Italian coalition expected to collapse

Italian Prime Minister Amintore Fanfani will outline his coalition's plight to the Senate Thursday, political sources said. A parliamentary vote is virtually certain to show he has lost his majority, they added.

This was due to the Socialists, junior partners to Mr. Fanfani's four-party coalition, who abandoned the five-month-old government last week. It is Italy's 43rd government since the republic was founded after World War II. Politicians and political commentators said it was a foregone conclusion general elections would be held June 26.