Nearly 300 migrants rescued off the coast of Sicily

Nearly 300 people were rescued overnight off the coast of Sicily, Italian authorities said on Saturday, bringing to more than 9,000 the number of migrants who have arrived in Italy since the beginning of July. Ninety-five people from Eritrea, Somalia and Mali, including a pregnant woman and a baby, were rescued from a rubber dinghy and taken to Pozzallo, near Sicily\'s south-eastern tip, dpa quoted the coast guard as saying. In a separate operation, the Italian navy intercepted a wooden boat carrying 195 people. Seventeen of the migrants, in need of medical care, were taken to the Italian island of Lampedusa, halfway between Italy and Tunisia. Others were sent to Catania in Sicily.