Latest talks to form Italian government fail

ROME: Right wing heavy-weight Silvio Berlusconi on Friday labelled the anti-establishment Five Star Movement "a danger to Italy", confirming that talks to form a government had failed.

Matteo Salvini, head of a rightwing coalition which contains Berlusconi´s Forza Italia, and Five Star Movement (M5S) chief Luigi Di Maio had been given until the end of the week to strike a deal. The pair are vying to lead the country out of weeks of political deadlock that has emerged from the March general election.

The latest round of consultations centred on Di Maio´s refusal to speak to Berlusconi, who the M5S sees as a symbol of political corruption. And on Friday Berlusconi, whose Forza Italia party and allies won a 37-percent share of the vote, dismissed the MS5 as not a democratic party but a "danger to Italy".