Sofi

Milan, Italy  - Former Ferrari engineer Nigel Stepney is still facing action over the spying scandal that rocked Formula One two years ago, an Italian newspaper reported Tuesday.

Gazzetta dello Sport said that prosecutor Guiseppe Tibis said he is hoping to wrap up by March a probe against Stepney.

Earlier, Italian authorities ended legal action against McLaren's former chief designer Mike Coughlan and three of the British Formula One team's current technicians, after ordering them to pay fines related to a spying case involving rival team Ferrari.

Berlin - Irish budget airline Ryanair is to include four new European destinations, including Rimini in Italy, in its summer timetable from Germany's Frankfurt Hahn airport.

This increases to 50 the number of routes from Frankfurt Hahn, the airline announced Tuesday.

Ryanair had promised to increase its operations at the airport, situated approximately 120 kilometres from the city of Frankfurt, after the airport operator cancelled a proposed three-euro departure tax in January.

Berlin - Germany's DJV journalists' union is awarding Italian author Marco Travaglio its press freedom prize, DJV Chief Michael Konken announced Tuesday.

Konken described Travaglio as a "brave and critical colleague, who had engaged himself against all opposition for press freedom in Italy."

Travaglio, he said, continues to publicly rebuff the attempts of Italian politicians - led by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi - to influence the media and prevent critical news coverage.

Venice, Italy - Venice's mayor denied Monday news reports that the famous lagoon-city is about to "sell its soul" in a sponsorship deal with US soft-drink maker Coca-Cola.

Instead, Mayor Massimo Cacciari and other local officials defended the reported 2.1-million-euro-agreement (2.7 million dollars) which includes placing in the city of Venice some 60 vending machines for beverages and snacks.

Vienna - Austrian oil and gas group OMV AG announced Monday it would sell all its filling stations in Italy, saying it wanted to focus on Eastern Europe instead.

By retreating from the Italian market, the company is stepping up the restructuring of its filling station network.

By the end of the year, OMV will seek to sell its Italian daughter firm, which owns 96 stations located in the north of the country.

The company said it would focus on markets with higher growth potential like the Danube region, South-Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region.