Valletta, Malta- Malta became Wednesday the site of the world's
first purpose-built research and production facility for the ePassport,
or biometric passport, which is increasingly required by countries for
security reasons.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi officiated at the inauguration of the
six million euro (7.7 million dollar) plant built by the British- based
De La Rue company, adjacent to the large banknote printing facility it
already operates on the small Mediterranean island.

The new 2,600 square metre building will print and assemble
machine-readable and biometric passports. It is expected to produce two

Valletta, Malta  - The foreign ministers of Italy, Libya and Malta are to meet on December 5 to discuss illegal immigration and oil exploration in the waters between the three countries, it was stated Monday.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and Libyan Foreign Minister Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgem will be meeting in Malta at the invitation of Foreign Minister Tonio Borg.

Borg told Parliament Monday this was the first time that concrete proposals had been made on the delineation of the waters for oil exploration purposes.

Valletta, Malta - Five bodies recovered at sea in just over two weeks off Malta remained unidentified Sunday, though police were almost certain they were African immigrants who failed to make it to Europe.

The bodies were all in an advanced state of decomposition, indicating that they had been in the water for some time, police said.

Though the gender of the bodies was confirmed in an autopsy, it was very difficult to establish ethnicity.

The Sunday Times of Malta reported police as saying that it was "99 per cent probable that they were all (would-be illegal) immigrants." The autopsy established they had drowned.

Three of the corpses were female and one of them was wearing a life jacket.

Valletta, Malta - A group of 67 would-be immigrants arrived in Malta Thursday after their vessel was rescued in rough seas by a Russian bulk carrier the day before.

A woman in labour, and her four-year-old son, who had formed part of the group, had to be airlifted to Malta's hospital on Wednesday, the Maltese army said.

Valletta, Malta - There is a 20-per-cent chance of finding a commercially feasible oil and gas reserve off the coast of Malta, according to government estimates.

The prospects of two new offshore sites have been described as "more exciting," due to the fact that their geological features are similar to the oil-rich area near Libya. Wells will be sunk between 2010 and 2011.

The Times of Malta reported Monday that international oil companies licensed to conduct oil exploration around the Mediterranean island have spoken about the possibility of striking huge reserves. The Oil Exploration Department of the Maltese Resources Ministry has referred to reserves of "giant" proportions.