80-year-old did not want a new term but was persuaded to stay on after failure to find successor

Sergio Mattarella has been reelected as Italy’s president, ending days of a farcical parliamentary voting process that has exposed deep divisions within the country’s governing coalition.

Mattarella won a second seven-year mandate with 759 votes, far exceeding the threshold of 505, after being persuaded to stay on in the role after ruling party leaders failed to reach an agreement on a candidate who could secure broad support from the 1,009 parliamentarians and regional representatives electing the president.

Items have been in storage since 1946, when Umberto II was banished as Italians voted to abolish monarchy

Descendants of the last king of Italy have made their first formal request to reclaim the crown jewels, which for almost 76 years have been stashed in a treasure chest in a safety deposit box at the Bank of Italy amid a long-running mystery over their ownership.

The bank took delivery of the jewels, comprising more than 6,000 diamonds and 2,000 pearls mounted on brooches and necklaces worn by various queens and princesses, on 5 June 1946, three days after Italians voted to abolish the monarchy and nine days before King Umberto II, who ruled for just 34 days, was banished into exile along with his male heirs.

Suspects alleged to have been part of gang that carried out attacks on at least nine women

Italian police have detained two men accused of involvement in a series of sexual assaults during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Milan.

Abdallah Bouguedra, 21, and Abdelrahman Ahmed Mahmoud Ibrahim, 18, are accused of “serious sexual assault accompanied by the robbery of mobile phones and handbags”, Milan’s acting prosecutor, Riccardo Targetti said.