A paramilitary police officer carries the lifeless body of a migrant child after a number of migrants died and a smaller number were reported missing after boats carrying them to the Greek island of Kos capsized, near the Turkish resort of Bodrum early Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/DHA

WASHINGTON - Canada made negative headlines around the world Thursday as news outlets relayed information — some of it erroneous — about the Canadian connection to the lifeless Syrian toddler who washed ashore on a Turkish beach.

Some of the international media coverage focused on Canada's role in the tragic death of Alan Kurdi, his five-year-old brother and his mother, details of which shifted over the course of the day.

Initial news stories reported that the family had been refused asylum in Canada.

However, the boy's aunt in British Columbia later explained that, while the family wanted to come to Canada, the boy's father had not yet formally applied for safe haven. It was another relative, the boy's uncle, who'd applied and been rebuffed.

In any case, the story circled the globe, with one report saying Canada had offered citizenship to the child's father, the only surviving member of Kurdi's family, but he had declined.

A headline across Italy's La Repubblica website quoted the boy's father: "I don't want asylum in Canada anymore — I'll take my son back to Kobane."

Canadian immigration officials later said no offer of citizenship was made.

UK's Independent newspaper ran a headline about the federal campaign: "Canadian immigration minister suspends election campaign to investigate why Syrian family's refugee application was refused."

It was a similar headline in Algeria's El Watan newspaper, which carried the early incorrect detail: "Canada refused asylum to the family of little Alan Kurdi."

Most of these stories were sidebars to the bigger-picture issue of the worst displaced-persons' crisis since the Second World War, as illustrated by French news sites which mainly focused on President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanding that other European countries do more.

The Kurdis' plight was also the top story in many U.S. media.

The lead item on the New York Times website was the intra-European spat over how to handle the crisis, with Hungary's prime minister describing it as a German problem and urging other EU countries to tell migrants they're not welcome.

But the No. 2 headline on the Times site for much of the day: "Family of Drowned Syrian Boys Sought to Reach Canada." It was later bumped off the home page, amid dispute over the details of the case.

The story and its Canadian connection received similar treatment on the websites of CNN, the BBC, USA Today, Time magazine and the New York Daily News.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2015