Italy elects senior judge Sergio Mattarella as president

By Steve Scherer and Paolo Biondi ROME (Reuters) - Italian lawmakers elected Sergio Mattarella, a constitutional court judge and veteran center-left politician, as president on Saturday, handing a welcome political victory to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Mattarella, speaking at his office in the Constitutional Court after the vote, said: "My first thoughts are of the difficulties and hopes of our citizens." The election shows the 40-year-old Renzi in firm control of both his famously f