Weekly News highlights

Three hundred and thirteen illegal immigrants arrived in Malta last week while 65 landed in Gozo on Sunday, for a total of 378 in three landings within five days.

A boat with 65 illegal immigrants landed at Mgarr ix-Xini, Gozo, on Sunday afternoon. The immigrants, all male, claimed to be Iraqis, Palestinians and from Sierra Leone but the police suspected they were really Egyptians.

On Tuesday morning, 78 illegal immigrants, including six women and 11 children, landed near the Jerma Palace Hotel, Marsascala. They were thought to be originating from Africa, mainly Sudan, Sierra Leone and Somalia.

Another group of 235, packed on a 50-foot fishing boat, landed in Marsaxlokk on Friday. The 141 men, 30 women and 64 children were from Ghana, Somalia, Guinea, Liberia, Cameroon, Congo, Kurdistan, Egypt, Botswana, Syria, Palestine, Sierra Leone, Mauritius, Togo, Mali and Ivory Coast.

Mintoff launches front

Former Labour Prime Minister Dom Mintoff on Monday launched his Front Maltin Inqumu, which opposes the way Government is negotiating EU membership for Malta. Mr Mintoff used the occasion to challenge Labour leader Alfred Sant to a debate on Super One TV "to know who has the workers' interests at heart and who doesn't."

Mr Mintoff, who was accompanied by his successor as MLP leader and prime minister and, until recently, chairman of the anti-EU Campaign for National Independence (CNI), launched the FMI during a televised "news conference" on Smash TV's Minibus, presented by David Agius.

3,284 occupational accidents

A total of 3,284 occupational accidents were reported this year up to August, Social Policy Minister Lawrence Gonzi said on Tuesday.

Lm5,000 stolen in hold-up

About Lm5,000 were stolen in a hold-up at a lotto booth in Naxxar on Wednesday morning.

Two hooded robbers, armed with a shotgun, burst into the booth at about 11.30 a.m., demanding cash from the lotto receiver, who complied.

The lotto booth is just a block away from the police station in 21 September Avenue. Several people were in the lotto booth at the time but no one was injured.

35 workers laid off

ESTRO Clothing, a local textiles factory, on Wednesday laid off 35 workers due to lack of orders.

The General Workers Union said that while it understood Estro's difficulties, it was registering an industrial dispute because the company had not observed clauses in the collective agreement which laid down that the first workers to be discharged should be those with the least experience.

The union has asked the director of labour to intervene.

Airport closed for two hours

Incoming and outgoing passengers at the airport on Thursday afternoon were subjected to long delays after air traffic controllers handed in their licence to assist flights to take off or land in a dispute over a collective agreement.

Some 14 flights were affected in the two-hour halt in operations and five incoming flights, carrying some 600 passengers, were diverted to Palermo or Catania.

The controllers called off the action following the intervention of two government ministers who persuaded them to return to work so that discussions could continue.

Critical after crash

Stephen Camilleri Bowman, 20, of San Gwann, was in critical condition after he was involved in a head-on collision with a car driven by his next-door neighbour in St Julian's on Thursday night.