germany, France and Italy.

On Monday, the Costa Concordia’s owners, Costa Cruises, said Capt Schettino hit the rocks because he deliberately steered the ship towards Giglio Island.

Prosecutors also claim that he was responsible for the disaster. They say the captain wanted to make a close pass of Giglio in order to “salute” a crew member’s family who live there.

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BBC’s Peter Biles: “Footage shows the passengers dwarfed by the vastness of the ship as the rescue operation was carried out”

“The captain is in a very difficult position because we are sure enough that he abandoned the ship when many passengers were still waiting to be evacuated,” said prosecutor Francesco Verusio.

A transcript purportedly of conversations between the captain and the coastguard has emerged in the Italian media – apparently drawn from one of the ship’s black box recorders – which appears to corroborate the claims that the captain left the ship before all the passengers escaped.

Capt Schettino has denied wrongdoing and says the rocks were not on his charts. He has insisted that he and his crew were the last people to leave the vessel.

His lawyer, Bruno Leporatti, said his client was “overcome and wants to express his greatest condolences to the victims”, adding that the captain had carried out a dangerous manoeuvre that had actually saved lives.

Conditions ‘disastrous’

The ship, carrying 4,200 passengers and crew, had its hull ripped through when it hit rocks late on Friday.

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• Costa Concordia: A world on its side Watch
• Aerial video shows gash in hull Watch
• Captain: Rocks not detected Watch
• Lifeboat panic caught on film Watch
• Why the captain changed course Watch
• Search above and below waterline Watch
• Crew member airlifted to safety Watch
• Cruise ship dancer: ‘Absolute panic’ Watch

Some people were forced to swim for land as the angle of the ship made boarding lifeboats impossible.

Italian officials said 10 German passengers were among the missing, along with two Americans, six Italians, two French couples and a Peruvian.

Teams of specialist divers have been helping with the rescue mission, but they have been hampered by bad weather, which has been moving the ship in the water.

Rodolfo Raiteri, head of the coast guard’s diving team, was quoted by news agency AFP as saying that conditions inside the vessel were “disastrous”.

“It’s very difficult. The corridors are cluttered and it’s hard for the divers to swim through,” he said.

The ship is lying at a steep angle, hampering the search operation

Saturnino Soria, father of Peruvian Erika Soria, who was working as a waitress on the ship, insisted that the search operation should continue.

“I haven’t received any precise information about her – nothing from yesterday or today – it seems the situation has become worse for my daughter,” he said.

But the local mayor voiced hope of finding more people alive.

“You never know in the labyrinth of that ship. An air pocket could have allowed people to survive a few days,” Sergio Ortelli was quoted by AFP as saying.

Emergency funds

Meanwhile, the shipping newspaper Lloyd’s List said it had been able to trace the course of the Concordia though information from satellites.

The paper issued a graphic comparing Friday’s sailing with an earlier sailing by the liner, suggesting that Friday’s route had deviated far from its usual course.

Worries are growing that the ship could cause an environmental disaster if it breaks up and sheds its fuel.

The vessel had just left the port of Civitavecchia, north of Rome, carrying roughly 2,300 tonnes of fuel for a week-long Mediterranean cruise when it crashed.

The area where the ship capsized is a maritime park famous for its pristine waters, varied marine life and coral.

Italian Environment Minister Corrado Clini said there was evidence that liquid was leaking from the ship, but he could not confirm whether the fluid was fuel.

He said the government would declare a state of emergency to release extra funding to help avoid a fuel spill causing an environmental disaster.

A man involved in the operation to remove fuel from the Costa Concordia told the BBC’s Matthew Price that the ship was stable, and that some movement was normal.

He said there was no sign of fuel leaking and that they hoped to begin pumping oil from the ship by Thursday or Friday.

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Cruise disaster

• Profile of captain
• Industry ‘undented’
• In pictures
• Underwater search

Cruise captain ‘committed errors’, say ship’s owners

Alan Johnston reports from the island of Giglio on the continuing rescue operation

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Key stories

• Underwater search
• In pictures
• Cruise dancer was in ‘magic box’
• Ship sinking costs Carnival $95m

The company operating a cruise ship that capsized after hitting rocks off western Italy on Friday says the captain may have “committed errors”.

He appears to have sailed too close to land and not to have followed the company’s emergency procedures, Costa Crociere said in a statement.

Capt Francesco Schettino is suspected of manslaughter, but denies wrongdoing.

At least six people have died but about 15 remain unaccounted for. Divers are trying to find more survivors.

“It seems that the commander made errors of judgement that had serious consequences,” Costa Crociere said.

“The route followed by the ship turned out to be too close to the coast, and it seems that his decision in handling the emergency didn’t follow Costa Crociere’s procedures which are in line, and in some cases, go beyond, international standards,” the statement added.

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Capt Francesco Schettino: “We were last to leave the ship”

The Costa Concordia is lying on its side just metres off the Tuscan island of Giglio.

Capt Schettino has been detained on suspicion of manslaughter. The chief prosecutor said the vessel had “very ineptly got close to Giglio”.

But Capt Schettino denied any wrongdoing, saying the rocks it hit were not marked on his nautical chart.

“We should have had deep water beneath us,” he told Italian TV. “We were about 300 metres (1,000ft) from the rocks more or less. We shouldn’t have hit anything.”

He also denied claims by prosecutors that he left the Costa Concordia before evacuation was complete. “We were the last to leave the ship,” Capt Schettino said.

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A helicopter flies overhead, hovers a moment, and two more rescuers are winched down on to what used to be the side of the ship. It is now its gently sloping upper deck”

Matthew Price BBC News, Giglio island

• Underwater search for survivors

There have been suggestions in Italian media that he may have steered his vessel close to Giglio in order to put on a show for residents of the island.

The 52-year-old captain has worked for Costa Crociere for 11 years. The company said he joined the company in 2002 as an official in charge of security.

He was made captain in 2006, having been the ship’s second-in-command.

Like all captains in the fleet he took part in a continuous programme of training and passed all the required checks, Costa Crociere said.

First officer Ciro Ambrosio has also been detained.

Carnival, which owns Costa Crociere, said it expected to lose $95m (£62m; 75m euro) this year for “loss of use” of the ship.

Rising toll

Rescue crews found the body of a male in a corridor of the vessel early on Monday. Officials said he was probably a passenger, based on the type of life jacket he was wearing.

On Sunday, emergency teams recovered the bodies of two elderly men trapped in a flooded section of the partially submerged Costa Concordia.

Poor weather is hampering the search for survivors

The bodies are being taken to the mainland for identification.

The ship, carrying more than 4,200 people, was on the first night of a Mediterranean cruise when it ran aground in calm conditions.

Poor weather is hampering the search as teams scour the hundreds of submerged cabins and other rooms.

“We are going to all the ship’s cabins looking for any signs of life, or people shouting or any noises,” said Italian interior ministry spokesman, Francesco Paulo Tronca.

“It’s a very difficult operation. We are talking about hundreds and hundreds of cabins on many different decks.”

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There was panic, like in a film, dishes crashing to the floor, people running, people falling down the stairs”

Fulvio Rocci Survivor

• Eyewitness accounts
• Maps and figures
• Accident costs owner $95m

Three survivors were found on Sunday. Teams working above the waterline rescued an Italian man – a senior member of the ship’s crew – who had suffered a severe leg injury.

He was placed on a stretcher and winched up to a rescue helicopter.

Earlier, a Korean couple who were on their honeymoon were discovered trapped in a cabin. They were brought ashore, dazed but unhurt.

Swimming to safety

On Saturday, officials said two French passengers and a Peruvian crew member had died and another 30 people had been injured.

Italian, German, French and British nationals were among the 3,200 passengers on board. There were also 1,000 crew.

On Sunday morning, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague told Sky News all the Britons – 23 passengers and 12 crew – were now safe and accounted for.

The president of Costa Crociere, Gianni Onorato, said the company would “be working in full transparency with Italian authorities” to understand the causes of the disaster.

Mr Onorato said normal lifeboat evacuation had become “almost impossible” because the ship had listed so quickly. Some passengers had to swim to Giglio.

The survivors have been taken by ferry from Giglio to Porta San Stefano, about 25km (15 miles) away on the mainland.

Some described scenes of chaos, and said the crew had not carried out an evacuation drill by the time disaster struck.