Migrants trapped on a lifeboat in a Sicilian port for six days have been allowed to disembark, bringing a stand-off between the Italian government and other European states to an end.
Italy had refused to allow most of the migrants off until a solution was reached regarding their relocation.
Late on Saturday, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini revealed a number of bishops had agreed to take them in.
Salvini is under investigation for his role in the stand-off.
Sicilian prosecutors opened an inquiry into possible illegal confinement, illegal arrest, and abuse of power.
The fate of the 140 migrants, most of whom are Eritrean, has prompted local protests throughout the week and attracted international attention.
The Diciotti arrived in the Sicilian port of Catania last Monday, but until Saturday only small groups had been allowed into Italy, including unaccompanied children and the sick, two of whom are said to have tuberculosis.
Salvini refused the vessel permission to disembark until the EU agreed to distribute the migrants among other countries, saying he did not want the migrants to be a “burden” on Italian citizens.
Under EU rules, people must seek asylum where they arrive, but Italy has increasingly barred boats from docking.
Announcing the end of the stand-off, Salvini said the bishops were “opening their doors, their hearts and their wallets” to the migrants.
Ireland and Albania have also reportedly agreed to take a number of the migrants in.
The resolution comes after the UN appealed for EU members to “urgently” offer relocation places to the migrants.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a statement that Europe has recognised “a fundamental and legal obligation” to help “people fleeing war, violence and persecution” throughout its history.
“The time has come to end the back-and-forth that has seen countries competing in a race to the bottom on who can take the least responsibility for people rescued at sea,” he said.
“It is dangerous and immoral to put the lives of refugees and asylum-seekers at risk while states engage in a political tug-of-war on long-term solutions.”
Sixteen people were allowed to disembark on Saturday on doctors’ orders after inspectors from the Italian Healthy Ministry and the Red Cross went on board the vessel.
Earlier this week 27 unaccompanied minors and 13 people in need of urgent medical help were also allowed to get off.
Some of those left onboard were reported to be refusing food in protest.
Julie Bishop resigns as Australia’s foreign minister
Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has announced her resignation from the cabinet.
Her move came as new Prime Minister Scott Morrison prepares to announce his new cabinet after winning a bruising leadership contest on Friday.
Ms Bishop said she had not yet decided whether to stand at the next general election, due in 2019.
She had sought the prime minister’s job after Malcolm Turnbull stood aside, but was eliminated in the first round.
The leadership fight also ended her 11-year tenure as deputy leader of the Liberal Party.
The 62-year-old from Western Australia has been a federal politician for two decades.
“I will remain on the backbench as a strong voice for Western Australia,” she said.
Last week’s leadership crisis arose after Mr Turnbull came under pressure from poor polling and what he described as an “insurgency” by conservative MPs.
The Liberal-National coalition government has only a one-seat majority in parliament, and Labour is ahead in opinion polls, with an election to be held at some point before May 2019.
Peter Dutton, a conservative and former home affairs minister, had unsuccessfully challenged Mr. Turnbull on Tuesday, but his narrow defeat only stoked further discord.
Mr. Morrison, the treasurer, entered the race later in the week after Mr Turnbull lost key backers.
He won the second round of Friday’s internal Liberal Party ballot by 45-40 over Mr. Dutton – who had been Mr. Turnbull’s most vocal threat.
Ms Bishop had been eliminated in a first round of voting.
Mr. Turnbull has signalled he will resign from parliament, which would force a by-election and potentially put the government’s one-seat majority at risk and force the new premier to call early elections.
A former Tourism Australia official, Scott Morrison entered parliament in 2007 and has since held three key ministerial portfolios.
As immigration minister, he drew criticism over the controversial asylum seeker policies and offshore detention centres.
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Speaking to reporters after the vote on Friday, Mr. Morrison said he would be working to “bring our party back together which has been bruised and battered this week” and bring the country together.
He also said dealing with a severe drought, which has hit parts of eastern Australia, would be “our most urgent and pressing need right now.”
Venezuela migrant crisis: Peru receives asylum requests
Hundreds of Venezuelans have requested asylum in Peru, an official has said, just hours after the country tightened its entry requirements.
New rules require Venezuelans trying to enter Peru to have a passport, and not just an identity card as before.
Similar regulations were introduced in Ecuador last week, only to be overturned by a court.
Tens of thousands of Venezuelans are fleeing their country amid chronic shortages of food and medicines.
The country’s longstanding economic crisis has seen more than two million citizens leave since 2014, causing regional tensions as neighbouring countries struggle to accommodate them.
Like other South American nations, Peru is trying to control the influx of people escaping Venezuela’s economic crisis.
The UN – whose migration agency has warned that the continent faces a refugee “crisis moment” similar to that seen in the Mediterranean in 2015 – is setting up a special team to co-ordinate the regional response.
The authorities in Lima set a deadline of midnight on Friday for the new passport rules to come into force.
Many Venezuelans have been looking to start a new life in Peru – which has one of the region’s fastest growing economies – travelling there via Colombia and Ecuador.
On Friday there was a rush of people heading to the Peruvian border and Ecuador created what it called a “humanitarian corridor” by laying on buses to take migrants through the country.
Peruvian Prime Minister César Villanueva said requiring Venezuelans to show their passport at the border did not mean that Peru was “closing the door” to migrants.
He said ID cards did not provide enough information and could easily be forged.
Citizens of most South American nations can visit countries in the region without needing a visa or even a passport.
The Andean Community trading bloc – which includes Ecuador and Peru – also allows visa and passport-free travel for its citizens, although Venezuela withdrew from the grouping in 2006.
Costa Rica march in solidarity with Nicaraguan migrants
Hundreds of people in Costa Rica have taken part in a march in San Jose in solidarity with Nicaraguan migrants who have arrived there.
Thousands of Nicaraguans have fled their country to escape the political crisis there.
The march was called after an anti-migrant demonstration a week ago ended in clashes and many arrests.
That demonstration was condemned by the government, the private sector and several human rights organisations.
Many of those taking part in Saturday’s march carried banners condemning Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega.
They demanded justice for hundreds of people killed in four months of anti-government protests there.
Protesters blame the security forces and paramilitary groups loyal to the Nicaraguan government for the violence while the authorities have labelled the protesters as “terrorists.”
President Ortega has rejected calls to step down to defuse the clashes.
The United Nation’s refugee agency (UNHCR) said recently that an average of 200 Nicaraguans a day were applying for asylum in neighbouring Costa Rica.
More than 20,000 Nicaraguans have so far requested refugee status in Costa Rica.