Italy`s government said Wednesday it had given the go-ahead for the ailing national flag-carrier Alitalia to be sold to a group of investors for around one billion euros.

Italy`s failing flagship airline Alitalia has delayed a decision on a foreign partner until the end of the year, the Radiocor news agency reported Wednesday.

The investor group Italian Air Company (CAI) poised to take over the airline could not be reached for comment on the report.

Fiat chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo called on Wednesday on EU governments to support their auto industries to ensure they remain competitive with US automakers.

`If the US government becomes GM`s (General Motors`) principal stockholder, Europe cannot stand idly by,` Montezemolo said in an interview published by the daily La Repubblica.

Fiat chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo called on Wednesday on EU governments to support their auto industries to ensure they remain competitive with US automakers.

`If the US government becomes GM`s (General Motors`) principal stockholder, Europe cannot stand idly by,` Montezemolo said in an interview published by the daily La Repubblica.

Polish police said Wednesday they had struck a blow against a gang trafficking guns and munitions to the Italian mafia after a large arms haul.

Polish and Italian officers had carried out a joint operation Sunday on a house near Milan in northern Italy which had been under surveillance, Poland`s national police force said in a statement.

Polish police said Wednesday they had struck a blow against a gang trafficking guns and munitions to the Italian mafia after a large arms haul.

Polish and Italian officers had carried out a joint operation Sunday on a house near Milan in northern Italy which had been under surveillance, Poland`s national police force said in a statement.

Troubled Italian airline Alitalia`s debts have soared to some 2.3 billion euros, the company`s special administrator said Sunday as a pilot and air crew strike caused a seventh day of cancelled flights.

Augusto Fantozzi told RAI television he had `around two billion in ordinary debt for the supply of goods and services,` before taking into account a 300-million-euro government loan.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who takes over the G8`s rotating presidency next year, insisted Sunday that the Group of Eight industrialised nations remains relevant despite the rise of the Group of 20.

Pope Benedict XVI urged drivers to stay `sober and alert` Sunday and prayed for those who have died in traffic accidents.

`On this third Sunday of November, we remember in a special way all those who have died as a result of traffic accidents,` Benedict said as he delivered the Angelus prayer in St. Peter`s Square.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, 72, denied Sunday a report that he had taken ill on a flight back from Washington, insisting that he has the health of a 20-year-old man.

`I didn`t have any illness. I feel extremely well,` Berlusconi said during a telephone conversation with participants of a political congress in Verona, Italy, that was broadcast by Sky TG24 television.