Hello Wednesday!  It's January 3, and we’re tracking today's top stories: Ex-Vitol oil trader heads to US trial on Ecuador bribery charges, EU sanctions Russia's largest diamond producer, Philippines hopes to exit global money laundering grey list, Hamas leader killed in Beirut was Iran, Hezbollah linchpin, and much more...

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🎯 Ex-Vitol oil trader heads to US trial on Ecuador bribery charges. A former employee of the world's largest oil trader is set for trial in U.S. this week on charges of bribing officials in Ecuador to win a $300 million contract from Petroecuador. Reuters 

Top Stories

🌎 EU Sanctions Russia's Largest Diamond Producer Alrosa. The 27-nation bloc added Alrosa, the world's largest diamond mining company, and its chief executive Pavel Marinychev to its blacklist. AFP

🌎 Philippines hopeful of exiting global money laundering 'grey list'. The FATF added the Philippines in June 2021 for money laundering and terrorist financing risks. Reuters

🌎 Hamas Leader Killed in Beirut Was Linchpin of Relations With Iran, Hezbollah. Arouri was the Hamas official closest to Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and pressed to deepen relations with other militant groups. WSJ

🌎 In Sanctions Enforcement, Follow Central-Asia’s Middle Corridor. As the Suez Canal becomes a new front in the Israel-Hamas conflict and the Red Sea is a “no-go zone”, geopolitics is casting a shadow over the international trade landscape. National Interest

🚩 Export Enforcement: 2023 Year in Review U.S. Commerce Department

🌎 DOJ accuses 2 political operatives of hiding foreign lobbying during Trump administration. Two well-connected political consultants provided false information about lobbying work on behalf of a wealthy Persian Gulf country. AP

🌎 Feds add allegations of Qatari influence against indicted Sen. Bob Menendez. Menendez spoke kindly of Qatar in official proceedings to help a developer friend who paid him bribes. Politico

🌎 U.S. Prosecutors Can Charge Foreign Officials With Bribery Under New Provision. U.S. authorities can now prosecute foreign officials who demand or accept bribes from Americans trying to secure business. WSJ

🌎 Trump paid me to find voter fraud. Then he lied after I found 2020 election wasn't stolen. Claims of voter fraud made by others were verified as false, including proof of why those claims were disproven. USA Today

🌎 NRA Leader Wayne LaPierre to Face Potentially Career-Ending Corruption Trial in New York. He is one of four defendants in the corruption case brought by NY AG James scheduled to begin next week. Messenger

IN THE NEWS

Russia

🇷🇺 Google, Meta and Tiktok's debts removed from Russian database Reuters

🇷🇺 UK refinery owner extends credit facility with arm of oil firm part-owned by Russian who is under sanctions Guardian

🇷🇺 Russia's Gazprom breaks daily record for gas supply to China Reuters

🇷🇺 Russia Dramatically Increased Weapons Production in 2023 Despite Sanctions Newsweek

MORE TOP STORIES...

China

🇨🇳 Huawei is back, and the need to keep it out of 5G networks is greater than ever Hill

🇨🇳 Missing Chinese exchange student found safe in Utah following cyber kidnapping scheme ABC

🇨🇳 Saudi Arabia officially joins BRICS bloc Reuters

🇨🇳 China’s capital rolls out no-no list for officials dealing with Beijing’s entrepreneurs SCMP

MORE TOP STORIES...

Crypto & Cyber

🔐 US water utilities targeted by foreign hackers, prompting calls for cybersecurity overhaul AP

🔐 75 US Lawmakers Now Support CBDC Anti-Surveillance Bill Bitcoin.com

🔐 How a Group of Train Hackers Exposed a Right-to-Repair Nightmare Gizmodo

🔐 FTC settles with company that facilitated billions of illegal robocalls Record

MORE TOP STORIES...

Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Airbnb Grifter Busted for $7.5 Million ‘Bait-and-Switch’ Scam Daily Beast

💸 US charges ex-fintech CEO who tried to buy Sheffield United with fraud Reuters

💸 ‘Queen of trash’ and employees arrested over Sweden’s ‘largest environmental crime’ Guardian

💸 Phony MIT physicist bilked investors out of $24.6 million with Irvine tech firm, SEC alleges Orange County Register

MORE TOP STORIES...

Trafficking

💥 411 suspected scammers, money mules under probe over $13M losses Straits Times

💥 Flesh Rotting Tranq Ushers In a Darker Era in the Opioid Crisis WSJ

💥 Brother of powerful Colombian senator pleads guilty in New York to narcotics smuggling charge AP

💥 Moroccan police seizes 1.4 tons of cocaine Reuters

"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it." --George Bernard Shaw

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