Rome  - The Italian government said Wednesday evening it would deport about 500 Tunisian refugees from the southern island of Lampedusa.

The refugees will be repatriated over two months, said Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, according to the ANSA news agency, following an agreement reached with the Tunisian government to curb illegal immigration.

It was a difficult task to identify the refugees, but, as a first step, about 100 Tunisians would get deportation orders and will leave the island in the coming days.

Frankfurt - Lufthansa Italia, the new airline which is set to challenge Alitalia in Italy's skies, is to make its maiden flight on Monday, owner Lufthansa said Wednesday in Frankfurt.

Lufthansa shied away from an invitation to take over unprofitable Alitalia and has instead been buying jets to found a new line, based in the prosperous northern city of Milan rather than the capital Rome.

The Germans already own a short-haul Italian airline, Air Dolomiti. All Lufthansa's foreign units have been acquisitions.

Rome  - Veteran defender Christian Panucci appears set to leave Roma after a row over his refusal to sit on the bench for last weekend's game at Napoli.

The Serie A side Tuesday wrote on their web site that they feel that Panucci, 35, "has lacked respect toward his teammates, the coach, the club and more than anything the fans."

Roma went on to say that it "does not tolerate this kind of behaviour."

Rome - Italian anger at Brazil's decision not to hand over a convicted murderer and former leftist terrorist intensified Tuesday and threatened to spill over onto the football pitch.

Foreign Minister Franco Frattini following talks with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi decided to recall Rome's ambassador to Brasilia Micele Valensise "for consultations," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

The move followed the "grave decision" on Monday by Brazil's top prosecutor to call for extradition proceedings against Cesare Battisti to be dropped, the statement said.

Lampedusa, Italy  - Angry at the Italian government's decision to open a new immigrant detention centre on their islet, hundreds of Lampedusa's inhabitants Tuesday staged a protest march.

The demonstration was organized by Lampedusa's local authorities who also called on shopkeepers and other businesses to remain shuttered in solidarity.

Earlier this month Italy's conservative government said it would no longer transfer would-be immigrants from Lampedusa to other reception centres in Italy, but instead build a new centre on the island where new arrivals would be identified before being returned to their home countries.