As our first year, this was an incredibly challenging one, yet our work still reached the international press. These are what we consider our top ten international stories of the year, some of which were quoted by other media outlets.
1: Alkagesta: the oil trader of Russian and Libyan oil in Malta
Our investigation on Alkagesta was quote by the BBC outlet of Azerbaijan, but this was just one of the many outlets in Azerbaijan that quoted our investigation. The Maltese Herald was even quoted in a televised broadcast on The Baku Post. We were also one of the first press outlets that reported on the arrest of Adnan Ahmadzada. Alkagesta is involved in smuggling Russian and Libyan oil from Malta. Our investigation is ongoing.
2: The Greek shippers with Malta-flagged ships transporting Russian oil
Also related to our investigations into the Russian oil trade, our reporting on Greek shippers operating Maltese-flagged vessels received considerable interest. The Martinos family, owners of the Minerva Marine Group, are among one of the large Greek shipping families that uses Malta as part of its international registration and company system.
3: Chun Wang: the Maltese passport-holder who is also China’s international intelligence asset with a bitcoin mining pool in Russia
Our investigation on Chun Wang was quoted by Newsweek. Chun Wang is a Chinese intelligence asset who runs the biggest bitcoin mining pool in Russia. He bought a Maltese passport and the mainstream press laundered his reputation with silly articles about his space trip on a SpaceX vehicle. The truth is deeper and more nuance and the history also involves ties with international criminal groups. Our investigations are ongoing.
4: The Emirati-based newscaster whitewashing the genocide in Al-Fashir
Our story about the Emirati-based newscaster that whitewashed the genocide Al-Fashir by the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces, was quoted by Middle East Eye. I have been covering the RSF’s genocide of Al-Fashir since 2024. We are currently lobbying for the release of journalist, Muammar Ibrahim who is in captivity by the RSF in Nyala, Darfur.
5: The oppression of Palestinians by Hamas
While Israel committed a genocide against Palestinians, Hamas got away with ruthless oppression against Palestinians. We were one of the few media outlets that consistently reported on the atrocities and crimes of Hamas against Palestinians. Many journalists and dissidents were killed by Hamas.
6: Israel’s discrimination and non-discrimination in its bombing methods
We highlighted how Israel has been using precision strikes against its targets in Lebanon and Iran but did not reserve the same discretion with regards to their targets in Palestine which they bombed indiscriminately with genocidal intent.
7. Israel’s attack on “Conscience” and the aftermath.
We were the first news outlet that reported Israel’s attack on the vessel Conscience just off the Maltese coast at Hurd’s Bank. We also extensively covered the aftermath to the incident and provided investigative reporting including on the Israeli reconnaissance flight.
8. Hurd’s Bank
We are the only news outlet that is currently investigating Hurd’s Bank.
9. No capitulation for Ukraine and no deal on Russian assets
We were one of the first press outlets to break the story that no deal was reached on the use of Russian-frozen assets at around 3AM in the morning (Brussels time). We have covered Russia’s war on Ukraine extensively as Russia remains Europe’s biggest existential risk. We have covered extensively the diplomatic negotiations which mostly include pressure on Ukraine to capitulate and our stories have always consistently picked up Ukraine’s position, correctly.
10. Russia is holding all of Ukraine’s citizens as hostages
We are one of the few press outlets that are reporting on the fact that Russia has been exponentially increasing its air strikes against Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure this year and particularly escalates air strikes whenever the US presents Ukraine with a capitulation deal. Effectively, Russia is holding all of Ukraine’s population hostage.
Website Editor
Historian and Publisher
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