QUAKE

Hundreds of survivors of Italy's April earthquake protested outside parliament Tuesday as lawmakers debated a bill authorizing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's reconstruction plan.

Chinese President Hu Jintao offered flowers and expressed condolences to the quake victims Tuesday, marking the first anniversary of Wenchuan quake that left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing and 5 million homeless.

Mourners crowded ruins in southwest China on Tuesday to mark one year since an earthquake shattered the region, while President Hu Jintao called reconstruction efforts a testament to national strength.

China on Tuesday marks one year since an earthquake devastated parts of the country's southwest. Here are some facts about the quake and its aftermath.

China on Thursday released its first official tally of students who died or went missing in last year's Sichuan earthquake, but denied allegations of corruption and shoddy construction by grief parents.

China on Thursday put the official number of dead and missing schoolchildren from last year's devastating Sichuan earthquake at 5,335, far lower than the number compiled from news reports at the time.

Survivors of China's devastating earthquake last year face detention and harassment if they protest over collapsed schools, corruption claims and other grievances, Amnesty International said.

Pope Benedict comforted survivors of Italy's earthquake Tuesday and asked God to heed the silent cry of its victims rising from the earth.

Italy's cabinet on Thursday pledged to raise 8 billion euros over the next three years to rebuild the earthquake city of L'Aquila, without raising taxes or creating a hole in public accounts.

Villagers in eastern Afghanistan wailed in grief and scrambled through rubble on Friday to recover the bodies of dozens of people feared killed by a 5.5 magnitude earthquake.

The central Italy region ravaged by an earthquake more than a week ago will need at least $16 billion for rebuilding, the country's interior minister said.

Rebuilding the central Italian region of Abruzzo after last week's devastating earthquake will cost 12 billion euros ($15.9 billion), Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said.

A chocolate Easter egg from aid workers brought a weary smile to the face of Maria Pia Carpentieri, one of thousands of people left homeless by Italy's worst earthquake in nearly 30 years.

Italy held a state funeral on Friday for victims of its worst earthquake in three decades, as the death toll climbed to 289 and survivors voiced anger that houses simply collapsed.

Strong aftershocks shook central Italy on Tuesday and hampered rescue efforts after the country's worst earthquake in three decades killed at least 228 people and left thousands homeless.

A research team at Taiwan's top university has rolled out a tiny low-budget device that can sense earthquakes within 30 seconds, enough time to issue crucial disaster warnings, the lead inventor said Monday.

The death toll from Monday's earthquake has exceeded 19,509 in Sichuan Province, the provincial government said late Thursday.

The toll from a severe earthquake on Indonesia's Sumatra island last week has risen to 23 dead and 88 injured, an official said on Sunday, and the area is likely to experience further significant aftershocks.

Frightened residents on Indonesia's Sumatra island huddled in tents outside their damaged homes on Friday, traumatized by the latest of more than 40 aftershocks since a huge earthquake struck two days ago.

Indonesia's Sumatra island was hit by a series of aftershocks on Thursday after a powerful earthquake toppled hundreds of buildings, killing at least 10 people and burying many others.

A powerful earthquake measuring 8.2 struck Indonesia's Sumatra region on Wednesday, triggering tsunami warnings in the Indian Ocean and sparking panic in coastal areas across southeast Asia.