Lampedusa, Italy - Italy's interior minister said Friday that a meeting with his Group of Eight (G8) counterparts will be held in May on Lampedusa, the Mediterranean islet where thousands of would-be immigrants arrive each year.

"We want the other ministers to understand what it is like living with the phenomenon of illegal immigration," Minister Roberto Maroni said during a visit to Lampedusa.

Rome - In Italy the leader of a tiny retailer union's proposal to shun Jewish-owned shops to protest Israel's Gaza incursion has drawn wide condemnation, with Rome's mayor, a former prominent member of a neo-fascist party, taking the lead.

Mayor Gianni Alemanno on Thursday visited Rome's ancient Ghetto - where Jews were once segregated - and in a show solidarity, purchased a tie and several shirts from Jewish shopkeepers.

"It (the boycott) is a folly that takes us back to the past," Alemanno said, referring to the racist laws introduced by Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in 1938.

Naples, Italy - Police in Naples' sea port discovered Friday 15 kilograms of cocaine concealed

Rome - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin assured him that a proposed European Union mission to Ukraine will take place imminently, paving the way for the resumption of Russian gas supplies to the 27-nation bloc.

Berlusconi was speaking to reporters following a "long" evening telephone conversation with Putin, according to the ANSA news agency.

Rome - Luciano Moggi, former general manager of Juventus, and his son Alessandro Thursday were found guilty of threatening several footballers in a corruption trial, Italian media reported.

Luciano Moggi was sentenced to 18 months and his son to 14, but neither will be imprisoned, as their offence was pardoned by a law in 2006.

The Moggis were among the founders of GEA, a firm of footballers' agents, which handled the contract of many Serie A and Serie B players between 2001 and 2006.

Milan, Italy - Heavy snowfalls and rainstorms in northern Italy on Wednesday disrupted air and road transport and delayed the opening of many schools after the Christmas holiday break.

All flight activity at Milan's two airports, Malpensa and Linate, was canceled until 1400 GMT due to weather conditions which have also prevented ground staff from arriving to work, officials said.

Several stretches of the highway network connecting Milan and other major northern cities such as Turin and Genova were closed after the icy conditions were deemed dangerous for motorists.