Rome  - Tens of thousands of people gathered in Rome Saturday to protest what they say is the inadequate response to the country's economic woes by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government.

Demonstrators set off through the city's streets on five separate marches organized by the country' largest labour union confederation, CGIL.

Participants included several political leaders including Dario Franceschini who heads the main centre-left opposition Democratic Party.

Rome - An Italian navy ship was set later Friday to bring to Sicily a group of 76 would-be immigrants rescued from a vessel on which the bodies of two dead people were also recovered.

The deaths added to this week's tragic toll involving migrants in the Mediterranean where over 230 people are feared to have drowned.

The Italian ship picked up the group, including 17 women, after Italian coastguard officials on Thursday night received a satellite telephone distress call from the vessel carrying the migrants.

Rome - Veteran striker Christian Vieri has left Italian club Atalanta, putting an early end to a season marred by injuries and a bad relationship with fans.

The La Gazzetta dello Sport daily reported on Wednesday that Vieri gathered all his belongings before the start of Tuesday's training session at the Serie A side.

His farewell apparently stems from the jeers he received from home fans during a weekend friendly against Swiss side Bellinzona.

The 35-year-old former international last summer rejoined the Bergamo side after previous one-year contracts there in 1995 and 2006.

Rome - Pope Benedict XVI called Tuesday for the Group of 20 big economies meeting in London this week to address global poverty.

In a message to G20 host British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Benedict called on participants to unite in helping the world's poor.

He said his recent visit to Africa earlier this month had emphasized how much "the weak suffer due to a crisis about which they can do nothing."

Rome - Italy striker Antonio Di Natale won't be available for Udinese in the final part of the season as he recovers from a knee injury suffered at the weekend, the ANSA news agency reported Tuesday.

Di Natale, 31, was stretchered off the pitch Saturday as Italy beat Montenegro 2-0 in a 2010 World Cup qualifier.

He damaged the cruciate ligament in his left knee as he slipped away from the ball on a wet pitch.