Costa Concordia survivors pile into theater for - World News - MSN

Filippo Monteforte / AFP - Getty Images

Press gather outside the Moderno theatre in Grosseto, on Saturday for the Costa Concordia shipwreck initial evidence hearing.

By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services

GROSSETO, Italy --The captain of the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner was not wearing his glasses on the evening of the accident and asked his first officer to check the radar for him, the officer's lawyer said on Saturday.

The giant cruise liner capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio after hitting a rock on Jan. 13, killing at least 25 people. Seven people are still unaccounted for.?

Prosecutors have accused Captain Francesco Schettino of causing the disaster by bringing the multi-story Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew, too close to the shore.?

The ship's first officer, Ciro Ambrosio, and seven other officers and executives of the ship's owner, Costa Cruises, are also under investigation.?

Ambrosio has told investigating magistrates that Schettino, 51, did not have his glasses on when he steered the massive ship within a stone's throw of shore in the dark of night to perform a maneuver called a "salute." Many of the passengers were having dinner at the time of impact.?

"That evening Schettino had left his reading glasses in the cabin and repeatedly asked Ambrosio to look at the radar to check the route," Ambrosio's lawyer Salvatore Catalano told Reuters, quoting his client's testimony to magistrates.?

Schettino has said that the rock hit by the cruise liner was not on his navigational charts.?

The captain has acknowledged that he brought the ship too close to the shore, but he says he was not the only one to blame for the tragedy.?

Catalano said his client was the only officer on the ship's bridge who went ahead and ordered the listing vessel to be evacuated before the captain made up his mind to do it himself.?

"He ordered the lifeboats to be put to sea from deck number four," Catalano said.?

Catalano was speaking in the Tuscan city of Grosseto, where a pre-trial hearing into the disaster took place on Saturday. None of those under investigation attended the hearing, which was held in a theater to accommodate hundreds of victims' relatives, survivors and lawyers for all sides.?

The Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers, ran aground Jan. 13 off the coast of Italy. At least 17 people died in the accident, and rescuers continue to search for others missing.

NBC News reported that more than 4,000 people were invited to attend the hearing. In order to fit everyone in one space the trial was held in the Modern Theater in the coastal town of Grosseto.

The theater was expected to accommodate victims' relatives, survivors and lawyers for all sides, but was not open to the general public or media.

"We are here to look for justice and the truth, rather than compensation. They almost killed us," Giacomo Brignone, a survivor of the accident, told NBC.

"We want to know the truth, what happened, and what we are supposed to do now. That's all we are asking," said Hilaire Blemand, a French national whose 25-year-old son Michael was onboard the ship with his girlfriend Mylene Litzler, 23.

Both are still reported missing.

"It's been too long already, it's been six weeks," he said.

Fighting back tears at his side, Mylene's mother Brigitte Litzler said her anguish had deepened after identification of the bodies was suspended at the request of the lawyer for one of the ship's officers under investigation. He argued forensic experts from the defense team should be part of the process.

"It's like they have killed them a second time," Litzler said. "We are dead inside already; they have killed our kids so we are dead, too. But we won't give up, we will keep returning until we have them back."

During the hearing, the judge appointed various experts to analyze the data from the ship's black box. It could take as long as three months for them to present their findings, public prosecutor Francesco Verusio told Reuters.?

Captain, under house arrest, did not attend hearing
Schettino is accused of a string of charges, including multiple manslaughter and abandoning the 114,500-ton liner before the evacuation of all passengers and crew. He is under arrest at his home in Meta di Sorrento, near Naples, and did not attend the hearing.?

His lawyer, Bruno Leporatti, said he could have been in danger had he decided to attend.

The captain "is a man who has feelings, who is pained over what happened. He feels pain for the victims," Leporatti told Reuters Television.

Lawyer: Captain of capsized cruise ship could be in danger

Neither Schettino, nor his wife, Fabiola Russo, nor his brothers spoke to reporters who sought comments from them at his home on Saturday.?

His presence at the hearing would have been "unnecessary and perhaps with this climate that has been created around him, also a little dangerous for him," Leporatti said.

His neighbors in the sleepy seaside town continued to defend him.?

During a hearing held Wednesday in Washington, D.C., the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee reviewed U.S. cruise ship safety regulations as well as international safety standards and heard testimony from Costa Concordia cruise ship survivors. NBC's Tom Costello reports.

"It's normal for accidents to happen at sea," Franco D'Elia, a former sailor, told Reuters. "Accidents happen on solid ground, at sea, and in the sky."

Others weren't as sympathetic to Schettino.

"I don't think he has got the guts to show up in front of all the passengers whom he put through all that fear," Adriano Bertaglia, a survivor participating in a class action suit against the company, told Reuters in front of the theater.

The hearing comes after 627 passengers disembarked in the Seychelles on Thursday from another Costa liner, the Costa Allegra, which had to be towed for three days by a French fishing boat in the Indian Ocean after a fire knocked out its engines.

'We're alive': Tired passengers stream off stricken Costa Allegra

Marco de Luca, the lawyer for Costa Cruises, told NBC: "I think we were unlucky. I don't think anybody can deny that."

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

NBC News correspondent Claudio Lavanga, NBC News producer Michele Neubert, msnbc.com staff and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/03/10569117-costa-concordia-survivors-pile-into-theater-for-hearing-on-cruise-disaster

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Burial for Nigeria civil war leader recalls Biafra (AP)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]AP - The late leader of Nigeria's breakaway Republic of Biafra received final honors Friday from a nation he once fought bitterly against in a war that saw 1 million people killed.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120302/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_ojukwu

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Blumenthal, DeLauro, Murphy, businesses spotlight ... - Stamford Plus

Hartford, CT - Today, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) joined mangers, employees, and workforce development leaders to spotlight a $10 million federal investment in Connecticut?s advanced manufacturing workforce. Connecticut?s Workforce Alliance and Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board were awarded $4.97 million and $5 million, respectively, by the U.S. Department of Labor last week.

Blumenthal toured leading aerospace components manufacturer Pegasus in Middletown and Thomaston?s Ward Leonard Electric Company, a maker of custom electric motors for marine, military, and energy applications. Each company, in conjunction with local workforce development organizations, community colleges, and chambers will use these funds to train and hire workers in high-growth, highly competitive sectors.

?I hear constantly from businesses and manufacturers around the state that they have job openings but need people with the skills to fill them,? said Blumenthal. ?These grants respond to the need for skill training vital to putting people in Connecticut back to work. Expanding access to on-the-job training, postsecondary, and adult education helps ensure that all workers can obtain skills and credentials required for well-paying jobs.?

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro said, ?In today?s difficult economic environment, it is critical that our workers have the skills they need to be successful. Just as importantly, our businesses need a skilled workforce to support and grow their operations. And yet, many of the small businesses I have visited across the 3rd District have told me that they are having difficulty finding workers with the skill sets they need. To remedy this skills gap, we must provide the practical training, skills development and education needed? and these grants will help to make that happen. Connecticut has a long history of manufacturing expertise, and companies such as Pegasus are continuing this tradition. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues, local businesses, educators, and our workers to ensure that we close the existing skills gap and strengthen Connecticut?s workforce.?

Congressman Chris Murphy remarked, "In town after town listening to manufacturers, one thing is clear: we have to be training our workforce for the high tech jobs of tomorrow. This investment is an incredibly important step to growing job training and continuing education programs in Connecticut and will help put more people in our state back to work."

?There is a mismatch between the skills of many of the people looking for work and the skills we require for precision manufacturing,? said Pegasus President Chris DiPentima. ?This new program could help our employees as well as support the significant growth opportunities that we are experiencing by providing a qualified pipeline to backfill the retirement of the aging workforce in manufacturing.?

Michael Clute, President of Ward Leonard said, ?We will apply this funding to programs designed to provide our employees with the additional skill sets required for our continuous improvement initiatives. These improvements will allow Ward Leonard to grow our business volume and continue moving manufacturing and engineering jobs into Connecticut.?

William Villano, Executive Director of the Workforce Alliance said, ?There are experienced people on unemployment who would make ideal job candidates with the right skills training. We are targeting mid level technical trades including IT and engineering for precision manufacturers who have had to look offshore for employees with these skills.?

Cathy Awwad, Executive Director Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board said, ?Were very excited about the opportunity to provide much-needed training dollars for both incumbent workers and long term unemployed.?

The Workforce Alliance, working jointly with the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board, will provide on-the-the job training to 361 long-term unemployed workers for mid-level technical jobs across Connecticut's manufacturing industry, reimbursing employers for 50-75% of the employee?s wages during a training period averaging 16 weeks. During that time, participants are hired as full-time, regular employees. The Northwest Region Workforce Investment Board will also implement training programs for the unemployed in the growing health care and health IT fields. Both grants will provide career paths for long-term unemployed workers, incumbent workers, women, and veterans. Partners in these projects will also work with students to provide additional employment services such as general job counseling, job search techniques, and help in connecting with the businesses and manufacturers participating in training programs.

Blumenthal introduced the Pathways Back to Work Act (S. 1861), a bill to provide immediate relief to unemployed individuals, and workforce training programs to those seeking to learn new skills. Additionally, Blumenthal joined his colleague Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) in introducing the Community College Innovation Act (CCIA) ? a bill to improve and modernize community colleges, spurring job creation and giving workers the skills they need to find jobs.

Source: http://www.stamfordplus.com/stm/information/nws1/publish/Business_21/Blumenthal-DeLauro-Murphy-businesses-spotlight-federal-investment-in-CT16042.shtml

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A Closer Look at Medical Imaging Equipment Leasing - Diagnostic ...

Rapid advancements in medical imaging are transforming patient care and enabling providers to deliver faster, more accurate diagnoses earlier; yet at the same time, many imaging providers are reluctant to invest in new equipment due to cash constraints and financial concerns.

Imaging providers at private clinics and hospitals nationwide are making do with outdated equipment as continued cuts to reimbursements and decreased revenue from philanthropy, investments and operational earnings have business managers delaying capital equipment investments.

For many imaging centers and hospitals, equipment leasing may be the answer. Equipment leasing makes it easy for healthcare providers of all types to obtain the equipment required to provide top-notch patient care, increase throughput and work more efficiently, while conserving cash and remaining flexible.

Some of the other recognized benefits of leasing healthcare equipment include:

? Tax treatment: The IRS does not consider certain leases to be a purchase, but rather a tax-deductible expense. Therefore, imaging providers can deduct the lease payments from income, thus reducing the net cost of the lease.

? 100 percent financing: Since a lease often does not require a down payment, it can be equivalent to 100 percent financing. Imaging providers can conserve the capital that would have been used for a down payment and reinvest it in the business.

? Flexibility: As healthcare facilities grow and needs change, the lessee may be able to add or upgrade technology at any point during the lease term.

? Asset management: A lease provides the use of the technology solution for specific periods of time at fixed payments. The leasing company assumes and manages the risk of technology ownership. At the end of the lease, if the imaging provider elects to return the technology, the leasing company is responsible for the disposition of the asset.

? Upgraded technology: Technology solutions that could depreciate quickly should be leased to limit a healthcare facility?s risk of getting caught with obsolete equipment. Plus, leases make it easier to upgrade or add technology solutions to meet ever-changing needs.

? Speed: Leasing can allow you to respond quickly to new opportunities with minimal documentation and red tape. Many leasing companies approve applications within a few hours.

? Improved cash forecasting: When imaging providers lease, they can accurately forecast the cash requirements for equipment since they know the amount and number of lease payments required, and with leases there are no floating fees.

? Flexible end-of-term-options: There are typically three flexible options at the end of a term. The lessee can return the equipment, purchase the equipment from the leasing company or extend the lease for an additional period of time.

? Easier financing than loans: With a lease, imaging providers can avoid requirements like compensating balances, large down payments, client list reviews and cash-flow projections, making the finance process faster and easier.

For more information about equipment leasing or to find an equipment leasing company in your area, visit the Equipment Leasing?and Finance Association.

Mark Hoffman is senior vice president of the healthcare division of Key Equipment Finance, a bank-held equipment finance company.

Source: http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/radblog/display/article/113619/2040851?CID=rss

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Lindsay Lohan Says She'll Prove Herself On 'SNL'

Preparing to host 'Saturday Night Live' this weekend, actress says in 'Today' interview she's ready to 'grow up and take care of myself.'
By John Mitchell


Lindsay Lohan on "Today"
Photo: NBC News

Billed as a no-hold-barred interview, Lindsay Lohan visited "Today" on Thursday (March 1), and told Matt Lauer she is clean, sober and ready to get back to work.

The actress, who is hosting "Saturday Night Live" this weekend for the first time since 2006, revealed that her most recent round of legal troubles — which began in January 2011 when she violated her probation (related to a 2007 DUI) by wearing a $2,500 necklace out of a Venice, California, boutique (she returned the necklace, claiming it was an accident) — brought her to a breaking point. "This last whirlwind of experiences I've gone through this last year and a half, I've kind of just taken a step back and been like, 'I'm not doing what I love to do and I need to find a way to kind of find that balance again,' " she said.

Discussing her last "Today" appearance in 2006, Lauer reminded the actress that she'd dodged several questions about her alleged partying at the time, and Lohan confessed she was in denial that she had a problem. "It's a scary thing to have to express to people," she admitted. "I wasn't as comfortable with myself then. It was a fear factor that I had about what was really going on. I had to get that wakeup call."

Lohan explained that one of the key changes she's made in her recovery has been surrounding herself with the right people. She copped to being "ignorant towards the fact that maybe I should not go out all the time" and that, at 25, the time has come for her to "grow up and take care of myself."

Saying her hard-partying days are behind her, and "I regret the choices that I've made," she said she's learned a great deal over the past several years. "I don't need to see any more negative stuff. I don't need to put myself in those places anymore," she said.

When Lauer said he thought of Lohan when news of Whitney Houston's death surfaced because both stars struggled with substance abuse, Lohan said she felt the parallel was "a scary, morbid thing to discuss," but agreed that substance abuse does rob artists of their talent: "You can completely fall into that world, and that's a scary thing," she said.

"I have experienced things like that, and I have friends that have experienced things like that. It's a really sad factor that can come into play in people's lives sometimes, if you don't recognize it. A lot of people don't like to. I think I did that for a long time. I think I was scared and didn't want to admit it to myself, let alone anyone else."

Lohan shared that her return to form is not the sort of thing she can rush, telling Lauer she is ready to put her head down and get back to work. "I think that takes time and I think that it's actions," the actress said. "People can say things all they want, but I still need to go through the process of proving myself, with 'SNL,' being on time, keeping my ... stuff together."

The actress said she's ready to tackle her past issues when she hit's "SNL" this weekend, saying, "I've already pitched that!" She even told Lauer that she got clearance from her legal counsel to make those jokes because she doesn't want to sabotage the requirements she's "so close" to completing. She also praised Judge Stephanie Sautner, who she said has "been really wonderful to me and helped me a lot," and the workers at the Los Angeles County morgue, where she has been doing her community service. "Everyone there has been really kind to me," Lohan said. "It's been a learning experience, and I'm glad that I experienced it. I'm grateful that I've learned from it. It's helped me; it's humbling."

Lauer seemed impressed with Lohan's progress, telling her she seemed as "confident and together as I've see you in a long time," and asked if, as so many might believe, her current success and sobriety might be temporary.

"That's not what I want for me. I don't want to go back to that place," she said. "I want to move forward with my life. I want to continue to move forward and in the right direction, and I want to keep growing in the right ways."

Discussing her upcoming role in an Elizabeth Taylor biopic, she promised, "I will not let anyone down — especially myself."

Share your thoughts on LiLo's "Today" interview in the comments below.

Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1680215/lindsay-lohan-snl-today.jhtml

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Wash. caucuses last stop before Super Tuesday

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign rally in Fargo, N.D., Thursday, March 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign rally in Fargo, N.D., Thursday, March 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks at Peachtree DeKalb Airport, Thursday, March 1 , 2012, in Chamblee. (AP Photo/John Amis)

(AP) ? The fight to emerge as the Republican challenger to Barack Obama turns next to Washington state ? a Democratic bastion known not just for majestic mountain ranges and good coffee, but also for independent-minded voters.

This Pacific Northwest state has a non-conformist streak and a rule that any registered voter can participate in the Republican contest, giving libertarian-leaning Texas Rep. Ron Paul hope that he can engineer his first victory of the nomination race. But even though he had a strong showing here four years ago and is investing heavily in the state, Paul faces stiff challenges in Saturday's statewide caucuses from GOP front-runner Mitt Romney, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

By Saturday, all four will have visited the state at least once, and some twice.

At first glance, Washington ? a state that just legalized gay marriage and has a labor-union, blue-collar history ? would seem ill-fitting for Republicans to come courting voters. It's voted exclusively Democratic in presidential elections since backing Ronald Reagan and has elected only Democratic governors for nearly 30 years. Its governor and two senators all are Democratic women, and most of its House members are Democrats. Yet Republicans have held the secretary of state's office since the 1960s, illustrating the state's proclivity for doing its own thing.

"There is a real independent streak that runs through here," said independent pollster Stuart Elway, noting that while voting patterns lean Democratic, his polling has regularly showed that 45 percent of the population identifies as "independent," compared to 35 percent who say they're Democrats and 25 percent who identify as Republicans.

There are a series of factors that explain the wooing by Republican candidates.

The GOP race is now a drawn-out hunt for delegates as well as a contest in which candidates try to build momentum by racking up a series of victories state by state to force opponents from the race. At stake are 40 delegates to the Republican national nominating convention later this summer, a cache second only to Florida's 50 in contests thus far. Registered voters of all political stripes can participate in the caucuses, but they must sign an affidavit identifying themselves as Republican and promising not to participate in a caucus for another party.

There's also another possible explanation for the candidates competing for caucuses in which only about 50,000 people are expected attend, according to one Republican official's estimate.

"It's a psychological boost going into Super Tuesday if one candidate dominates or stands out," state GOP chairman Kirby Wilbur said. That may be particularly true in a contest as volatile as this, with Romney, Santorum and Gingrich all having won previous contests.

Washington's contest is the last before 10 states vote Tuesday, offering a total of 419 delegates. (Wyoming Republicans also will hold county conventions from Tuesday through March 10, with 12 delegates to the party's national convention up for grabs.)

So it's little wonder, then, why Paul, desperate for his first win, started running a TV ad in the state attacking his opponents and plans to return to hold a rally Friday night in Seattle. Paul is the only candidate on the air, having spent roughly $40,000 to run ads on cable channels in the state. A pro-Gingrich super PAC has spent only a fraction of that.

Santorum, who visited the state in February, was back Thursday for rallies in the more conservative eastern region, while Romney, who has been working to build support from establishment Republicans here and rolled out dozens of local endorsements, planned to hit a fundraiser in Washington state the same day.

Their visits come on the heels of one by Gingrich last week.

Four years ago, Republican John McCain won the GOP caucuses, but just barely. He got 25 percent of the vote, just ahead of Mike Huckabee's 23 percent and Paul's 21.5 percent. In the primary that was conducted a few weeks later and reached significantly more Republican voters, McCain had nearly 50 percent of the vote, compared to Huckabee's 24 percent, and Paul's 8 percent.

This is the first year since 2004 that Republicans won't hold a presidential preferential primary in addition to the caucuses. The primary was cancelled this year for budgetary reasons, as was the one in 2004.

Until 1992, the state relied solely on caucuses. But after 1988, when backers of television evangelist Pat Robertson swamped the meetings and ultimately took the nation's largest Robertson delegation to the GOP convention in New Orleans, the Legislature quickly moved to create a presidential primary.

___

Online:

Washington State Republican Party: http://wsrp.org

___

Follow Rachel La Corte on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/RachelAPOly

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-03-01-Washington-Next%20Up/id-9110764f2016422ca2c2a2a8c35e5105

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Well we don?t need no one to tell us what do, oh yes we?re on our own and there?s nothing you can do (Unqualified Offerings)

Article Promotion ? Card Table: Enjoying Leisurely Card Games

Posted on March 1st, 2012 by David P. Martin

by David P. Martin

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Source: http://articlepromotion.org/blog/?p=85220

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