Conservative Rome mayor trails in re-election bid

ROME (AP) — Rome’s conservative mayor was trailing badly in his re-election bid Monday and appeared headed toward a runoff with a center-left challenger, according to projections and partial vote counting.

The Italian capital was the only big city up for grabs among mayoral races in around 500 towns. The two-day vote was marked by a sharp drop in turnout nationwide — the latest sign of Italians’ disenchantment with politicians who have been unable to steer the eurozone’s third-largest economy out of recession.