Italy's Di Maio calls his coalition partner to return to negotiating table

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said tenders for work on a contested high-speed rail line must not be launched as scheduled on Monday and called on his coalition partner to return to the negotiating table. Di Maio leads the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement which strongly opposes the Franco-Italian infrastructure project, but the other ruling party, Matteo Salvini's right-wing League, insists it should go ahead.

The dispute threatens the government's future and Salvini said earlier on Friday he would not negotiate further until Monday when the tenders are due to be launched. "He (Salvini) can't tell me 'we'll see each other on Monday'. This needs to be a weekend of work," Di Maio told reporters, adding that he had asked Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to do his best to block the tenders.

(With inputs from agencies.)