Italy's centre-left Democratic Party (PD) estimates as "positive" talks on Friday with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) on forming a workable coalition government, news wires reported.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella urged on Thursday political parties to reach a deal to form a new coalition government in the next few days if they want to avoid snap elections, news wires reported. He began consultations to find a new government after PM Giuseppe Conte quit accusing League party leader Matteo Salvini of endangering the economy for personal and political gain in a blistering resignation speech.

Eighty-three migrants who disembarked on Italy's Lampedusa island were again in limbo on Wednesday as a European deal to redistribute them failed to materialise and Madrid said it could hit the Spanish charity with a hefty fine for rescuing them, AFP reports.

Italy’s government collapsed on Tuesday, triggering a power struggle between the country’s right-wing nationalists and rival parties, along with deepening Europe's political upheaval as the Continent struggles with immigration and slowing economic growth.

The fate of Italy's government is to be decided today, 20 August, with the Italian parliament holding a confidence vote on the government of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte after far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini pulled the plug on the dysfunctional coalition.

Six EU countries have agreed to take in some of the 147 migrants stranded on a rescue ship near the Italian island of Lampedusa, Rome announced Thursday, amid a war of words between Italy's interior minister and the premier over immigration policy.

Italian Deputy PM and League chief Matteo Salvini’s call for snap elections faced mounting resistance on Sunday, with both his former 5-Star ally and the center-left opposition seeking to put the brakes on, news wires reported.

Tensions in Italy's populist coalition have been threatening to boil over for months. Now, the far-right interior minister says snap elections are the only way forward. Matteo Salvini said on Thursday that his right-wing party was considering fresh elections. Salvini said he told Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte that the coalition between Salvini's far-right League party and the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement had collapsed and "we should quickly give the choice back to the voters."

Italy’s economy may be set for a modest recovery in the next few months, two surveys suggested on Monday, giving the government some breathing space as it prepares a challenging 2020 budget in the autumn.

Italy's hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini allowed 116 rescued migrants on Italian Gregoretti coastguard ship to disembark on Wednesday after five EU countries agreed to share responsibility with Rome for looking after them. France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and Portugal have agreed to join the Italian Roman Catholic church in caring for the migrants, an European Commission spokeswoman told AFP. The Commission did not give a breakdown on how the migrants would be shared out between the host countries but the official said most would stay in Italy.