NEWS,28.03.2012.

Italy seize $1.6 bln of Gaddafi family assets

Italian tax police have seized $1.6 billion of assets belonging to members of the Gaddafi family, including stakes in top Italian companies, bank deposits and a Harley Davidson, at the request of the International Criminal Court.In a statement today, police said the assets included stakes in Italy's largest bank UniCredit, oil and gas giant Eni, defence group Finmeccanica, carmaker Fiat, truck-maker Fiat Industrial and Turin-based soccer club Juventus.Bank deposits, a chunk of forest on the Mediterranean island of Pantelleria and two motorbikes including the Harley Davidson were also seized.Lieutenant Colonel Gavino Putzu said all the assets seized were held by Libya's sovereign fund, the Libyan Investment Authority, on behalf of the Gaddafi family.He said the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague had ordered the seizure of assets worldwide in view of possible compensation claims by victims of Muammar Gaddafi's rule in Libya following his overthrow last year."The assets will be administered by a special commissioner to be appointed by a Rome court," Putzu said. "All the companies involved have been notified."Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler, was once Gaddafi's closest European ally but the government of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi abruptly switched sides last April after the start of the NATO bombing campaign.Rome has maintained strong business ties with Tripoli's new rulers, and Eni remains the biggest foreign oil producer in Libya.Putzu said the company stakes seized included 1.25% of UniCredit, 0.58% of Eni, around 2% of Finmeccanica, and 0.33% in both Fiat and Fiat Industrial.The ICC has indicted Saif al-Islam, son and one-time heir apparent of Libya's fallen leader, in June 2011 for crimes against humanity during a crackdown on the Libyan revolt.Libya has insisted he will be tried at home and be given a fair hearing, but the ICC may insist that he be sent to the Hague.The court has also indicted Gaddafi's intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, arrested in Mauritania earlier this month, for crimes against humanity.

 

History buffs uncover Titanic Jane Doe's identity

The only Australian-born survivor of the Titanic lay in an unmarked grave for 62 years before being recognised with a gravestone.Evelyn Marsden, a former stewardess and nurse on the doomed ship, finally has a gravestone at Sydney's Waverley cemetery acknowledging the circumstances of her death in October 2000, after a push by a "bunch of Titanic buffs".Kieran Hosty, curator at the National Maritime Museum in Sydney, said the campaign to give Marsden recognition as a survivor of the sinking of the Titanic typified the depth of feeling surrounding the event."It doesn't matter how many times you tell the story of the Titanic, it's one that people are so fascinated in; they really love it," Hosty told AAP.Marsden, a former daughter of a rail worker from South Australia, was one of five Australian-born passengers on board the luxury liner when it sank nearly a century ago on April 15, 1912.Of the more than 2200 people who set sail, more than 1500 died.In commemoration of the anniversary, the museum on Wednesday launched the Remembering Titanic - 100 Years On exhibition.On display are nine costumes from James Cameron's Oscar-winning 1997 film Titanic, including the pale purple "sinking" dress worn by Kate Winslet as the ship went down.A memorial wall listing those killed is also featured, as well as newspaper clippings, photographs and personal stories.It was like society and society on board the ship fell apart," Hosty said.Among the heroic tales of the Titanic are those of John Jacob Astor, who after bundling his pregnant wife Madeline into a lifeboat, was reportedly last seen smoking a cigar and sipping whiskey on deck.Then there were those like Cosmo Duff - a wealthy British Lord - who allegedly bribed crew members to spirit him and his wife away on a lifeboat, Hosty said."It makes you ask, `how would I behave ... would I be like Cosmo Duff or would I be like Astor?."The museum's resident Titanic expert Inger Sheil said the exhibition followed years of requests from the public."The three subjects that people always ask for is pirates, vikings and the Titanic," Shiel said."There is always something else to discover and a new story to find."

NEWS,01.03.2012.

passengers leave  Costa Allegra

 

Passengers board a ferry for other islands after disembarking from the Costa Allegra cruise ship at Mahe port in Seychelles Island

 

Weary passengers complained of unbearable heat and appalling hygiene for three days in the Indian Ocean aboard cruise ship Costa Allegra after a fire knocked out the vessel's main power supply.With no air conditioning, running water, lights or hot food, the 627 passengers were forced to sleep on deck in the stifling heat until the liner was towed into Seychelles capital Victoria on Thursday. One of the Costa Allegra's three diesel generators caught fire on Monday and although the blaze was extinguished within an hour two more generators in the engine room then failed, the ship's captain, Niccolo Alba, told a news conference. Alba said a general emergency was declared when the generator caught fire, the lifeboats were prepared and passengers were ready to abandon ship as the liner drifted in the Indian Ocean, where Somali pirates roam."It was terrible, as you can imagine. Hygiene conditions were absolutely deplorable. I have some photos that show the state of the toilets. We stayed for three days without electricity, it's very difficult to live in such conditions, especially in such heat," one passenger told. Alba said two people had fallen in the dark and hurt themselves, but he denied an earlier report from a Seychelles health ministry official that six people had broken limbs.” They were able to put the fire out and from that point on, it was just a matter of inconvenience, not having enough food, not being able to rest well at night...the heat is unbearable, so we had to spend most of our nights on the top deck of the ship," said another passenger. More than half the passengers took up the offer of a seven or 14-day holiday on the archipelago from the ship's owner Costa Cruises, the same company whose giant liner Costa Concordia smashed into rocks off Italy in January. At 29,000 gross tonnes, the ship is considerably smaller than the huge Costa Concordia which capsized, killing at least 25 people. A team from Costa Cruises, a unit of the US cruise line giant Carnival Corp., boarded the Costa Allegra on Wednesday to arrange hotel accommodation and onward flights for the passengers. It said more than 600 airline seats and 400 rooms had been reserved. A small generator was installed in the crippled vessel, but was only powerful enough to run its auxiliary communication system, not the air conditioning or cooking systems. With no lights working on board, the company said it had dropped hundreds of torches onto the ship to help passengers find their way around at night. A passenger from Germany praised the crew, saying they had tried their best to make those on board comfortable. Another passenger from the Indian Ocean island of Reunion said he felt tired and dirty and had been afraid of pirates, but there was never any shortage of drinking water or sandwiches. Norbert Stiekema, executive vice-president at Costa Cruises, told the news conference that all passengers were offered the option of a holiday or a flight home, and that all outstanding bills on the ship had been cancelled. The passengers were met in Victoria by ambulances, a Red Cross medical team and a fleet of small buses to take them to hotels on the country's main island of Mahe.One woman was rushed into an ambulance and another had to be supported as she walked off the ship. The passengers, including four children, are from 25 nations. The largest contingents are 127 from France and 126 from Italy. There were also 38 Germans, 31 Britons, 13 Canadians and eight Americans. The Costa Allegra left Diego Suarez in Madagascar on Saturday and, sailing northeast, had been due to dock in Mahe on Tuesday. While 376 passengers opted to stay on in the Seychelles, others had had enough” I am no longer in the mood for a holiday. I want to go home as soon as I can," said another passenger.