Italian quake death toll at 150
ROME, April 6 (UPI) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Monday 150 people have been killed by an earthquake in L'Aquila, the capital of Abruzzo, and neighboring towns.
Italian Police Chief Antonio Manganelli said the 6.3-magnitude quake that struck in the pre-dawn hours left "a horrible scene of death and destruction," Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Officials said they expected the death toll would continue to rise. More than 1,500 people were injured and 70,000 were left homeless from Italy's biggest quake in nearly 30 years, the news agency said.
Roughly 4,000 rescue workers were at the site and Italy will be able to access the European Union's disaster fund, said Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who canceled a trip to Moscow to be at the scene in Italy's rugged mountain region about 60 miles northeast of Rome.
The earthquake was Italy's worst since 2,570 people were killed southeast of Naples in 1980.
Berlusconi said a tent city with 2,000 tents that can house 8-10 people was being set up for people left homeless. Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said some of the homeless would be put up in hotels as well.
"The fundamental thing I want to say is that nobody will be left alone," Berlusconi said.
U.S. missionary Joshua Brothers told CNN the damage in L'Aquila was in the city's center.
"Most of the buildings in the city center are more than a 100 years old and so they have walls that are a lot weaker than other palazzi that are made of reinforced concrete," Brothers said.
Tremors from the quake were felt as far away as Rome, where people reported being awakened as buildings shook.
State: U.N. working on N. Korea response
WASHINGTON, April 6 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council is in the early stages of forming a response to North Korea's weekend test-firing of a missile, the U.S. State Department said.
"(Consultations) are continuing with key players on the council on next steps," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said during a news briefing Monday. "We want to see a strong response come from U.N. Security Council on this issue. ... We're going to continue to go forward in discussions with our partners in the council to see and to seek a strong, coordinated and effective response to the North Korean missile launch."
The U.N. Security Council has been unable to reach agreement on a statement, with Russia and China urging restraint in the body's response, news reports said.
Pressed about a lack of statement from the Security Council, Wood said the issue was complicated. While council members may agree that the matter warrants concern, there is disagreement about how to proceed.
"We made very clear that we want to see a very strong response coming from the Security Council," he said. "And it's early in the process. These things take time. And we're going to be working hard, because we don't want to see this type of thing happen again."
Poll: U.S. backs Obama on economy
NEW YORK, April 6 (UPI) -- Americans are more optimistic about the economy now than they were before President Barack Obama was inaugurated, a New York Times/CBS News poll indicated.
The poll found Americans support the president's handling of the economy, as well as of foreign policy, including Iraq and Afghanistan, the Times reported Monday.
There is still some anxiety about the economy, with 70 percent of those surveyed saying they are somewhat or very concerned someone in their household will lose a job during the next 12 months. However, the percentage of Americans who think the country is on the right track has risen to 39 percent from 15 percent in mid-January, while the percentage who say the country is on the wrong track has declined to 53 percent from 79 percent in January.
The percentage of people who think the economy is getting worse has declined to 34 percent from 54 percent in January and the percentage of those who see the economy as getting better has risen from 7 percent to 20 percent.
The poll contains bad news for Republicans, showing that only 31 percent of those surveyed had a favorable view of the GOP -- the lowest favorable rating since the New York Times/CBS News poll started asking the question 25 years ago.
The telephone survey of 998 adults was conducted Wednesday through Sunday and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Vt. governor vetoes same-sex marriage bill
MONTPELIER, Vt., April 6 (UPI) -- Gov. Jim Douglas Monday vetoed a bill to permit same-sex couples to marry in Vermont, citing his belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman.
The veto was announced shortly after the state Senate voted to concur with a same-sex marriage bill passed last week by the Vermont House, the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press reported.
In his veto message, Douglas said Vermont's civil union law "has afforded the same state rights, responsibilities and benefits of marriage to same sex couples."
"Our civil union law serves Vermont well and I would support congressional action to extend those benefits at the federal level to states that recognize same sex unions," he said.
Douglas also said even if the state were to sanction same-sex marriage, gay and lesbian couples in the state would still be denied federal benefits.
The House and Senate are expected to try to override the governor's veto Tuesday. The Free Press said the state Senate is expected to override the veto but it was unclear which way the House would vote.
The House voted 95-52 last week in favor of the legislation but it would take 100 votes to override a veto.
