
Group of Eight leaders will not face earthquake risks at July's G8 summit in the Abruzzo capital of L'Aquila, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Wednesday.

Hundreds of people left their newly repaired homes in L'Aquila Monday night and slept in their cars after a 4.5 Richter magnitude quake revived memories of the 5.8 tremor that devastated the area in April.

Pope Benedict XVI will visit the quake-stricken Abruzzo capital of L'Aquila and a neighbouring village on Tuesday, accompanied by some 400 journalists from around the world.

The mayor of quake-stricken Abruzzo capital L'Aquila said Monday that nobody will be forced to return to their homes once he issues a preliminary list of inhabitable houses later in the day.

Around 56% of houses and buildings inspected so far in the area of Abruzzo hit by the April 6 earthquake are inhabitable, the Civil Protection Department said Monday.

Rescue workers in quake-hit L'Aquila on Monday were celebrating after finding the National Museum of Abruzzo's famous prehistoric elephant skeleton intact.

The Spanish government on Friday responded to an appeal to 'adopt' an artistic monument damaged by April 6 quake, saying it would fund the repair of L'Aquila's 16th-century Spanish castle.

Murder charges may be a possible outcome of an inquiry into construction safety in the wake of the April 6 earthquake, L'Aquila Public Prosecutor Alfredo Rossini said Friday.

Italy will place 38 monuments damaged by the April 6 quake in L'Aquila and surrounding towns up for 'adoption' to countries which have volunteered to help fund their repair, Premier Silvio Berlusconi said on Thursday.

The government on Wednesday was weighing up compulsory contributions from Italy's big earners as part of its efforts to find sufficient funds for the reconstruction of the quake-hit city of L'Aquila and neighbouring towns.