Court-appointed experts have put the majority of the blame for the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster on Captain Francesco Schettino and the Costa Crociere company, according to a new report.

The report, which was leaked to the Italian press and published in part by the daily newspaper La Repubblica on Thursday, said that Schettino the Italian company did not react promptly to the emergency. The confidential 270-page document was compiled by two captains and two engineers as part of the court investigation into the disaster.

According to La Repubblica, the report says that Costa Crociere should have immediately urged Schettino to evacuate the ship, possibly saving more lives in the process.

AFP - A gravelly ill prisoner serving a long jail sentence has become the first inmate to die under Belgian euthanasia laws introduced 10 years ago, press reports said Thursday.

The man, who was not identified, died earlier this year after seeking permission several times when doctors decided his suffering could not be helped, the reports said.

They gave no details of his illness or the circumstances of his case.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte won in a close race after voters in the Netherlands backed pro-European parties, dispelling fears that more extreme groups and eurosceptics were gaining ground in the eurozone country.

With nearly all of the votes counted, Rutte's centre-right Liberals have secured 41 seats in the 150-member lower house, giving them a slight edge over the centre-left Labour Party, which won 39 seats as of Thursday morning.

Speaking to supporters after Labour leader Diederik Samsom conceded defeat, Rutte said the vote was his party's "greatest victory in history".

The euro overshoots in response to the Constitutional Court ruling and the news of the latest programme of quantitative easing in the US; euro/dollar exchange rate was at $1.3026 this morning; Mario Draghi tells Suddeutsche Zeitung that he is ready to go before the Bundestag to explain the OMT programme; he said the ECB would pull the plug on non-complying member states, as their governments would then take the full responsibility for a rise of interest rates to the private sector; the ECB lists four feedback loops that link high sovereign bond yields to high private sector interest rates; Wolfgang Janisch reports in Suddeutsche Zeitung that the Constitutional Court will ultimately not be able to take on the ECB; Greece is on the verge of lifting the retirement age to 67 years; the Greek government yesterday denied rumours that it would seek a third bailout programme; there was a public outcry against the Portuguese government's latest austerity measures; the Socialists said they would vote against the plan; their popularity is ahead of the government's for the first time since last year's elections; the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council says more austerity measures are needed for Ireland to meet its fiscal targets; Belgium, too, must find extra money to meet the deficit goals; Christobal Montoro claims that Spain's autonomous regions are on track to meet their fiscal targets; but says regional development help will not be available until October; Spanish government reforms capital gains tax; the Bank of Italy says Italy's productivity performance is appalling; Confidustria warns of a deep and long recession; also wants the government to apply for a rescue programme before the elections; Anatole Kaletsky, meanwhile, says he expects the crisis to return with a vengeance.

A provision in the Lisbon Treaty whereby national governments can put a brake on EU legislation has been used in the case of a draft Regulation on 'posted workers' published by the European Commission in March. Twelve national parliaments objected; on Tuesday the Commission withdrew the proposal, though they said they had done so because it had insufficient political support in the European Parliament or in the Council of Ministers (our two legislative chambers). The proposal was brought forward to try to resolve a difficult issue which arose four or five years ago when a Latvian company, Laval, won a contract for work in Sweden for which it planned to bring workers from Latvia (who are paid far less than Swedes, meaning Laval's bid was priceable lower than those of Swedish competitors). Swedish trade unions picketted the site, making the work impossible to carry out. A ruling against the trade unions in the European Court of Justice led the EU to intervene to try to establish a legal framework balancing economic freedoms and social rights, but by general consent the proposal, drawn up by Mario Monti, was too clever by half.

The main news of this week was a set of proposals from the European Commission on banking supervision which would give the European Central Bank supervisory powers equivalent to those of most national central banks but across the whole eurozone. Clearly the ECB would have to separate monetary policy from bank supervision, but - as agreed by eurozone heads of state and government in June - it would gain from next year the right to regulate banking within the eurozone, including powers over subsidiaries of non-eurozone banks which do business in the zone. The proposals put the European Parliament's nose out of joint because on matters to do with the ECB we are merely consulted by the national governments, whereas on the European Banking Authority (their previous idea) we had powers of co-decision. But we are heading for a prolonged run-in with the national governments in the Council of Ministers in any case, because we have withheld approval of their latest nominee to the ECB's board in protest against their repeated failure to find a single female candidate for the board.

The Commission also brought forward proposals for a regulation to give EU-wide political parties a clearer legal base. As President of the ELDR (EU-wide Liberal Democrat and Reform) party I welcomed this. To qualify, parties will have to meet criteria on internal democracy, transparency and commitment to democratic values. We do.

France's government begins a review of the world's most nuclear-dependent country's energy policy on Friday (14 September), strongly in support of its small and ailing renewables sector in an effort to boost local jobs and growth.

Ministers, NGOs, unions, industries, parliamentarians and consumers will converge for a two-day conference to agree on how to conduct a six-month national debate that will seek to reshape the way energy is produced, consumed and taxed in France.

Its new Socialist government is expected to announce immediate measures to help the crisis-hit renewable energy sector - which employs 100,000 people - as part of its battle to tackle soaring unemployment.

"There are businesses which are struggling and we can today save jobs," said a senior official at the energy ministry, who declined to be named. "Our concern is the notion of ecological patriotism, which is to ensure that support to the sector actually translates into jobs in France."

France's renewable energy lobby reckons the sector could generate 225,000 jobs by 2020 with investments totalling €80 billion, provided production targets are met.

In 2011, renewable energy revenues in France reached €10 billion ($12.89 billion), puny when compared to the $257 billion worldwide.

The likely cost to UK taxpayers of allowing more foreigners to claim benefits is 92% lower than previously claimed, Iain Duncan Smith has said.

The work and pensions secretary is fighting EU moves to change Britain's habitual residence test which limits benefit claims by new arrivals.

He said last year the EU proposal could cost the UK more than £2bn a year.

He has now revised that to £155m, a figure he still describes as "enormous".

World first. Ecofin finishes EARLY press conference about to start

The European Union has pledged more economic aid to Egypt during a visit to Brussels by Mohammed Morsi. The Egyptian president's visit is seen as a bid to boost his democratic credentials.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a press conference that the additional financial aid would go towards supporting Egypt's planned transition to a fully fledged democracy.

"We can increase our program of financial cooperation with Egypt precisely to support, in general terms, these consolidated democracy efforts that President Morsi is so committed to," Barroso said.

"Egypt can count on the European Union," Barroso told the conference.

The British arms manufacturer BAE Systems and European aircraft maker EADS have said they are in "advanced talks" to merge the two companies. The combo would be the biggest in the aerospace sector in more than a decade.

In a joint statement issued late Wednesday, Britain's BAE systems and Airbus owner EADS confirmed market speculation about a merger, saying the talks envisaged BAE owning 40 percent of the enlarged group, with EADS holding a 60 percent majority stake.

"The potential combination will create a world-class international aerospace, defense and security group with substantial centers of manufacturing and technology excellence in France, Germany, Spain, the UK and the USA," the statement read.

Stricken Spanish lender Bankia has been thrown a multi-billion euro lifeline from the Spanish state after reporting a huge loss for the first half of 2012. The bank is at the heart of Spain's ongoing mortgage crises.

Bankia had received 4.5 billion euros ($5.7 billion) in the form of short-term government debt securities, Spain's state-backed Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB) announced Thursday.

The move was needed "urgently," FROB said in a statement, and had come after Bankia reported a loss of 4.45 billion euros in the first half of 2012, which was a dramatic deterioration from a net profit of 205 million euros in 2011.

Germany's sovereign debt remained above two trillion euros ($2.58 trillion) in 2011, despite additional revenues on the back of robust economic growth. And the national debt clock is bound to keep ticking away.

At the end of 2011, Germany had accumulated exactly 2,025,400,000,000 euros in sovereign debt, which was 0.7 percent more than in the previous year, according to data published by the German Federal Statistics Office, Destatis, Thursday.

In broken down figures, this amounted to 24,771 euros of debt for every German, Destatis said.

The debt of the national government was by far the highest, standing at 1.28 trillion euros, even though Berlin was able to reduce its debt by 0.6 percent last year.

Nearly half of Germans support the ruling that approved the European Stability Mechanism. However, 78 percent doubt that the bailout fund will decisively advance efforts to resolve the nearly three-year euro crisis.

Forty-eight percent of those surveyed for German ZDF public television said they agree with the decision made Wednesday by the Constitutional Court to approve the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund, compared to 39 percent who disagree. Thirteen percent expressed no opinion.

However, only 27 percent think the court took Germany's interests adequately into account, with 61 percent believing otherwise and 12 percent expressing no opinion.

AFP - France's finance minister and the IMF both indicated Thursday that Greece could be given some breathing space implementing its austerity programme, provided it pushed through promised cuts.

France's Pierre Moscovici offered the possibility of some flexibility in comments to reporters after meeting Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and key ministers.

"There is a precondition... that the demanded efforts are carried out effectively," he said, adding that reform determination was "essential."

A report suggests that GooPhone, the Hong Kong-based company that created an Android iPhone 5 knock-off, has patented the design in China and will aggressively protect it.

Interesting development.

Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se

Europeans on this date in history:

2007 - financial crisis, Northern Rock bank experiences the first bank run in the United Kingdom in 150 years.

More here and here

I remember reading about this in the paper on the train, on the way to the Liberal Democrat Conference I was live-blogging:

The Euro was barely mentioned, but there was an intervention by someone from "The City" which I'll report here. He started out with the claim that London is subsidising the rest of the UK through its tax revenues which, as we know (ahem), are due mostly to London's position at the centre of the world's capital markets. He mentioned that the Euro Zone is taking over from the US as a global standard-setter in finance, and that this is driving international banks to establish offices in London, which (see above) is good for the UK economy. So the Euro is good for Britain because of that. But, of course, that doesn't mean that the UK should trade the Pound for the Euro. And here's where I really felt like slapping the guy to wake him up: he said there wouldn't be a case for the UK joining the Euro Zone unless and until there's some serious economic crisis which is not what "the current hiccup" is.

Uproar in response to an anti-Islam film is spreading, with US embassies in several Arab countries seeing protests. Meanwhile, a possible al Qaeda connection to Tuesday's deadly embassy violence is under investigation.

One person was killed by police in demonstrations at the US embassy in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, on Thursday. Several others were wounded when police used water cannons and live ammunition to deter the crowd of several hundred who had overrun the embassy.

The International Atomic Energy Agency passed a resolution that voiced "serious concern" regarding Iran's lack of cooperation with international demands to curb uranium enrichment and open up on its nuclear program.

Representatives from Russia and China joined a group of four Western nations led by the US in voting for the resolution at the IAEA's headquarters in Vienna on Thursday.

Cuba was the only country to vote against the measure, while Egypt, Ecuador and Tunisia - all members, along with Iran, of the Non-Aligned Movement - abstained.

The resolution calls on Iran to immediately agree to let UN inspectors into the country for checks on its nuclear facilities. Iran claims its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, but there are concerns Iran could be trying to develop an atomic bomb.

The UN-Arab League special envoy has arrived in Syria for talks with government and opposition representatives. Lakhdar Brahimi's visit coincides with fighting in Aleppo, where a helicopter strike killed at least 11.

Brahimi is scheduled to meet on Thursday with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, Friday with members of the opposition, and with President Bashar Assad on Saturday.

Earlier this week, Brahimi told Arab League envoys in Cairo that he knew he faced "an extremely difficult task."

This is Brahimi's first trip to Syria in his new capacity, replacing Kofi Annan, who quit in August, frustrated that his efforts had done little to break the gridlock in the UN Security Council or end the civil war.

AFP - Mexican marines hauled the captured boss of the Gulf cartel before television cameras on Thursday, in a new blow to a drug smuggling gang already weakened by a brutal war for the US market.

The navy said one of the most wanted criminals, Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, alias "El Coss," was detained by the marines Wednesday evening in Tampico, a Gulf of Mexico coastal city in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas.

Former Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif was jailed for three years on Thursday for the unlawful possession of property and for making illegal profits from a public-interest company.

Nazif, who held the job during deposed President Hosni Mubarak's last years in office, was also fined 9 million Egyptian pounds ($1.48 million).

NYC to Require Consent for Controversial Religious Circumcision | WNYC

New York City's Board of Health voted 9-0 to require parental consent for a controversial ultra-Orthodox circumcision practice called metzitzah b'peh.

The new rule approved Thursday would require anyone performing the ritual to obtain written consent from a parent or guardian.

Taking into account health and environmental damage, wind and solar power from new plants in Europe is actually cheaper than energy from coal and nuclear power plants, according to a new report.

Many people find it difficult to calculate the true cost of their electricity. Special duties, taxes and subsidies all add up to influence prices, not to mention the environmental and health costs that aren't included in the final calculations.

Researchers from Green Budget Germany (GBG) have taken a closer look at these extra costs in a recent study. Their work calculated, among other things, the environmental and health expenses related to available energy sources.

The row within the UK government over energy policy has been reignited ahead of the party conference season, with the former Tory environment secretary Lord Deben taking on George Osborne over the controversial role of gas.

The row is crucial because the outcome of the war within the cabinet over whether gas should be favoured above renewable energy, as the chancellor wants, will determine the shape of the UK's energy infrastructure for decades to come. Hundreds of billions of pounds in potential investment also hang on the result.

A new species of monkey has been identified in Africa, only the second time such a discovery has been made on the continent in 28 years.

The identification of the monkey in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is significant, as identification of mammals new to science is rare.

Lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) has a naked face and a mane of long blond hairs, and is described by the researchers who identified it as shy and quiet. It lives on the ground and in trees in a 6,500 square mile habitat of the lowland rainforests in the centre of the DRC between the middle Lomami (the inspiration for its name) and the upper Tshuapa Rivers. Its diet is mostly fruit and vegetation.

(Reuters) - Japan's government said it intends to stop using nuclear power by the 2030s, marking a major shift from policy goals set before last year's Fukushima disaster that sought to increase the share of atomic energy to more than half of electricity supply.

Japan joins countries such as Germany and Switzerland in turning away from nuclear power after last year's earthquake unleashed a tsunami that swamped the Fukushima Daiichi plant, causing the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986. Japan was the third-biggest user of atomic energy before the disaster.

In abandoning atomic power, Japan aims to raise the share of renewable power to 30 percent of its energy mix but will remain a top importer of oil, coal and gas for the foreseeable future.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's unpopular government, which could face an election this year, had faced intense lobbying from Japan's main business federation to maintain atomic energy and also concerns from its major ally, the United States, which supplied it with nuclear technology in the 1950s.

The government announced the policy after a meeting of key ministers finalized the decision.

All but two of Japan's nuclear 50 reactors are idled for safety checks and the government plans to allow restarts of units taken off line after the disaster if they are deemed safe by a new atomic regulator.

Japan's growing anti-nuclear movement, which wants an immediate end to the use of atomic power, is certain to oppose any such proposal to secure electricity supplies by restarting reactors.

By applying a strict 40-year limit on the lifetime of reactors, most will be shut down by the 2030s.

The US space agency has said its Mars rover appears to be working "flawlessly," with a lengthy period of instrument checks almost complete. The Curiosity rover will soon re-start its sluggish search for signs of life.

NASA's Mars rover, "Curiosity," will wrap up a lengthy self-testing phase on Thursday, freeing it up to continue exploring the surface of the Red Planet.

Mission manager Jennifer Tropser told reporters in a conference call on Wednesday evening that the plan, once the final checks were completed, was to "drive, drive, drive" until Curiosity discovers a rock suitable for analysis. She added that the instrument checks have delivered positive results.

Half of all medicines sold in France are either useless or dangerous, according to a book authored by two eminent French medical experts.

According to Philippe Even, former head of the Necker Hospital in Paris, and Bernard Debré, a doctor and member of parliament for the opposition UMP party, one in two medicines sold in pharmacies have absolutely no health benefit, while 5% are actively harmful.

Even told daily newspaper Le Parisien on Thursday that he and Debré had decided to conduct the study in the wake of the "Mediator" scandal. Mediator, a drug for controlling diabetes, is suspected of causing hundreds of deaths.

Richard Desmond, proprietor of the Daily Express and Daily Star, has thrown a cat amongst the pigeons by threatening to launch a legal challenge against industry moves to force him to join a new system of tougher self-regulation - according to The Times.

The system has been foisted on Desmond by rival publishers who have all agreed to sign up the regime - but Desmond remains a hold out even though it could see his titles barred from receiving industry wide services, such as news from the Press Association.

According to reports in The Times however Desmond believes that any attempt to strong arm him into such an arrangement would be illegal under competition law.

Professor Sid Watkins, who was at the forefront of Formula 1 safety for more than 30 years, has died aged 84.

The neurosurgeon, who was a close friend of the late three-time champion Ayrton Senna, served as the sport's medical delegate from 1978 until 2004.

Watkins was instrumental in introducing many of the safety improvements in the sport during that period.

This is indeed die Mädels from Katzenjammer playing in the House of Parliament. The MP's get all the perks.

Thought you should know.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

Full ET coverage sometime somewhere.

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"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin