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.

Milan, Italy - Two Morrocan men suspected of links with al-Qaeda have been arrested in Italy for allegedly planning bomb attacks, including one against Milan's Duomo cathedral.

"The plot was uncovered well before those being investigated were able to procure explosives," Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said commenting on Tuesday's arrests.

The 31-year-old Rachid Ilhami, a welder by trade, and his associate Abdelkader Ghafir, 43, a bricklayer, were apprehended in Giussano, a town 25 kilometres north of Milan.

Milan - A pair of lowered shorts and their coach's altercation with a journalist have partly obscured a hat-trick from Catania's flag bearing striker and the good performance of the team in the Italian Serie A.

The Sicily side at the weekend rose to a comfortable seventh place as Giuseppe Mascara scored all their goals in a 3-2 win over Torino.

But the striker's feats and the team's good position seemed to take the back-seat in the Italian media, which on Tuesday devoted space to the explanation provided by Gianvito Plasmati about the lowering of his shorts at a crucial moment of the game.

Milan- The rumours that Manchester City have made a massive, and possibly convincing, offer to Jose Mourinho comes at a time when the Portuguese coach seems to have had enough of Italian football after just four months at Inter Milan.

The English tabloid The Sun this week wrote that the wealthy Arab owners of the English club have had contacts with the coach "and have received a positive response" about his possible takeover from Mark Hughes at the end of the season.

Milan - It may look like a case of lacking gratitude or just the way things work in football, but a possible transfer of Julio Ricardo Cruz from Inter Milan is something his many fans will have a hard time to digest.

Cruz' 75 goals from 181 games played in five seasons seem to mean nothing to new coach Jose Mourinho, who lately slammed the 34-year-old striker for alleged indiscipline on the pitch and appears set on not renewing the player's contract when it expires next June.

Milan - Their standing in the Serie A may not show it clearly, but champions Inter Milan are facing some unexpected problems in a defence package that was crucial for them in the successes of the past seasons.

The five goals conceded in the last two games, a 3-2 win over tail-enders Reggina and a 3-3 draw at Cypriot side Anorthosis, sent bad signals that president Massimo Moratti did not fail to point out.

"There must be something to adjust," he said. "It's partly a psychological problem and a matter of mistakes. They make them, and if you make mistakes, you concede goals."