Berlin - Irish budget airline Ryanair is to include four new European destinations, including Rimini in Italy, in its summer timetable from Germany's Frankfurt Hahn airport.

This increases to 50 the number of routes from Frankfurt Hahn, the airline announced Tuesday.

Ryanair had promised to increase its operations at the airport, situated approximately 120 kilometres from the city of Frankfurt, after the airport operator cancelled a proposed three-euro departure tax in January.

Berlin - Germany's DJV journalists' union is awarding Italian author Marco Travaglio its press freedom prize, DJV Chief Michael Konken announced Tuesday.

Konken described Travaglio as a "brave and critical colleague, who had engaged himself against all opposition for press freedom in Italy."

Travaglio, he said, continues to publicly rebuff the attempts of Italian politicians - led by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi - to influence the media and prevent critical news coverage.

Venice, Italy - Venice's mayor denied Monday news reports that the famous lagoon-city is about to "sell its soul" in a sponsorship deal with US soft-drink maker Coca-Cola.

Instead, Mayor Massimo Cacciari and other local officials defended the reported 2.1-million-euro-agreement (2.7 million dollars) which includes placing in the city of Venice some 60 vending machines for beverages and snacks.

Vienna - Austrian oil and gas group OMV AG announced Monday it would sell all its filling stations in Italy, saying it wanted to focus on Eastern Europe instead.

By retreating from the Italian market, the company is stepping up the restructuring of its filling station network.

By the end of the year, OMV will seek to sell its Italian daughter firm, which owns 96 stations located in the north of the country.

The company said it would focus on markets with higher growth potential like the Danube region, South-Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region.

Tarvisio, Italy  - Lindsey Vonn raced into the record books as the most successful female in US alpine ski history when she charged to victory in the World Cup super-g in Tarvisio on Sunday.

It was a 19th World Cup win for 24-year-old Vonn who had drawn level with the record held by Tamara McKinney earlier this month.

The victory moves Vonn, who won the super-g along with downhill at the world championships in Val d'Isere earlier this month, closer to defending her World Cup title.

Rome  - Roma failed to impress their home crowd Saturday, but still managed to clinch a 1-0 win against defence-geared Siena through a goal from Brazilian Rodrigo Taddei.

The Tuscany guests paid dearly for an imperfect clearance on 68 minutes that gave Taddei space and time to curl a classy drive into the top right corner.

With nothing left to lose, Siena abandoned their defensive tactics and brought on veteran forward Nicola Amoruso, who immediately threatened with a header on 70 minutes.

Another header from French substitute Abdelkader Ghezzal gave Roma goalkeeper Alexander Doni a chance to ensure his side's win with two minutes left.