In a reaction issued on Friday afternoon, the Ambassador of Palestine to Malta confirmed that Maltese authorities responded to the call at 00:20am regarding the attack, and the Malta Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) sent a firefighting-equipped tug boat which managed to control the fire on the flotilla and secure its crew who remained safe.

Ambassador Hanania is in direct communication with the Maltese authorities and relevant parties to ensure the continued safety and well-being of all individuals onboard. "HE Ambassador Hanania extends the Palestinians deep appreciation to the Government of Malta for its swift response and professional action to this incident which prevented a tragedy from happening," the embassy said.

The ambassador urged people from all over the globe to help in ending the Israeli attacks on Gaza, and to allow humanitarian aid to reach the Palestinian people.

2 Apr, 2025 11:46
Putin creates new agency to crack down on illegal immigration

The service will also oversee citizenship issues, according to the Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree creating a new state agency tasked with enhancing immigration governance. The Citizenship and Foreign Nationals Registration Service will operate as part of the Interior Ministry.

Commenting after the decree was signed on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "the main goal is to bring order to migration processes and enforce measures that promote compliance with Russian laws among migrants while reducing illegal activity."

Putin earlier stressed the need to focus on shutting down channels of illegal immigration.

The Interior Ministry previously reported the presence of 670,000 undocumented migrants in Russia. It also stated that foreign nationals without valid documents will be permitted to extend their stay until the end of April 2025.

Speaking at the Federation Council earlier on Wednesday, Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov criticized the police for "significant shortcomings" in migration control.

"As a result, there was often no current data on the status and movements of foreign nationals, and their departure from the country was not enforced," he said. "In 1,500 cases, prosecutors have taken legal action to overturn fraudulent grounds used to legalize migrants."

Russia adopted stricter migration laws following a foreign-organized terrorist attack on a concert venue outside Moscow in March 2024, which claimed 145 lives and left over 550 injured.

The number of foreign nationals expelled from Russia reached 190,000 last year, nearly a third more than in 2023, according to Interior Ministry data. The number of foreigners deported from the country due to law violations jumped by 45%.

Organizing illegal immigration is now classified as a particularly serious crime, with penalties that include the seizure of financial assets and property gained through human trafficking. The measure is intended to strip criminals of economic incentives and dismantle illegal migration networks.

Lavrov also noted that it was crucial to prevent the formation of"criminal tendencies" among foreign workers

23 March 2025 08:37
'Gardner' and 'Food City': Azerbaijani "Kings" deceive Russia for 600 Billion Rubles a month?
Journalists of the investigation department of the First Russian told about what business really looks like in Azerbaijan.

Attempts by the Russian authorities to restore order in the capital's markets 'Sadovod' and 'Food City' ended with the dismissal of four generals of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at once. The Azerbaijani diaspora has learned to 'show its teeth' well. Especially when there is such support in the person of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev himself.

Among the most loyal 'subjects' are businessmen God Nisanov and Zarakh Iliev, who have made billions in Russia. But how?
[ ...]
In 2018, according to the Department of Financial Monitoring and Currency Control of the Bank of Russia, the Moskva shopping center in Lublin, Sadovod and Food City became the leaders in shadow retail. According to the director of the department, Yuri Polupanov, then the volume of unaccounted cash that the Central Bank does not see amounted to up to 600 billion rubles per month.

For comparison, the annual revenue of the Wildberries marketplace in 2023 amounted to 538 billion rubles. And three retail facilities of God Nisanov and Zarakh Iliev manage to withdraw as much as 600 billion rubles in an unknown direction. And not even in a year. No - per month, - notes the Tsargrad Investigation Department.
[ ...]
The checks don't give you anything?
Despite the fact that officially the same Sadovod declares revenue of 2.6 billion rubles for the year, the question arises: where is everything else? According to Yuri Polupanov, the Central Bank sees operations where most of the revenue is purchased cryptocurrency, which is not accounted for anywhere. And then - sending these funds by e-mail directly to the homeland of these merchants and manufacturers, followed by conversion to the local currency.

In addition, as the representative of the Central Bank noted, there are also illegal exchangers in these markets. And those of them who work legally submit reports to the Central Bank that do not coincide with the data that the Bank of Russia calculates remotely.
[...]
Why were the Interior Ministry generals fired?
After the schemes for withdrawing Nisanov's black cash from the markets of the Year were revealed, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the FSB to solve this problem. In an interview with Tsargrad, a former operational officer of the Moscow RUBOP, Mikhail Ignatov, said that at that time both the FSB and the police were really organized. The commotion was impressive. But they're not stupid either: they figured it out and turned on the fire alarm at Food City. And the sellers immediately left their trading places, so as not to be caught red-handed with black cash.
[...]
But if the check turned out to be effective, it is not known what consequences it would all turn out to be for the police themselves, Ignatov believes.

Here is a vivid example when the police went not even to them, but to their partners with a check. Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Just a short time later, four police generals were dismissed. The inspectors then sealed the warehouses of these partners, suspended operations and demanded documents for the products. But in the end, everything turned in the other direction-they accused our guys of extorting some money, and four generals lost their posts. As they say, thank you at least for not landing behind bars. But they could, they are allowed to do anything, - he noted.
[...]
Diaspora state in the Russian capital
As Mikhail Ignatov noted, these markets, in fact, represent a 'state within a state', where immigrants from Central Asia and Transcaucasia have united. Moreover, they are not controlled or checked by anyone. They have their own laws, their own security service and their own 'solutions'.

It's a whole enclave full of crazy cash running around... Illegal migrants were repeatedly found there - and it is not clear where they live and how they live, these are 'unaccounted for' people. What do they do? No one knows. They work there as movers during the day, but what do they do at night? Where are they going? What crimes can be committed? And then they can hide in the same place again, in these basements and labyrinths of the market, where no police will ever find them.,

- concluded the interlocutor.