Rome  - Inter Milan drew 1-1 at home Saturday against Cagliari, who stopped an eight-game winning run by the Serie A champions as the Italian league resumed after a three-week winter break.

Robert Acquafresca put the guests ahead in the second half, triggering a furious reaction from Inter, which was rewarded when Zlatan Ibrahimovic levelled with 14 minutes left.

Rome  - Genoa began 2009 in convincing fashion Saturday, beating struggling visitors Torino 3-0 in a game that reopened the Serie A league after a three-week winter break.

Goals from Giuseppe Biava, Serb Bosko Jankovic and Brazil's Thiago Motta helped Genoa retain their unbeaten home record after nine games at the Luigi Ferraris stadium despite the absence of top striker Diego Milito.

Rome  - Thousands of people, many waving Palestinian flags, on Saturday held marches and rallies in the Italian cities of Milan, Turin and Florence to protest the Israeli military incursion in the Gaza Strip.

Scuffles broke out when some demonstrators set fire to an Israeli flag while others attempted to stop them during an afternoon march in downtown Milan, news reports said.

Also in Milan, several hundred Muslims knelt in prayer near the city's main railway station.

Val di Fiemme, Italy  - Bjoern Kircheisen of Germany won the last World Cup mass start event to be held in Nordic combined skiing on Saturday.

Kircheisen had 258.5 points from a 10-kilometres cross country mass start portion and two ensuing rounds of ski-jumping for his second season win and 13th in his career.

Austrian Bernhard Gruber trailed by just half a point in second place with 285.0 points. Jan Schmid of Norway was third with 254.7 points.

Milan  - AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti on Saturday said that former England captain David Beckham would not be starting Sunday's Serie A game against Roma.

Lampedusa, Italy - Around 490 would-be immigrants arrived early Saturday on the Italian islet of Lampedusa, placing further strain on what officials say are already overcrowded reception facilities.

A coastguard patrol sighted the main group of 324 would-be immigrants on a vessel adrift some 60 nautical miles from Lampedusa shortly after midnight.

The vessel was escorted to the islet, while a few hours later, another boat with over 200 people on board also managed to reach land.