Italy fails to elect new president at fifth ballot -Reuters count

ROME - A fifth round of voting for Italy's new president failed to produce a winner on Friday, according to a Reuters calculation of the ongoing count.

Centre-right parties had tried to push through Senate speaker Elisabetta Casellati, from Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, for the high-standing role.

However, the Reuters calculation of the count showed that she had not gathered enough support to reach the necessary 505-vote threshold needed to secure victory.

Parliament will hold a second vote on Friday, scheduled to start at 1600 GMT.