Italian judges released the captain of the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner from house arrest Thursday, but ordered him not to leave his home town while the case against him continues, his lawyer said.
Francesco Schettino has been under house arrest in his home town of Meta di Sorrento, near Naples, since January 17.
At least 30 people died when the cruise liner struck rocks and turned on its side off the Italian island of Giglio on January 13.
Schettino faces allegations of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, abandoning ship, failing to report an accident to the coast guard and destroying a natural habitat, a prosecutor said this year. Giglio is a protected park.
Schettino's first officer, Ciro Ambrosio, and six other officers both on the ship and from the firm Costa in Genoa are under investigation over allegations including manslaughter, shipwreck and failure to report the accident, the prosecutor in the case has said.
No one has been charged in connection with the shipwreck.
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Italy might be better off without soccer for a few years in the wake of new arrests in a match-fixing probe in the top-flight Serie A, Prime Minister Mario Monti said Tuesday.
"Maybe soccer should be suspended for two or three years," Monti said, according to a report from Italy's ANSA news service. "It's not a government proposal, but it's a question we should ask ourselves."
Nineteen people were arrested Monday in the ongoing investigation by magistrates in Cremona. Eleven of those arrested are players in Italy's top division.
"It's particularly sad when a world-like sport, which should express noble values, shows itself to be a concentrate of the most reproachful ones, like unfairness, illegality and fraud," Monti said Tuesday in the ANSA report.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 hit north central Italy on Tuesday, civil protection authorities said, nine days after a major quake in the region left seven people dead.
Civil protection officials told CNN there were fatalities in Tuesday's quake, but they said they did not yet have a confirmed number of dead.
FULL STORYA strong earthquake struck early Sunday in northern Italy, killing at least three people and knocking down a church bell in the region, authorities said.
Two people were killed in a ceramic factory in Sant'Agostino di Ferrara, and one person died when a workshed collapsed in Ponte Rodoni di Bondeno, according to Elisabetta Maffani, spokeswoman for Italy's civil protection agency.
The 6.0-magnitude quake occurred just after 4 a.m. (10 p.m. ET Saturday), 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) outside Camposanto, northwest of Bologna, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The Italian civil protection agency said it anticipates more injuries as rescue workers make their way to remote villages in the mountainous area.
FULL STORYThe last five bodies recovered from the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner have been identified, the mayor's office in the Italian city of Grosseto said Tuesday.
Two Americans, Barbara Heil and Gerald Heil, were among those named in the statement from the mayor's office.
The others are identified as two Germans, Christina and Norbert Ganz, and an Italian crew member, Giuseppe Girolamo. Two people remain missing, the mayor's office said.
FULL STORYIndian authorities offered to free 27 prisoners in return for the release of an Italian citizen and a local legislator held hostage by Maoist rebels in the eastern state of Orissa.
The chief minister of Orissa, Naveen Patnaik, appealed in a statement Wednesday to the left-wing insurgents to release the Italian Paolo Bosusco and the state lawmaker Jhina Hikaka immediately, requesting they be "unharmed and in good health."
Bosusco and another Italian tourist, Claudio Colangelo, were abducted in the province's Kandhamal district on March 14. Colangelo was set free 11 days later, but Bosusco has remained captive.
The guerillas also kidnapped Hikaka, a member of the state's legislative assembly.
Patnaik specified that 23 prisoners would be freed to secure Hikaka's release and the other four for Bosusco's.
FULL STORYTwo Italians have been kidnapped by Maoist insurgents in eastern India, the local authorities said Monday, in what is believed to be the first abduction of Westerners in the region.
Italian nationals Bosusco Paolo and Claudio Colangelo have been held hostage by left-wing rebels in the eastern state of Orissa since Wednesday, said Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, the top administrator of the state's Kandhamal district.
"As of now, the government has expressed its willingness to negotiate" to secure the Italians' release, Patil said, noting that the kidnappings came to light Sunday.
Anti-Maoist operations, part of a decades-long conflict, have been suspended in the troubled Kandhamal area, and the authorities are in the process of appointing a mediator for talks, he said.
FULL STORYItalian prosecutors Wednesday asked a court to sentence former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to five years in prison if he is found guilty of corruption charges.
Berlusconi is charged with bribing a British lawyer, David Mills, to secure favorable testimony in legal cases. Prosecutors requested prison time as they summed up their case against him Wednesday, and the three-judge court is expected to issue a verdict by late February.
The former premier's lawyers have argued that the statute of limitations in the case has expired, and Mills' conviction in the case was overturned in 2010. And even if convicted, the 75-year-old Berlusconi may never serve time due to appeals and his age - under Italian law, judges can suspend sentences for convicts over 70.
The 75-year-old Berlusconi dominated Italian politics for a decade and a half before resigning amid a financial crisis in November. He has survived a series of political, corruption and sex scandals over the years, involving allegations of embezzlement, tax fraud and bribery.
In addition to the Mills case, he also faces trial on charges that he hired an underage prostitute and later tried to pull strings to get her out of jail when she was arrested for theft.
Prosecutors in Italy lodged an appeal Tuesday against the acquittal of American student Amanda Knox in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.
A secretary for prosecutor Giuliano Mignini confirmed to CNN that the appeal had been filed, but said Mignini was not immediately available for comment.
Knox and her ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted of murder in 2009 but cleared when they appealed the verdicts in October.
In legal paperwork published in December, the judge in the case wrote that the jury had cleared the pair for lack of evidence proving they were guilty.
FULL STORYThe Italian captain of the shipwrecked cruise liner Costa Concordia must remain under house arrest while investigators look into possible charges against him, a court in Florence, Italy, ruled Tuesday, a defense lawyer said.
The court rejected a prosecution motion that Francesco Schettino be sent back to jail as well as a defense motion that he be set free, according to lawyer Alessandro Antichi.
Schettino was "satisfied" that the court rejected the prosecution's request to send him back to jail, Antichi said. Attorneys will likely wait until February 9, when the full text of the court's decision is published, to decide whether to appeal, Antichi said.
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A closed-door hearing to determine whether the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship should remain under house arrest is set for Monday.
Francesco Schettino faces possible charges of manslaughter, shipwreck and abandoning ship after the vessel struck rocks and rolled onto its side in the waters off the Italian island of Giglio on January 13.
Sixteen bodies have been recovered, and 16 people remain missing from the roughly 4,200 people who were aboard the cruise liner.
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Technical experts directing the salvage operation aboard the Costa Concordia cruise ship are recommending that the underwater part of the operation be called off because it is becoming too dangerous, Italy's civil protection agency said Tuesday.
The head of the operation, Franco Gabrielli, will make the final decision, but is unlikely to go against the recommendations of the technical experts, his office said.
The advice is based on safety concerns and follows consultations with relatives of the people still missing from the shipwreck and diplomats representing their countries, the civil protection agency said.
A total of 15 people remain missing after the cruise ship's collision with rocks off the coast of Tuscany on January 13. Seventeen bodies have been recovered. There were about 4,200 people on the cruise liner when it crashed.
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Passengers of the Costa Concordia are expected to receive a compensation lump sum of 11,000 euros ($14,400) each, the Italian Association of Tour Operators said in a statement Friday.
The decision was reached during a meeting between Costa Cruises and consumer groups, the association said.
The massive liner struck rocks and rolled over onto its side in shallow waters off an island on Italy's Tuscan coast on January 13, leading to a panicked overnight evacuation and a number of deaths.
A 16th body was found by divers searching the ship Tuesday. Sixteen others are missing from the roughly 4,200 people aboard the cruise liner - 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members - at the time of the collision.
The captain of the ill-fated cruise ship is under house arrest and faces possible charges of manslaughter, shipwreck and abandoning ship.
Rescuers searching the stricken Costa Concordia found a body on bridge 3 Tuesday, bringing the number of confirmed dead from the wreck to 16, civil protection officials said.
The discovery leaves about 16 people still missing from among the roughly 4,200 aboard the cruise liner - about 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members - at the time of the collision with rocks off the island of Giglio.
The vast majority fled the ship safely, if under chaotic and frightening conditions, according to survivors.
Undersea salvage experts will not start siphoning fuel off the partially sunken liner before Saturday, the man in charge of the operation said Tuesday.
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Rescue workers have suspended their search of the Costa Concordia after the cruise ship moved, making it too risky for divers to operate, the Italian Coast Guard said Friday.
Sensors on board the vessel measured movement, Massimo Maccheroni, of the Coast Guard general command, told CNN.
"When this happens all rescue forces have to leave the ship, (so as) not to put their lives in danger," he said.
The authorities are now assessing their options. One possibility being considered is an attempt to anchor the vessel to the rocks off Giglio island using chains.
But, warned Maccheroni, "It's very difficult. The Concordia weighs 110,000 tons and it's like a 300 meter-high skyscraper in an horizontal position."
Italian authorities are considering when to call off the search for survivors and start the recovery operation, which would mean salvage workers can start emptying the ship's huge fuel tanks.
At least 11 people are known to have died in the disaster, and 21 are still missing, according to the Italian Crisis Unit.
A week after the ship ran aground off the Tuscan coast
Italian authorities are considering when to call off the search for survivors aboard the wreck of the cruise liner Costa Concordia, the coast guard said Thursday, as rescuers used explosives to blow new holes in the ship in search of victims.
Authorities are considering when to change the operation from rescue to recovery, coast guard spokesman Cosimo Nicastro said Thursday.
At least 11 people are known to have died in the disaster, and 21 are still missing, according to the Italian Crisis Unit.
Coast guard records published Thursday by an Italian newspaper pile further pressure on the captain of the Concordia and his officers, suggesting that the authorities first became aware of the crash from a friend of the mother of a passenger about 15 minutes after the ship hit rocks.
The coast guard identified the ship in trouble and contacted it, asking if there were problems on board, at 10:14 p.m. - more than half an hour after the 9:41 p.m. collision - according to a coast guard log published in the newspaper La Repubblica.
FULL STORYEditor's note: This post is part of the Overheard on CNN.com series, a regular feature that examines interesting comments and thought-provoking conversations posted by the community.
"No captain should abandon his ship prior to everybody else! If anybody goes on the bottom of the sea, the captain should be there too! I hope he gets the hardest penalty, hopefully. No one should ever get away with this! Captains (naval, military, airborne) are the last men of honour at present times and that should be kept this way!"
–Cpt Sailor
Recordings between Capt. Francesco Schettino of the Costa Concordia cruise ship and the Livorno Port Authority, which is part of the Coastal Guards, shed light onto what might have happened Friday night.
Many readers said they found the translated transcripts fascinating. At one point, Italian Coast Guard Capt. Gregorio De Falco says, "Look Schettino, you might have been saved from the sea, but I will make sure you go through a very rough time ... I will make sure you go through a lot of trouble. Get on board, damn it."
Port Authority to cruise ship captain: 'Get on board, damn it'
Many of our readers were convinced that the captain was not taking responsibility for the ship.
exCaptain: "As a retired Navy veteran this is pathetic to witness. A captain of the ship is the decision maker and there are rightful duties with that responsibility! How can you not know the number of your own people on your ship and on top of that, not make quick leadership decisions? I would protect my ship and my people with my life!"
There were several references to the actions of the captain on board the U.S. Airways plane that landed in the Hudson River. FULL POST
Recordings between the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship and the Livorno Port Authority, which is part of the Coastal Guards, have given new insight into what happened on the ship when it hit rocks Friday night just off Italy's western coast.
A total of 23 people remain missing following the wreck, which led to 11 deaths, Italian officials said Tuesday. Capt. Francesco Schettino is under arrest and may face charges that include manslaughter, shipwreck and abandoning a ship when passengers were still on board, according to an Italian prosecutor.
Questions abound for captain of doomed cruise ship
Below are several transcripts of recordings between authorities and the captain published by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera and translated by CNN's Hada Messia. The first calls came in right after midnight.
Livorno Port Authorities: "Concordia, we ask you if all is OK there."
Concordia: "All is well."
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Port authority: "Concordia, We ask you if all is well there."
Concordia: "All is well. It is only a technical failure."
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Port authority: "How many people are on board?"
Schettino: "Two-three hundred"
Port authority: "How come so few people? Are you on board?’
Schettino: "No, I’m not on board because the ship is keeling. We’ve abandoned it."
Port authority: "What? You’ve abandoned the ship?"
Schettino: "No. What abandon? I’m here."
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On board the Costa Concordia, thousands of passengers were dining, drinking, attending a magic show, perhaps trying their luck in the casino.
It was Friday night on the luxury cruise liner, sailing in the Mediterranean off the Italian coast with about 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members - a night of entertainment and relaxation.
There was annoyance, but no real alarm, when the lights went out - not at first. Passenger Vivian Shafer said she thought it was part of the magic show.
Then, a magical night turned into a nightmare.
Those on board then heard an ominous scraping sound, and the 951-foot vessel gave a shudder. The ship began to list to one side.
Photos: See high-resolution images of the ship
Graphic shows relative size of ill-fated Costa Concordia cruise ship.
The ship was carrying about 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members when it ran aground Friday night.
5 facts about the Costa Concordia cruise ship
Now, rescue efforts continue as the ship's operator and prosecutors try to figure out exactly what happen and who is to blame. FULL POST
Editor's note: This post is part of the Overheard on CNN.com series, a regular feature that examines interesting comments and thought-provoking conversations posted by the community.
A cruise ship called the Costa Concordia struck rocks Friday evening near Giglio Island off the Italian coast. At least six people are dead and others are unaccounted for. The gripping coverage of the incident has inspired lots of comments about cruise ship safety and a few references to the legendary Titanic disaster.
Disaster at sea: Luxury cruise turns into nightmare
People thought about their own cruise experiences and what it would be like to be on vacation and suddenly fighting for your life. Many talked about cruise ship safety.
abbydaddy: "Well, the loss of life could have been much worse. Yet one life lost is too many. The crew, and passengers never took the lifeboat training seriously. Just a formality before the party starts. Right. Sadly many lives will be scarred by the memories of moments of life vs death. Though the Italian rescue crews seem to have performed exemplarily."
Sixnard: "Uh, there wasn't any lifeboat training. I don't see why you're including the passengers in your blame-laying. And demanding 100% freedom from risk is simply ridiculous; in an accident of this scale, it is remarkable that more than 99% of passengers and crew made it safely ashore, even more so given the apparent incompetence of captain and crew."
bcn4: "There is no real 'lifeboat training' on any cruise. The muster drill instructs you were to go in case of an emergency, who to look for, how to put on and secure the life jackets, etc. It's the same as on airplanes - how many people really watch the crew as they go thru the safety drill at the start of the flight? Not too many. But - the same as after the US Airways jet landed in the Hudson - my next flight, everyone was paying attention to that drill. On my next cruise in two weeks, everyone will be paying attention at muster."
Rick1948: "International maritime law requires that an evacuation drill be done within 24 hours AFTER DEPARTURE. What lunacy! A ship can be 50 feet away from the dock and sink. Most US based ships do it while the ship is still at the dock. It's obvious from the accounts of the chaos that not having done the drill yet was a big factor in this one."
Some of the conversation centered on the captain of the ship, Francesco Schettino. Speaking on Italian television, he insisted the rocks were not marked on his map. FULL POST
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