Singapore - Singapore and Malta have signed an Open Skies Agreement (OSA) allowing for full flexibility on air services operated by carriers of both countries, the civil aviation authority said on Friday.

The OSA becomes fully effective on December 1, 2010.

"The OSA will enable our carriers to capitalize on market opportunities that arise in (the) future," said the authority's chief executive officer Lim Kim Choon.

Valletta, Malta  - A boat carrying 120 would-be illegal immigrants was stranded Thursday without fuel or water in Libyan- controlled waters 150 miles south of Malta, a person on board the vessel told United Nations refugee officials by satellite phone.

So far, no country has sent any rescuers to provide assistance, according to the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Malta, Neil Falzon.

A UNHCR representative on the Italian island of Lampedusa received the emergency call regarding the stranded would-be immigrants, including 25 women and six children.

Falzon said the Libyan, Italian and Maltese authorities had been informed.

Valletta, Malta  - A total of 56 would-be immigrants were rescued off Malta early Thursday morning and brought to shore following two separate operations.

In the first, the owner of a tanker vessel alerted Maltese officials that his crew had come across a group of Africans on board a rickety boat who were asking for fuel and food.

A Maltese rescue vessel was dispatched to the scene, bringing 26 would-be immigrants, including two women to shore.

Valletta, Malta - A group of 95 would-be illegal immigrants were escorted Monday to Malta, an arrival that further fuels an immigration crisis on the tiny Mediterranean island state.

A Maltese military patrol board found the group of Africans - 80 men and 15 women - were found floating on a large dinghy some two nautical miles south of Malta.

Another group of 28 Africans arrived late Saturday.

Valletta (Malta), July 22 : Archaeologists have uncovered the foundations of a semi-circular bastion or tower dating to the Late Middle Ages in the town of Mdina in Malta, which is being considered an extraordinary discovery which may shed light on one of the darkest periods of Maltese history.

According to a report carried out in the web portal DI-VE, the almost intact foundations were found directly below Council Square and Xara Palace during the course of preparatory works by the Restoration Unit aimed at consolidation of the Mdina bastions.

Valletta, Malta - A Maltese fisherman was rescued late after surviving a boat explosion a week ago that left four others dead, local media reported Saturday.