93 Syrians flown to Rome from Lebanon

A migrant girl looks on as stranded refugees and migrants protest demanding to be allowed to cross the Greek-Macedonian border at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece, February 26, 2016.

3 p.m.
Italy's foreign minister is hailing the arrival by plane in Rome from Beirut of 93 Syrian refugees as a model for other countries to follow.
The refugees were living in Lebanon after fleeing their homeland's civil war and were granted humanitarian visas. Minister Paolo Gentiloni said transfer by plane involves limited numbers but sends a message to human traffickers profiting off risky sea voyages by desperate refugees trying to reach Europe.
Gentiloni said at Rome's main airport Monday that if other countries follow Italy's example, thousands of legitimate asylum-seekers could avoid ''terrible sufferings" at the hands of traffickers.
Refugee Mirvat Sayegh said Italy is ''better for us, it's safe." She lived three years in Lebanon after fleeing Aleppo, Syria.
Italian-based Catholic and Protestant churches launched the project.
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2 p.m.
Austria's deputy chancellor is pushing back against criticism from other EU nations over his country's introduction of caps on asylum-seekers.
Reinhold Mitterlehner says the "upper limits are necessary (and) we're going to maintain them."
He was referring Monday to the decision to accept no more than 80 requests for asylum a day at Austria's southern border with Slovenia from arriving migrants. The move has led to border slowdowns for migrants across the Balkans.
Mitterlehner says Austria continues to seek a solution to the migrant crisis that involves all 28 EU nations. But he told the Austria Press Agency that until that happens "we have to ... create limits."
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12:50 p.m.
Macedonian police have fired tear gas and stun grenades after a few hundred migrants angry at long delays in entering Macedonia broke a gate on the Greek-Macedonian border.
The protesters, who were chanting "Open the border!" and throwing stones at Macedonian police, were repelled. There were no reports of arrests or injuries from Monday's clashes.
Police said 500 people earlier pushed their way past Greek police to reach the gate used to let trains through at the border crossing.
About 6,500 people are stuck on the Greek side of the border. Some have been there for up to eight days with little food or shelter as Macedonia only accepts a trickle of people every day.
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11:55 a.m.
French authorities have begun dismantling the sprawling migrant camp in Calais where thousands are hanging out, hoping to make their way to a better life in Britain.
One by one, helmeted workers on Monday are pulling down makeshift structures where migrants sleep in the southern sector of the camp. The move comes after a court ruled that the shanties could be destroyed but not the common spaces that have also sprung up, like places of worship, schools and a library.
The camp has existed for years in the northern port city of Calais, which has ferries across the English Channel and the Eurotunnel rail to Britain. But now with an estimated 4,000 migrants in the slum, the situation in Calais has become a flashpoint for Europe's immigration crisis, fueling far-right sentiment on both sides of the Channel.
The uprooted migrants are being moved to a nearby camp.
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11:15 a.m.
Thousands of refugees are stuck on Greece's border with Macedonia, overflowing from a packed camp into the surrounding fields, as they wait for Macedonian authorities to let them continue their trek through the Balkans.
Police say about 6,500 people are at or near the Idomeni border crossing, with another 500 moved to a hastily erected camp on a small concrete landing strip some 20 kilometers (13 miles) away.
Macedonian authorities let 300 Syrians and Iraqis in between 11 p.m. local time Sunday and 4 a.m. Monday, after which the crossing closed. Macedonia has said it will only allow in as many people as Serbia, the next country north on the Balkan migrant corridor, accepts.
This has led to a huge bottleneck in Greece, where authorities say more than 22,000 people are stuck.

• MENA