Rome - The death toll after the Italian earthquake rose with the recovery of another 22 bodies, to 272, by late Wednesday, according to Italian rescue officials.

The new figure was released after the Italian government announced it would extend rescue efforts through Sunday, three days beyond a previous limit set by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Monday's temblor destroyed scores of buildings in the city of L'Aquila and other nearby towns in the country's central Abruzzo region and left an estimated 20,000 people homeless.

Rome  - Italian lawmakers rejected a bid Wednesday to triple the amount of time illegal immigrants can be detained in holding centres, in a rare defeat for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's ruling coalition.

In a narrow vote, opposition deputies - joined by some members of Berlusconi's own conservative coalition - voted against extending the period from two months to six months.

L''Aquila (Italy), Apr. 8 : Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has advised traumatised earthquake survivors to view living in emergency tent accommodation as like being on a "camping weekend".

His statement is unlikely to go down well with an estimated 17,000 people who have been made homeless by the powerful earthquake which struck the Abruzzo region of central Italy on Monday, with many of them enduring freezing temperatures in tent cities put up by the army, reports The Telegraph.

Rome  - The death count from Mond

Maranello, Italy  - Manufacturers of super sports cars have just announced a host of new models as many now face an uncertain future as the global financial crisis hits a customer segment previously immune to economic downturns.

Tuning firms and the makers of premium luxury and super sports cars could in the past always rely on an extremely wealthy clientele eager to fork out several hundred thousand dollars for a new V12 with up to 700 horsepower.

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.