Italy will be sending 470 soldiers to Niger to help the west African nation stem the flow of Europe-bound migrants, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday.

Rescuers on the Italian holiday island of Ischia pulled the last trapped child from rubble Tuesday after a magnitude-4.0 earthquake toppled buildings and left two people dead.

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Wednesday he was feeling well following emergency surgery on a blocked blood vessel.

Gentiloni, 62, was asked by President Sergio Mattarella on Sunday to form a new centre-left government that will guide Italy to elections due by February 2018, following the resignation of outgoing Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

Paolo Gentiloni, the man named Sunday as Italy's new prime minister, is a trusted ally of his predecessor Matteo Renzi, to whom he owes his rise to the summit of national politics.

Outgoing Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi confirmed Sunday that he wants to continue in politics, saying his experience as a boy scout had taught him the virtues of perseverance.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella summoned Paolo Gentiloni to see him Sunday in what was seen as a signal the current foreign minister will become the country's new prime minister.

Talks on creating a new Italian government entered a decisive phase Saturday as fears mounted that any new premier will have to handle a politically toxic banking crisis.

President Muhammadu Buhari has called for better trade and economic ties between Nigeria and Italy.