Italian PM Conte to address Senate on Aug 20 over govt crisis

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will address the Senate on Aug. 20 over the political crisis sweeping the government after his coalition partner the far-right League filed a no-confidence motion in the administration.

In a setback for League leader Matteo Salvini, the Senate voted on Tuesday not to hold an immediate no-confidence vote, but instead played for time and decided to allow Conte to speak to the upper house beforehand.

Rightist parties supported Salvini's request for a debate on Wednesday, but the ruling 5-Star Movement backed by opposition center-left parliamentarians defeated the bid, thereby seizing the initiative over the timetable of the crisis.