Valletta, Malta - Dozens of Tunisian would-be immigrants awaiting deportation from Malta on Thursday set mattresses on fire and smashed window panes at an immigrant detention centre, officials said.

Maltese police and soldiers cordoned off the area around the Lyster Barracks centre, amid reports that some of the immigrants had escaped.

The incidents were sparked off by members from a group of 71 Tunisians who are demanding to be repatriated, but whose documentation has not been sorted out, a Home Affairs Ministry spokesman told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Valetta, Malta  - Some 227 would-be immigrants arrived in Malta Wednesday, further compounding the Mediterranean island's illegal immigration problems, authorities said.

The nationalities of the group, including two babies and 22 women, have yet to be established.

The arrival is the second this month by a large group of immigrants. Some 262 people landed on February 1.

Two groups of some 150 immigrants each arrived in December and January. Some 35 Egyptians were deported on Tuesday.

Switzerland - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday announced that they had extended the bans on two Maltese football players.

Ryan Grech, Malta international Claude Mattocks and Gilbert Martin tested positive for various prohibited substances and were banned for nine months, four months and a year respectively.

Football's controlling body FIFA, as well as the world anti-doping agency WADA appealed to CAS and asked for the bans to be extended to two years.

CAS said in a statement on Monday that they had partially upheld the appeal.

Valetta, Malta  - Police and military clashed Friday with migrants at two detention centres in Malta, officials said.

The rioting broke out after an illegal immigrant fell from a window at one of the detention centres.

The man was taken to hospital where his condition was not immediately known.

As news of the incident spread, detainees at another centre also rampaged, the officials of the Mediterranean island-state said.

Firefighters intervened to put out a blaze allegedly started by the rioters in one of the centre's dormitories.

Valletta, Malta  - A group of 260 would-be illegal immigrants landed in Malta Sunday morning, one of the largest-ever groups to reach the Mediterranean island.

Witnesses said the immigrants, including two young girls and a pregnant woman, were "packed like sardines" on a large fishing boat.

Police on the scene said the migrants claimed they had left from Libya and they originated from various African countries. Unusually, there were also 12 Kurdish people on board. The immigrants said they had been on the boat for two days.

Valletta, Malta  - An Ethiopian Airlines jet with 187 passengers on board on Sunday made an emergency landing in Malta after one of its engines failed.