Italy picks up 4,000 migrants at sea in 4 days

ROME (AP) — Italian authorities say they have rescued more than 4,000 would-be migrants at sea over the past four days as the war in Syria and instability in Libya spawn new waves of refugees.

The numbers of migrants reaching Italian shores generally rises as warm weather and calm seas make the Mediterranean Sea crossing from North Africa easier. But the U.N. refugee agency says the 2014 numbers represent a 300 percent increase over the same period in 2013.