Prague  - Two Czech teenagers were identified Tuesday among the victims of the powerful earthquake that struck central Italy, Czech officials said.

The dead were two 17-year-old students, a boy and a girl, from the eastern Bohemian town of Pardubice who were in Italy on a short-term study programme, the Czech Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Their remains were found in the rubble of the building where they were staying, the ministry said.

Beirut  - Visiting Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said that his country support and back Lebanon's sovereignty and stability.

"Italy deeply supports reconciliation and stability in Lebanon and places its trust in the upcoming legislative elections, which must be free and democratic," said Frattini after talks with Lebanese counterpart Fawzi Salloukh.

Lebanon is scheduled to have Parliamentary elections in June.

Washington  - President Barack Obama said the United States was ready to help the more than 200 victims of a devastating earthquake in the heart of Italy and offered his condolences in a telephone call Tuesday with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The Italian people and victims "are in the thoughts and prayers of the American people at this time," Obama told his Italian counterpart, according to the White House.

Rome  - Veteran striker Christian Vieri has left Italy for a tryout with Los Angeles Galaxy days after his abrupt departure from Serie A side Atalanta.

The weekly Chi, in a report made available ahead of Wednesday's publication, reported that the 35-year-old Vieri asked David Beckham to help him to link up with the California club. Beckham is currently at AC Milan, on loan from the Galaxy.

Geneva  - There is no sure-fire way to predict an impending earthquake, David Alexander, a United Nations disaster expert said Tuesday.

"It's probable there will never be a foolproof, fail-safe means of predicting earthquakes over the short term," Alexander told the German Press Agency dpa by phone from Florence, Italy.

What scientists could predict was mainly which areas were prone to be struck by a quake in the medium- and long-term, meaning over years and centuries.

L'Aquila (Italy), Apr. 7 : Survivors who lived through the earthquake in the central Italian town of L''Aquila said the devastation was "like 20 seconds of hell".

The death toll has risen to 179, as rescue workers used mechanical diggers and their bare hands to search through the night for survivors.

At least 34 people are still missing, according to officials in the medieval mountain town located 60 miles east of Rome, reports The Telegraph.