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."