Fri, Jan 27, 2012

The US economy grew at its fastest pace in 1-1/2 years in the fourth quarter, but a strong rebuilding of stocks by businesses and weak spending on capital goods hinted at slower growth in early 2012.

US gross domestic product expanded at a 2.8% annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday, a sharp acceleration from the 1.8% clip of the prior three months and the quickest pace since the second quarter of 2010.

It was, however, a touch below economists expectations for a 3.0% rate.

“The economy ended 2011 on a fairly positive note, but the composition of growth in the last quarter is not favorable for growth early this year,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Sweet made the comments before the report was released. For the whole of 2011, the economy grew 1.7% after expanding 3% the prior year.

Growth in the fourth quarter got a temporary boost from the rebuilding of business inventories, which was the fastest since the third quarter of 2010, after they declined in the third-quarter for the first time since late 2009.

Inventories increased USD 56.0 billion, adding 1.94 percentage points to GDP growth. Excluding inventories, the economy grew at a tepid 0.8% rate, a sharp step-down from the prior period’s 3.2% pace.

The robust stock accumulation suggest the recovery will lose a step in early 2012.

Also pointing to slower growth, business spending on capital goods was the slowest since 2009, a sign the debt crisis in Europe was starting to take its toll.

Expectations of soft growth led the Federal Reserve on Wednesday to say it expected to keep interest rates at rock bottom levels at least through late 2014.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank, which forecast growth this year in a 2.2% to 2.7% range, was mulling further asset purchases to speed up the recovery.

The Fed warned the economy still faced big risks, a suggestion the euro zone debt crisis could still hit hard.

“The Fed is attempting to shield the economy from a potentially more severe recession in Europe,” said Sweet. “Even though the economy improved last quarter there are a number of headwinds and a lot of uncertainty surrounding Europe, emerging markets and also US fiscal policy.”

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the World Economic Forum in Davos the US economy still faced big challenges.

By KEVIN DOLAK and SHARDE MILLER

Jan. 26, 2011

A friend of an aid worker rescued by Navy SEALs in Somalia said that it was important to keep the woman’s three-month captivity quiet so her captors would not ask for more money and put her at further risk.

Jessica Buchanan, 32, and 60-year-old Dutch colleague Poul Hagen Thisted were rescued early Wednesday by SEAL Team 6 — the same group involved in the mission to kill Osama bin Laden last spring — in a daring mission at a remote encampment deep in northern Somalia.

Christina Scolforo, a close friend of Buchanan, says that her abduction was intentionally kept from the media.

“We didn’t want them to get media hype that would cause them to think that she was worth more, and they would want more of a ransom, and then it would prolong the time that she was captive, so a lot of it was hush,” Scolforo said.

Bachanan’s immediate family is now meeting with her at a U.S. military base in Sicily, Italy, members of the woman’s extended family told ABC News.

“She says she feels safe for the first time in 93 days. The men that risked their lives … I just can’t say enough so I really, really appreciate it,” Dave Buchanan, Jessica’s uncle said.

Buchanan and Thisted, who worked with the Danish Refugee Council’s Danish Demining Group, were abducted Oct. 25, 2011 by a group of Somali bandits and held for ransom.

“We are very grateful that Jessica has been rescued,” Buchanan’s family said in a statement Wednesday. “This has been just an unbelievable answer to prayers and we are so grateful for the work of the president, the Navy SEALs and the State Department and we knew that God would set our sister free.”

At approximately 1:40 a.m. Wednesday local time — 5:40 p.m. Tuesday eastern time — SEAL Team 6 was aboard a specially equipped C-130 moving rapidly toward the target — a remote encampment deep in northern Somalia.

One by one the SEALs hurled themselves out of the plane at high altitude, parachuting silently to within a few miles of the hideout, then hiking to the enemy grounds, which were pitch black, with armed pirates everywhere.

Within minutes of arriving at the encampment gunfire erupted from the kidnappers, but the SEALs quickly killed all nine of the heavily armed kidnappers. By approximately 2:30 a.m. local time the hostages — now in U.S. hands — were moved on board black hawk helicopters and headed for Djibouti.

In a statement released by the White House, President Obama said he had authorized a rescue mission Monday.

“Thanks to the extraordinary courage and capabilities of our Special Operations Forces, yesterday Jessica Buchanan was rescued and she is on her way home. As commander-in-chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission, and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts,” Obama said in the statement.

The president said he spoke with Buchanan’s father Monday night, “and told him that all Americans have Jessica in our thoughts and prayers, and give thanks that she will soon be reunited with her family.

In Somalia Buchanan served as a regional education adviser at the Danish Demining Group, a division of the Danish Refugee Council, according to her LinkedIn profile.

“She loves kids and she loves to help people and that’s the reason she was over there. Just to help,” Dave Buchanan said.

Over the three months of her captivity, concern grew about Buchanan’s deteriorating health, which was described as possibly “life-threatening” and a “window of opportunity for mission success” presented itself, according to Pentagon spokesperson George Little.

ABDI GULED and KATHARINE HOURELD

Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012

U.S. Special Forces troops flew into Somalia on a nighttime helicopter raid early Wednesday, freed an American and a Danish hostage and killed nine of the kidnappers in a mission that President Barack Obama said he personally authorized.

The Danish Refugee Council confirmed that the two aid workers, American Jessica Buchanan and Dane Poul Hagen Thisted, were freed and “are on their way to be reunited with their families.”

The raiders came in very quickly, catching the guards as they were sleeping after having chewed the narcotic leaf qat for much of the evening, a pirate who gave his name as Bile Hussein told The Associated Press by phone. Hussein said he was not present at the site but had spoken with other pirates who were, and that they told him nine pirates had been killed in the raid and three were missing.

A second pirate who gave his name as Ahmed Hashi said two helicopters attacked at about 2 a.m. about 20 kilometres north of the Somali town of Adado where the hostages were being held.

Ms. Buchanan, 32, and Mr. Thisted, 60, were working with a de-mining unit of the Danish Refugee Council when they were kidnapped in October.

The U.S. military’s Africa Command, based in Stuttgart, Germany, confirmed that nine kidnappers were killed.

“Last night’s mission, boldly conducted by some of our nation’s most courageous, competent, and committed special operations forces, exemplifies United States Africa Command’s mission to protect Americans and American interests in Africa,” said Gen. Carter F. Ham, commander of U.S. Africa Command.

Mr. Obama seemed to refer to the mission before his State of the Union address in Washington Tuesday night. By then it was already Wednesday morning in Somalia. As he entered the House chamber in the U.S. Capitol, Mr. Obama pointed at Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in the crowd and said, “Good job tonight.”

“As Commander-in-Chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission, and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts,” Mr. Obama said in a statement released by the White House Wednesday. He said he had authorized the rescue mission on Monday.

“Jessica Buchanan was selflessly serving her fellow human beings when she was taken hostage by criminals and pirates who showed no regard for her health and well-being,” Mr. Obama said. “The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people, and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice.”

A Western official said the helicopters and the hostages flew to a U.S. military base called Camp Lemonnier in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti after the raid. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not been released publicly.

The timing of the raid may have been made more urgent by a medical condition. The Danish Refugee Council had been trying to work with Somali elders to win the hostages’ freedom but had found little success.

“One of the hostages has a disease that was very serious and that had to be solved,” Danish Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal told Denmark’s TV2 channel. Mr. Soevndal did not provide any more details.

Mr. Soevndal congratulated the Americans for the raid and said he had been informed of the action.

Mr. Panetta visited Camp Lemonnier just over a month ago. A key U.S. ally in this region, Djibouti has the only U.S. base in sub-Saharan Africa. It hosts the military’s Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.

The Danish Refugee Council said both freed hostages are unharmed “and at a safe location.” The group said in a separate statement that the two “are on their way to be reunited with their families.”

Ann Mary Olsen, head of the Danish Refugee Council’s international department, was the one who informed the family of Hagen Thisted of the successful military operation.

“They (the family) were very happy and incredibly relieved that it is over,” she said.

The two aid workers appear to have been kidnapped by criminals — sometimes referred to as pirates — and not by Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabab. As large ships at sea have increased their defenses against pirate attacks, gangs have looked for other money making opportunities like land-based kidnappings.

The Danish Refugee Council had earlier enlisted traditional Somali elders and members of civil society to seek the release of the two hostages.

“We are really happy with the successful release of the innocents kidnapped by evildoers,” said Mohamud Sahal, an elder in Galkayo town, by phone. “They were guests who were treated brutally. That was against Islam and our culture … These men (pirates) have spoiled our good customs and culture, so Somalis should fight back.”

Ms. Buchanan and Mr.Thisted were seized in October from the portion of Galkayo town under the control of a government-allied clan militia. The aid agency has said that Somalis held demonstrations demanding the pair’s quick release.

Their Somali colleague was detained by police on suspicion of being involved in their kidnapping.

The two hostages were working in northern Somalia for the Danish Demining Group, whose experts have been clearing mines and unexploded ordnance in conflict zones in Africa and the Middle East.

Several hostages are still being held in Somalia, including a British tourist, two Spanish doctors seized from neighboring Kenya, and an American journalist kidnapped on Saturday.

By Nick Squires

24 Jan 2012

Divers have recovered the body of an elderly woman on the third deck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia, bringing the number of bodies recovered to 16.

At least 16 more people are missing on the vessel, which lies half-submerged on its side just outside the tiny Italian island port of Giglio. Nine victims have been identified and the identities of seven others are so far unknown.

The discovery came as an operation to pump more than half a million gallons of oil out of the crippled Costa Concordia cruise ship got under way, more than 10 days after the liner ran aground.

A barge loaded with drills, pipes and other heavy equipment moved out of the tiny harbour on Giglio island and moored alongside the 1,000ft longship, which lies in about 60ft of water.

On board were salvage specialists and engineers from Smit, a Dutch firm best known for raising the wreck of the Kursk Russian nuclear submarine.

The Russian nuclear submarine sank, with the loss of its 118 crew, in August 2000 after an explosion in its bow section.

It went down around 90 miles off Murmansk in northern Russia and sank to a depth of 108 metres.

Smit was involved in an international team that raised the 9,000 tonne sub from the seabed.

The five-month operation set a new world record for the heaviest object recovered from such depths.

The bow section, which suffered massive damage from the explosion, was sliced off with a giant wire saw and left on the seabed.

The company’s divers will conduct an inspection of the stricken ship’s hull – a task which is expected to take one or two days.

The Rotterdam-based firm says it hopes to start pumping out the 2,400 tonnes of fuel by the weekend.

It will take four to six weeks to safely empty the ship’s massive fuel tanks, a company representative said as he watched the barge head towards the Costa Concordia – a distance of just a few hundred yards.

The gleaming white wreck of the 114,500-tonne, 17-deck luxury liner is clearly visible from Giglio’s port and lies just yards from its rocky shore.

Smit has a team of 40 men on the island and faces a race against time to avert an environmental disaster before bad weather starts to close in.

They will drill holes in the hull of the liner and use huge pumps and pipes to suck the fuel out. It will then be siphoned into a large tanker.

The Concordia rammed into rocks off Giglio on the night of Jan 13 when its captain apparently misjudged a ‘salute’ to the island.

Capt Francesco Schettino is under house arrest at his house in Meta di Sorrento near Naples and faces charges of abandoning ship, causing a shipwreck and multiple counts of manslaughter.

The death toll from the disaster reached 15, after two more bodies were recovered by divers on Monday.

Around 20 people are still missing, including Americans, French and Italians.

Navy and coast guard divers and rescue specialists from the Italian fire service face a range of dangers when they work on the ship, both underwater and in the non-submerged sections.

The risks involved were underlined when a fireman working on the hull broke his leg and had to be evacuated to Grosseto hospital in Tuscany on Monday.

By BOB CHRISTIE
January 23, 2012
The race to replace Rep. Gabrielle Giffords begins in earnest Monday as the Arizona congresswoman’s planned resignation sets up a free-for-all in a competitive district.
The three-term Democrat announced Sunday that she intends to resign from Congress this week to concentrate on recovering from a gunshot wound to the head just over a year ago in an assassination attempt that shook the country.
Giffords could have stayed in office for another year even without seeking re-election, but her decision to resign scrambles the political landscape. Arizona must hold a special primary and general election to find someone to finish out her term, as well as hold the regular primary and general election later this year.
Giffords would have been heavily favored to win re-election, since she gained immense public support as she recovered from the shooting. She was elected to her third term just two months before she was shot, winning by only about 1 percent over a tea party Republican.
Several Republicans and Democrats have been mentioned as possible candidates for her seat, with some in the GOP already forming official exploratory committees. Republicans who have expressed interest include state Sen. Frank Antenori and sports broadcaster Dave Sitton, among others.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, left, accompanied by her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, reacts after leading the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of a memorial vigil, in Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 2, 2012.
Democratic state lawmakers have been mentioned as possible candidates, as has the name of Giffords’ husband, Mark Kelly, although he has publically quashed such speculation.
“That’s the great ‘mentioner’ out there, and there are going to be a lot of people mentioned,” said Arizona Democratic Party chairman Andrei Cherny. “I think the best rule in situations like this is, ‘The folks who are talking don’t know, and the folks who know aren’t talking.’”
Giffords’ office said she will complete the meet-and-greet political event in Tucson on Monday that erupted in the shooting last year. Among those attending the private event will be some of the wounded, those who helped them and those who subdued the gunman. She will also visit a food bank set up after she was shot, and event billed as her final act as a congresswoman in her district.
“I don’t remember much from that horrible day, but I will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice,” she said on a video announcing her decision.
Interspersed with photos, the video showed a close-up of Giffords gazing directly at the camera and speaking in a voice that is both firm and halting.
“I have more work to do on my recovery,” the congresswoman said at the end of the two-minute-long “A Message from Gabby,” appearing to strain with all of her will to communicate. “So to do what’s best for Arizona, I will step down this week.”
Giffords was shot in the head in January 2011 as she was meeting with constituents outside a supermarket in Tucson, Ariz. Six people died and Giffords and 12 others were injured. Her progress had seemed remarkable, to the point that she was able to walk into the House chamber last August to cast a vote.
Gov. Jan Brewer will call the special primary election for the 8th Congressional District likely in April, followed by a general election in June. Before the cycle begins for the regular election, the district will be remapped and renumbered as the 2nd Congressional District.
The regular primary for the new district, which will cover most of the current district’s territory, was scheduled for August.

The Republican governor acknowledged that the twin election cycles were going to create a mess, especially for potential candidates.
“I think that it’s putting a lot of pressure on a lot of people awfully quick, given the fact that they’re going to be filling that continuing seat that expires this year, and then we have elections coming (along) new congressional lines,” Brewer said. “So there’s going to be a lot of confusion in that congressional district.”
Those who decide to throw their hat into the ring will face yet another quirk in the race: the deadline to turn in nominating signatures for the general election comes before the special general election.
“I’m sure both parties and candidates of all stripes will in the days to come be thinking wide and hard about this district, and I’m sure there’s going to be a very vigorous contest,” Arizona Democratic Party chairman Andrei Cherny said Sunday. “But today’s about thinking about a member of Congress who’s going to be irreplaceable no matter who wins that seat.”
Giffords planned to attend President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. And her political career may not be over, said a state Democratic party official who was among a group that met with her Sunday.
Jim Woodbrey, a senior vice chairman of the state party, said at the meeting, Giffords strongly implied she would run again for office someday. He said the decision to resign came after much thought.
“It was Gabby’s individual decision, and she was not in any condition to make that decision five months ago,” he said. “So I think waiting so that she could make an informed decision on her own was the right thing to do.”

Jan 20, 2012

Prosecutors claim file-sharing cost copyright holders $500M

Four employees of Megaupload.com appeared in court in Auckland, New Zealand on Friday as part of a U.S. investigation that shut down the massive file-sharing website.

New Zealand’s Fairfax Media said the court appearance marks the first step of extradition proceedings that could last a year. This legal action is among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States and is moving forward as the U.S Congress considers new anti-piracy legislation.

With 150 million registered users, about 50 million hits daily and endorsements from music superstars, Megaupload.com was among the world’s biggest file-sharing sites — big enough, according to a U.S. indictment, that it earned founder Kim Dotcom $42 million last year alone.

‘If the United States can seize a Dutch citizen in New Zealand over a copyright claim, what is next?’

The movie industry howled that the site was making money off pirated material. Though the company is based in Hong Kong and Dotcom was living in New Zealand, some of the alleged pirated content was hosted on leased servers in Virginia, and that was enough for U.S. prosecutors to act.

Charges against a total of seven individuals were unsealed on Wednesday in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.

The site was shut down Thursday, and Dotcom and three others were arrested in New Zealand on U.S. accusations that they facilitated millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content, costing copyright holders at least $500 million in lost revenue.

New Zealand Police also seized guns, artwork, more than $8 million in cash and luxury cars valued at nearly $5 million after serving 10 search warrants at several businesses and homes around the city of Auckland.

News of the shutdown seemed to bring retaliation from hackers who claimed credit for attacking the Justice Department’s website. Federal officials confirmed it was down for hours Thursday evening and that the disruption was being “treated as a malicious act.”

A loose affiliation of hackers known as “Anonymous” claimed credit for the attack. Also hacked was the site for the Motion Picture Association of America. Dotcom’s lawyer raised objections to a media request to take photographs and video, but then Dotcom spoke out from the dock, saying he didn’t mind photos or video “because we have nothing to hide.” The judge granted the media access, and ruled that the four would remain in custody until a second hearing Monday.

Dotcom, Megaupload’s former CEO and current chief innovation officer, is a resident of Hong Kong and New Zealand and a dual citizen of Finland and Germany who had his name legally changed. The 37-year-old was previously known as Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor.

3 suspects still at large

Two other German citizens and one Dutch citizen also were arrested and three other defendants — another German, a Slovakian and an Estonian — remain at large.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which defends free speech and digital rights online, said in a statement that the arrests set “a terrifying precedent. If the United States can seize a Dutch citizen in New Zealand over a copyright claim, what is next?”

The indictment was unsealed one day after websites including Wikipedia and Craigslist shut down in protest of two congressional proposals intended to make it easier for authorities to go after sites with pirated material, especially those with overseas headquarters and servers.

Before Megaupload was taken down, the company posted a statement saying allegations that it facilitated massive breaches of copyright laws were “grotesquely overblown.”

“The fact is that the vast majority of Mega’s Internet traffic is legitimate, and we are here to stay. If the content industry would like to take advantage of our popularity, we are happy to enter into a dialogue. We have some good ideas. Please get in touch,” the statement said.

Several sister sites were also shut down, including one dedicated to sharing pornography files.

$8 million in cash seized

The $8 million in cash seized had been invested in various New Zealand financial institutions, and has been placed in a trust pending the outcome of the cases.

Police spokesman Grant Ogilvie said the seized cars include a Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe worth more than $400,000. Two short-barrelled shotguns and a number of valuable artworks were also confiscated, he added.

According to the indictment, Megaupload was estimated at one point to be the 13th most frequently visited website on the internet. Current estimates by companies that monitor web traffic place it in the top 100.

Megaupload is considered a “cyberlocker,” in which users can upload and transfer files that are too large to send by email. Such sites can have perfectly legitimate uses. But the Motion Picture Association of America, which has campaigned for a crackdown on piracy, estimated that the vast majority of content being shared on Megaupload was in violation of copyright laws.

The website allowed users to download some content for free, but made money by charging subscriptions to people who wanted access to faster download speeds or extra content. The website also sold advertising.

Megaupload was unique not only because of its massive size and the volume of downloaded content, but also because it had high-profile support from celebrities, musicians and other content producers who are most often the victims of copyright infringement and piracy. Before the website was taken down, it contained endorsements from Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys and Kanye West, among others.

The company listed Swizz Beatz, a musician who married Keys in 2010, as its CEO. He was not named in the indictment and declined to comment through a representative.

The five-count indictment, which alleges copyright infringement as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering and racketeering, described a site designed specifically to reward users who uploaded pirated content for sharing, and turned a blind eye to requests from copyright holders to remove copyright-protected files.

Website paid for uploaded content, indictment says

Users paid for uploaded content, indictment says

For instance, users received cash bonuses if they uploaded content popular enough to generate massive numbers of downloads, according to the indictment. Such content was almost always copyright protected, the indictment said.

The Justice Department said it was illegal for anyone to download pirated content, but their investigation focused on the leaders of the company, not end users who may have downloaded a few movies for personal viewing.

A lawyer who represented the company in a lawsuit last year declined to comment Thursday. Efforts to reach an attorney representing Dotcom were unsuccessful.

Although Megaupload is based in Hong Kong, the size of its operation in the southern Chinese city was unclear. The administrative contact listed in its domain registration, Bonnie Lam, did not respond immediately for a request for comment sent to a fax number and email address listed.

The indictment was returned in the Eastern District of Virginia, which claimed jurisdiction in part because some of the alleged pirated materials were hosted on leased servers in Ashburn, Virginia. Prosecutors there have pursued multiple piracy investigations.

The Justice Department also was investigating the “significant increase in activity” that disrupted its website. It said in a statement that it was working to “investigate the origins of this activity, which is being treated as a malicious act until we can fully identify the root cause.”

The site appeared to be working again late Thursday. A spokesman for the Motion Picture Association of America said in an emailed statement that the group’s site also had been hacked, but it too appeared to be working later in the evening.

“The motion picture and television industry has always been a strong supporter of free speech,” the spokesman said. “We strongly condemn any attempts to silence any groups or individuals.”

Thursday 19 January 2012

Attention switches from Captain Francesco Schettino to the US-owned cruise line that operated the shipwrecked vessel.

The US-owned cruise line that operated the Costa Concordia says it has opened talks on compensation with the survivors of last week’s shipwreck, as attention switched from the role of the captain to that of his employer.

Divers continued searching for passengers on the stricken vessel, which is grounded off the island of Giglio, after blowing further holes in the hull with explosive charges to allow easier access to a submerged deck where five bodies have already been found.

Eleven passengers and crew are known to have died, and 21 are still not accounted for.

Prosecutors investigating the disaster were reportedly keen to establish why more than an hour had elapsed between the moment at which the liner hit a rock, and the order to abandon ship.

New evidence has emerged of another “salute” made by the Costa Concordia as it passed within a few hundred yards of a different Italian island.

In Rome on Wednesday, the environment minister, Corrado Clini, told parliament that the government was considering legislation to ban the practice of “saluting”.

The controversy has also revived discussion of the routes taken by cruise liners through the Venice lagoon, where they frequently pass within a short distance of St Mark’s Square and other priceless heritage sites.

The Corriere della Sera newspaper reported that investigators had established that Captain Francesco Schettino spoke on three occasions to the ship’s operator, Costa Cruises, via its emergency unit before the evacuation began.

Investigators wanted to know whether the 68-minute period that elapsed during the course of these calls was because Schettino had underplayed or underestimated the gravity of the damage sustained by the liner, or because Costa Cruises, a subsidiary of Miami-based Carnival, had been reluctant to sanction a decision to evacuate that might cost it millions of euros in compensation, the paper said.

A company spokesman told the Guardian that it could not comment on an ongoing investigation, but said: “Costa Cruises continues to liaise fully with the Italian authorities and is playing a full part in the investigation.”

A statement from the firm said it was “contacting all the guests involved in the Costa Concordia’s sad accident to assure itself of their return home and their state of health, and to confirm to them the return of [the cost of] the cruise and all expenses connected to it.

“Costa Cruises further confirms a dialogue with the guests and with all the associations that safeguard the interests of consumers to decide the compensation relating to the inconvenience suffered.”

The company has put the entire blame for the incident on the captain. At a press conference on Monday, Costa Cruises’ chairman and chief executive, Pier Luigi Foschi, said Schettino had not sought permission to deviate from his route in order to skirt the shoreline of Giglio, reportedly as a tribute to a retired skipper living on the island.

But evidence of Costa Cruises’ enthusiasm for “salutes” can be found on the firm’s blog in an entry describing how, in September 2010, the Costa Concordia under Schettino’s command passed close to the island of Procida in the bay of Naples.

The blog said the salute provided “great excitement not only for the islanders but also for the numerous tourists present … [It was] doubtless a joy and a novelty for all, including the guests of the Costa Concordia, ready with their cameras on the external decks to immortalise that unique moment and celebrate and salute with flags and handkerchiefs.”

Foschi said that the company, and the Italian authorities, had known of and agreed to an earlier nighttime “salute” of Giglio in August last year. He said the firm had reviewed in advance the captain’s intended course and that the vessel passed “not closer than 500 metres from the island”.

But his assertion has been called into question by the London maritime daily Lloyds List, which published a map based on Lloyds List Intelligence tracking data. This indicated that the earlier course took the Costa Concordia within 230 metres of land, close to the point at which the ship hit the rocks last Friday.

Clive Garner, a partner in the law firm Irwin Mitchell, which acts for victims of maritime disasters, said: “The investigation will rightly focus on why a cruise liner of this size, one of the largest on the seas, was so close to shore.”

Two of the eight bodies so far retrieved from the Costa Concordia were identified as French passengers .

On the stricken ship, divers were racing against time to conclude their search with rough weather approaching, while salvage workers gathered on Giglio, ready to start pumping out the 2,400 tonnes of fuel on board.

The government has warned that the fuel operation must start as soon as possible to avoid a disastrous leak into the surrounding protected marine park if the boat slips off rocks and breaks up.

But rescuers insisted they had not been given a deadline to finish. “Searching for passengers, giving certainty to the families, is the priority,” said Luca Cari, a spokesman for divers from Italy‘s fire service.

Wed Jan. 18 2012

Rescuers have paused their search for bodies in a stricken cruise ship off Italy’s west coast due to fears that the now-shifting vessel could put the workers in harm’s way.

Instruments attached to the Costa Concordia sensed slight movement on the ship Wednesday as it lay partially submerged in the water off the small island of Giglio.

The discovery has forced search teams to abandon their hunt for 22 individuals who have been missing since the ship ran aground last Friday with more than 4,200 people on board.

So far, 11 people have been confirmed dead and officials fear there are more victims trapped in the submerged half of the ship.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Filippo Marini said the decision to stop the search was a precautionary measure so officials could check “if there actually was a movement, and if there has been one, how big this was.”

Time is of the essence, however, and the recent setback has dulled hopes that anyone will be found alive on the multi-million dollar vessel.

The bodies of four men and one woman, all wearing life jackets, were pulled from the wrecked ship on Tuesday.

Rescuers are eager to find people who are still unaccounted for but the precarious position of the ship poses a risk to them, said Rome-based freelance journalist Megan Williams.

Environmental disaster fears loom

“If the weather is choppy enough and the sea is rough enough, the ship could shift and possibly sink further down,” she told CTV’s Canada AM on Wednesday.

Adding to their fear is the potential of a massive environmental disaster off the coast of Italy. Workers still need to pump out 2,500 tons of fuel that remains trapped inside the ship, said Williams.

“They want to do that before they dismantle the ship or somehow use mechanical balloons to bring it back up,” she said in a Skype interview from Rome.

Fire department spokesperson Luca Cari said once officials say it’s safe to approach the ship again, both the search for bodies and the attempt to pump out fuel will continue.

Meanwhile, the Costa Concordia’s captain has been placed under house arrest and faces criminal charges including manslaughter and abandoning the ship.

Prosecutors are expected to file charges against Capt. Francesco Schettino in the next few days.

A recorded conversation between Schettino and Italian Coast Guard Capt. Gregorio De Falco surfaced Tuesday. The widely circulated tape suggests Schettino resisted orders to board the ship again.

“Go on board! Co-ordinate the rescue from aboard the ship. Are you refusing?” an audibly frustrated De Falco can be heard shouting in the audio tape.

Schettino said he wasn’t refusing but still didn’t head back to the ship. At one point he told De Falco it was dark and he couldn’t see anything.

“And so what? You want to go home, Schettino? It is dark and you want to go home? Get on that prow of the boat using the pilot ladder and tell me what can be done,” De Falco shouted back.

Twenty-four passengers and four crew are still listed as missing. Six bodies have been pulled from the wreckage since Monday but those people still haven’t been identified.