Rome, April 23: Italy's president Sergio Mattarella on Monday asked the lower house of parliament's Speaker Roberto Fico to hold talks with the populist Five-Star Movement and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) in a fresh bid to form a government after the inconclusive March 4 national election.
Mattarella "has given the task of verifying the scope for a possible parliamentary majority between the Five-Star Movement and the PD with a view to forming a government," presidential palace spokesman Ugo Zampetti told journalists.
Fico has "until Thursday" to report back to Mattarella on his efforts, he added.
Five-Star emerged as the largest parliamentary party in last month's election in which the far-right League party also made strong gains.
The centre-left coalition led by outgoing leader Matteo Renzi came third in the ballot - well behind the centre-right alliance and Five-Star - and the PD won 18.72 percent of votes in its worst-ever electoral result.
Three previous rounds of consultations this month with Italy's main parties failed amid a mesh of seemingly irreconcilable political demands.
The League, the dominant party in the centre-right bloc - which has the most seats in parliament - and Five-Star have both claimed first bid to form a government. But the PD - which had vowed to into opposition after its hammering at the polls - has the numbers in parliament to play kingmaker.
No party or bloc has a clear majority in the hung parliament that resulted from the election.
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Iran president death: India announces one-day state mourning on May 21
New Delhi, May 20: A one-day state mourning will be observed across India on Tuesday as a mark of respect for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash, the Union Home Ministry has announced.
The national flag will be flown at half-mast on all buildings where it is regularly flown across India and there will be no official entertainment during the period of state mourning.
The Iranian president, the country's foreign minister and several other officials were found dead on Monday, hours after their helicopter crashed in a foggy, mountainous region of the country's northwest, Iran state media reported.
A home ministry spokesperson said Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Hossein Amit-Abdollahian, the country's foreign minister, passed away in a helicopter crash.
"As a mark of respect to the departed dignitaries, the government of India has decided that there will be one day's state mourning on May 21 (Tuesday) throughout India," the spokesperson said.
"On the day of mourning, the national flag will be flown at half-mast throughout India on all buildings where the national flag is flown regularly and there will be no official entertainment on the day," the official added.
