New Italian Government Will Face Confidence Vote Today

Coalition government was recently announced by the new prime minister

(Reuters)—New Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta will seek the backing of parliament in a confidence vote on Monday, facing severe political and economic problems that will test the solidity of his coalition government in the months ahead.

The vote takes place under the shadow of the gun attack on Sunday in which an unemployed man shot two police officers and a passerby outside the prime minister's office in Rome just as the cabinet was being sworn in at the nearby presidential palace.