Spain to take in stranded ship

Spain yesterday offered to take in a ship stranded in the Mediterranean with 629 migrants aboard after Italy and Malta refused to let the vessel dock in their ports.

The migrants, including pregnant women and scores of children, were saved by the French charity SOS Mediterranee on Saturday.

They were taken on board its ship Aquarius, which is now between Malta and Sicily.

But Malta and Italy -- whose new populist government has vowed a tough new stance on immigration -- have both refused to take the migrants in, triggering concern in the international community about their plight.

Spain's new Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez agreed to allow the ship to dock in its eastern port of Valencia.

Earlier, UN had called on Malta and Italy to immediately allow the boat to dock, describing the situation as "an urgent humanitarian imperative". The EU and the bloc's biggest member state Germany made similar pleas.

The migrants were rescued in six separate night-time operations in the central Mediterranean on Saturday.