The death toll from the earthquake that hit central Italy has risen to 247, Italy's civil protection agency announced last night.

The mayor of the earthquake-ravaged Italian city of L’Aquila has resigned amid fallout from an investigation into bribes allegedly paid to civil servants to rebuild the city centre, state-run television has reported.

A moderately-strong earthquake has rattled much of north-central Italy, including Milan skyscrapers, but first reports indicate there are no injuries or major damage.

Six Italian scientists and a government official were found guilty in a watershed trial of multiple manslaughter for underestimating the risks of a killer earthquake in the town of L’Aquila in 2009.

A GROUP of Italian scientists went on trial yesterday for failing to predict an earthquake that killed more than 300 people in central Italy in 2009 despite signs of increased seismic activity in the area.

Seven scientists and other experts went on trial on manslaughter charges today for allegedly failing to sufficiently warn residents before a devastating earthquake that killed more than 300 people in central Italy in 2009.

SEVEN scientists and other experts were sent for trial on manslaughter charges yesterday for failing to warn people of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 300 people in Italy in 2009.

Seven scientists and other experts were sent for trial on manslaughter charges today for failing to warn people of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 300 people in central Italy in 2009.

A PARADE of pigs will get the fourth annual Waterford Festival of Food under way today with cooks, experts and foodies set to descend on the region for the weekend.

IT WAS supposed to be a beautiful day.

MEMBERS of Italy’s Camorra mafia won contracts to rebuild the quake-hit city of L’Aquila with the help of four bank employees, police charged yesterday after carrying out six arrests.

PROTESTERS from the quake-stricken city of L’Aquila clashed with police yesterday before reaching Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s house to demand more state help to rebuild their lives.

THE Vatican has announced the creation of a new office to fight secularisation and “re-evangelise” Europe.

Ministers have approved €24.3bn in budget cuts for 2011-2012 to protect Italy from the market speculation that pushed Greece to the brink of bankruptcy.

The CABINET of Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi proposed legislation yesterday to keep politicians out of parliament if convicted of embezzlement, bribery or other forms of corruption, after scandals hit a top aide and politicians in his party.

A HIGH-PROFILE corruption scandal involving Silvio Berlusconi’s inner circle is denting the Italian Prime Minister’s hopes of a sweeping victory in regional elections next month.

THE news from Haiti is always terrible. No Haitian news doesn’t mean good Haitian news, merely that the long, slow Haitian catastrophe is continuing as usual.

MORE than a week gone, homes ruined by incessant floods, a crisis in the church, a horrendous budget looming.

ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is launching legal actions against media in Italy and abroad, including Britain, France and Spain, for libel in their coverage of his private life, his lawyer has said.

Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi is planning to attend a religious service on the remission of sins alongside a top Vatican official.

A MAN made homeless by April’s earthquake in central Italy has asked Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to keep his promise and provide victims with lodging in one of his houses.

Pope Benedict XVI stressed the Catholic church’s opposition to abortion and stem cell research in his first meeting with US president Barack Obama.

US first lady Michelle Obama and Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, led other G8 leaders' spouses in a tour of the centre of L’Aquila, the earthquake-devastated Italian city hosting the G8 today.

G8 leaders will enter crunch talks today with emerging economies including China and India over plans to halt global warming.

LEADERS of the world’s industrialised powers warned yesterday that the global economy remains in danger and backed away from pledges on global warming as they started their annual summit.

WITH the world’s most powerful leaders gathering in L’Aquila just three months after a devastating earthquake hit the city, Italian security officials have prepared an emergency evacuation plan to airlift the leaders to safety in case of another powerful tremor.

BOB GELDOF grilled Silvio Berlusconi in an interview published yesterday, telling him Rome’s failed pledges on aid put the Italian premier’s credibility in doubt as he chairs a G8 summit this week.

China has no plans to raise its proposal for a new global currency to replace the dollar at the G8 meeting this week but is willing to discuss it, a top Chinese diplomat said, as President Hu Jintao left for Italy.

Pope Benedict XVI has urged G8 leaders meeting next week in central Italy to rewrite global financial rules and defend the world’s poor from the effects of the economic downturn.

A high-end prostitute says she has proof she spent the night at Silvio Berlusconi’s Rome residence after a party that allegedly featured the prime minister’s wisecracks, his cabaret crooning, and a bevy of sexy women.

School reopened in a blue tent city today in a symbolic return to normality for some of the youngest victims of Italy’s earthquake.

L’Aquila’s chief prosecutor today announced an investigation into allegations of shoddy construction as workers continued to scour the rubble for people still missing after a devastating earthquake five days ago.

It was a scene that moved a nation: mourners clinging to one another and sobbing over neat rows of more than 200 coffins, some with tiny children’s caskets resting on top.

Grieving relatives today collapsed over flower-draped caskets of the victims of Italy’s worst earthquake in three decades as the nation joined in a day of mourning.

The death toll in the Italian quake has reached 279, including 20 children and teenagers today.

The death toll from this week’s major Italian earthquake today reached 275 after rescuers remove three bodies from a collapsed dormitory.

Madonna is coming to the aid of earthquake victims in central Italy.

Aftershocks from the earthquake that killed at least 260 people in central Italy sent new fears through the camps that sheltered thousands of survivors today.

The death toll in Italy’s earthquake has risen to 250, officials said today, as strong aftershocks caused further fear among residents sheltered in tent camps.

L’AQUILA’s public hospital was hailed as a state-of-the-art, earthquake-proof building when it opened in 2000.

Relatives of the missing watched in agony today as rescuers dug by hand for survivors in the earthquake ravaged Italian city of L’Aquila.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi today announced that 207 people died in the powerful quake that devastated part of central Italy, and 15 more are missing.

An Italian researcher claimed today that he forecast the powerful earthquake which hit central Italy yesterday but was muzzled by authorities.

Rescuers worked frantically through the night in the central Italian city of L’Aquila searching for survivors of the earthquake that has killed 179 and injured more than 1,500.