Greek coast guard rescues some 500 migrants in a day

Greece's coast guard says its patrol vessels picked up nearly 500 migrants in 11 search-and-rescue missions over the past 24 hours in the eastern Aegean Sea. The people, whose nationalities were not immediately clear, were found in small boats near the islands of Lesvos — which accounts for nearly one in two migrant arrivals in Greece — Samos, Kos and the islet of Agathonissi.

More than 15,000 refugees and migrants are stranded on Lesvos, awaiting screening before they can board a ferry to the Greek mainland — from where they head north through Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary to seek asylum in more prosperous European countries.

A ferry carrying some 2,500 migrants from Lesvos is due in Athens later Tuesday.

[AP]