Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/17/2012

The death toll in the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster has risen to eleven, as more bodies were pulled from the stricken ship. 24 people are said to be still unaccounted for. Latest reports indicate that the captain sailed his ship too close to the island of Giglio to show it to the locals on the island. Italian media have aired an audiotape in which the captain is told repeatedly by the Coast Guard to return to the ship, which he had abandoned while the evacuation of the passengers was still ongoing.

In other news, the European Union has initiated legal action against Hungary for what it considers unacceptable changes to the country’s constitution. It’s no surprise that the EU’s preferred form of punishment is to withhold ECB bailout money, which Hungary will need after the ratings agencies downgraded its debt.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to Caroline Glick, CSP, Diana West, Fjordman, Jedilson Bonfim, KGS, Kitman, Takuan Seiyo, The Observer, TV, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

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Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.