- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
- Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- Five Czech kids in hospital over TikTok 'piercing challenge'
- What happens next in Iran-Israel conflict?
- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
- Stubbs hits maiden century as South Africa make 343-4 against Ireland
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Odegaard injury has forced Arsenal to be 'different', says Arteta
- Ratcliffe refuses to guarantee Ten Hag's Man Utd future
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Mauritius to hold legislative election on November 10
- Britain qualify for America's Cup final after 60-year wait
- IMF asks Sri Lanka to protect hard-won gains
- Morata returns to Spain Nations League squad after injury
- Irish regulator to probe Ryanair use of facial recognition
- Public allowed to see video evidence in France mass rape trial
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- Under-fire Ten Hag 'together' with Man Utd hierarchy
- Guardiola talks of Man City love affair as financial hearing rumbles on
- De Bruyne out of Belgium Nations League squad
- Japanese trainer Yahagi hopes Shin Emperor achieves 50-year-old Arc dream
- UK's Starmer hails 'landmark' carbon capture funding
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Bosnia floods kill 14 people
- Tennis world number one Swiatek splits with coach Wiktorowski
Italy's President Mattarella re-elected, easing crisis
Italy's parties Saturday voted overwhelmingly for outgoing President Sergio Mattarella to remain for another term, averting the political chaos that a failure to elect his successor could have sparked in the eurozone's third-largest economy.
Electing the 80-year-old ended weeks of hand-wringing over whether prized Prime Minister Mario Draghi should be elevated, with many fearing such a move would have left the government rudderless at a highly sensitive time.
Mattarella needed at least 505 votes from an electoral college of 1,009 lawmakers and regional representatives. He won 759, earning another stint as president in spite of himself.
The former constitutional court judge had repeatedly ruled out serving a second term, but gave in Saturday after Italy's bickering political parties failed to find another viable candidate.
"I had other plans, but if it's necessary, I'm available," Mattarella said before the vote, according to party parliamentary representatives.
He was expected to be sworn in on Wednesday or Thursday. Although many expect him to leave before the end of his new seven-year term, he is likely to stay at least past elections scheduled for 2023.
Italy's presidency is largely ceremonial, but the head of state wields serious power during political crises, from dissolving parliament to picking new prime ministers and denying mandates to fragile coalitions.
Draghi said the result, after eight rounds of voting over six days, was "wonderful news for Italians".
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted his congratulations to "dear Sergio", while German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier hailed a "role model" who "understands the importance of Europe".
Pope Francis hailed Mattarella's "generous" agreement to stay on during a period of uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which hit Italy hard.
- 'Ideal for financial markets' -
Draghi, a former European Central Bank chief brought in to lead a national unity government almost a year ago, had been touted for months as the most eligible head of state.
But many feared his departure as prime minister would destabilise debt-laden Italy as it recovers from a lockdown-induced recession.
Italy is banking on almost 200 billion euros ($222 billion) in EU funds to cement the trend, but the money from Brussels is dependent on a tight timetable of reforms.
International investors have been watching the election closely, amid fears Draghi's exit could undermine the whole programme.
Guido Cozzi, professor of macroeconomics at the University of St. Gallen, told AFP an extension of Mattarella's mandate was "ideal for the financial markets".
Draghi has also managed to keep to a minimum squabbling between Italy's parties, almost all of which share power in his national unity government.
But the Repubblica daily pointed out that, with the campaign for the 2023 election already underway, the year ahead "risks being a replay of the shambles we've seen over the past few days".
It will now fall to Mattarella to keep the peace: "a task more difficult than we can imagine".
- 'Big sacrifice' -
Matteo Salvini, head of the far-right League party, was the first to openly propose the popular outgoing president Saturday, after putting forward a candidate Friday that flopped.
Billionaire former premier Silvio Berlusconi, who took a failed shot at the presidency himself, also said his party would ask Mattarella "to make a big sacrifice", as did the centre-left Democratic Party (PD).
Only the far-right Brothers of Italy party was against asking him to stay on.
A double mandate is not entirely unprecedented.
In 2013, president Giorgio Napolitano was re-elected in an attempt to resolve the political stalemate left by an inconclusive general election. He served nearly two more years.
Mattarella was little-known to the public when elected president in 2015, known mostly for his brother's murder by the mafia in 1980, and for taking a stand as a minister against Berlusconi.
But the Sicilian has inspired respect and affection across the political sphere, seeking to be a unifying figure through five different governments.
A.Santos--PC