Italy parliament fails to elect president in fifth vote

ROME (Reuters) - The Italian parliament failed to elect a president in the fifth round of voting on Saturday, with most electors returning blank ballots after a disagreement over candidates threw the main centre-left alliance into disarray.

The best-supported candidate in the fifth ballot, left-wing academic Stefano Rodota, backed by the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, got 210 votes, far short of the 504 required to win.