Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said thousands of migrants would be resettled in Germany, Canada and Italy as part of a UN-backed deal. But he put the agreement on hold hours after his announcement.

Paris has been asked to explain why armed French border police entered an Italian clinic for migrants and made demands. The incident has been seized on by populist politicians who made gains in last month's election.

A controversial theater piece about two refugees, one from Syria and one "from Africa," has been canceled hours before its public premiere. But the government-commissioned play has been seen by thousands of children.

Migrant women are at work in Tuscany to promote health screening and prevention programmes among other women from their communities of origin.