In the Mediterranean, migrants bound for Europe hijacked a tanker that rescued them after realizing its crew was about to take them back to Libya. The group of migrants picked up by the tanker consisted of 108 people. Having gained control of the ship, they directed it towards Malta. The Maltese authorities have already stated that they will not allow him to land on the shore.

Yakutia’s governor, Aisen Nikolaev, meets with local residents. Yakutsk, March 18, 2019Vadim Skriabin / TASS / Scanpix / LETA Anti-migrant protests have rocked Yakutia since mid-March. They were triggered by a rape and kidnapping case. On March 17, a 23-year-old man from Kyrgyzstan forced a young woman into his car, drove her to an unpopulated area, and raped her. He then forcibly brought her with him to the residence of two of his friends, where the woman managed to escape.

"Medusa" tells the story of Mikhail Abyzov Stanislav Krasilnikov / TASS / Vida Press On March 27, the Basmanny Court of Moscow arrested the former Minister of Open Government Affairs Mikhail Abyzov, who is accused of fraud on an especially large scale. Even influential guarantors, including the head of Rusnano, Anatoly Chubais, the former head of the presidential administration, Alexander Voloshin and former press secretary of Prime Minister Natalya Timakova, could not help him remain at large.

The European Parliament approved amendments to EU legislation banning the production and sale of single-use plastic products on its territory from 2021. Under the ban will fall plastic cutlery, ear sticks, tubules for cocktails. The new law also contains requirements for EU countries to limit the use of those plastic products that do not yet have an alternative. Appropriate measures of the state must develop independently. Plastic products make up 85% of all garbage in the oceans.

Soviet cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky has died. He was 84 years old. Bykovsky was a member of the first cosmonaut corps formed in 1960. He flew into space three times - in 1963, 1976 and 1978. Bykovsky is twice a hero of the USSR. Correction . Initially, the news headline reported that Bykovsky was the fifth person to have been in space. This is not true. The editors apologize to readers.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will resign if Parliament approves her plan to leave the EU. At a meeting with MPs from the ruling Conservative Party, May said that she "will leave the post earlier than she intended, because it will be right for the country and for the party." Parliament has twice refused to approve the Brexit draft agreement proposed by Theresa May. The UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March. May asked the European Union to move this date to June 30.

Moscow’s Basmanny Court has ordered former Open Government Minister Mikhail Abyzov to be kept under arrest until May 25. Abyzov has been charged with large-scale fraud and organizing a criminal organization. He led the Open Government project, an initiative intended to provide oversight over the actions of Russia’s executive branch, from 2012 to 2018. The prosecution argued that Abyzov should be held under guard to prevent him from going into hiding.

Russia’s Communications Ministry has announced a public comment period on a new bill that would amend a number of the country’s federal laws. On paper, the proposal is just “a clarification of identification and authentication procedures,” but a large portion of the text is devoted to the development of digital profiles. Before long, every Russian citizen will have one: the bureaucratic infrastructure for digital profiles has already been laid out in Russia’s nationwide Digital Economy project.

Updated . The court arrested for two months all the other defendants in the case - Nikolai Stepanov, Galina Fraydenberg, Alexander Pelipasov and Maxim Rusakov. The Basmanny Court of Moscow sent the former Minister for Open Government Affairs Mikhail Abyzov, who is accused of fraud on an especially large scale, under arrest until May 25. The investigation requested that Abyzov be taken into custody, indicating that the former minister could hide and interfere with the investigation.

Tatyana Stanovaya about the criminal case of Mikhail Abyzov: carnegie.ru Sergey Mamontov / Sputnik / Scanpix / Leta Mikhail Abyzov in the Basmanny Court of Moscow, March 27, 2019 Criminal prosecution for economic crimes becomes chaotic in Russia, and political motives in such cases are acquired by a secondary character. About this in the article for the Moscow Center of Carnegie writes political scientist Tatyana Stanovaya.

US President Donald Trump demanded that Russia withdraw its troops from Venezuela. “Russia needs to get out [of Venezuela],” Trump said at a meeting with the wife of Venezuelan parliament speaker and opposition leader Juan Guaidó. Trump noted that otherwise the US is considering "all options" to respond. On March 23, two planes carrying the Russian military arrived in Venezuela.

State Duma deputies and members of the Federation Council were unable to agree on the date for the entry into force of the law on hostels at a meeting of the conciliation commission on March 27, Interfax reports. The Federation Council proposed postponing the entry into force of the law until January 1, 2020, or at least until October 1, 2019. However, the State Duma insisted on July 1, 2019. The parties were unable to reach an agreement.

In the Ingush capital of Magas, protestors momentarily agreed to leave a central square following multiple attempts to disperse them by force, Kavkazsy Uzel reported. Local authorities promised to permit another protest to begin within five days. Some protestors regrouped after leaving the square and blocked a state highway that runs between Baku and Rostov-on-Don, RIA Derbent journalist Malik Butayev told Znak.com .

In the Kyzylorda region in the central part of Kazakhstan, a Mi-8 helicopter belonging to the country's Ministry of Defense crashed. After the fall, the helicopter burned down completely. There were 13 people on board, their fate is being investigated. Update . President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that the crew of the helicopter had died.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev instructed to appoint curators from the government to the regions that are experiencing the greatest socio-economic problems. They will "keep an eye on how certain decisions are implemented." The Prime Minister stated this at a meeting on the socio-economic development of the regions. Among the problematic regions, Medvedev named Kalmykia, Mordovia, Mari El, the Altai Republic, Saratov, Kurgan, Penza regions and Tuva.