Featured Story
🎯 Russia’s Magnit completes $736M buyback from foreign shareholders. This is the first opportunity for non-resident shareholders of a Russian public company to dispose of their shareholdings with settlement in different currencies since sanctions. Reuters
Top Stories
🌎 A Troubling Trump Pardon and a Link to the Kushners. Jonathan Braun served just two and a half years of major sentence for running a marijuana ring, when Mr. Trump, on his last day in office, announced he would be freed. NYT
🌎 US Official to Visit Turkey to Discuss Russia Sanctions, Hamas. Washington has imposed sanctions on about a dozen Turkish firms and some individuals for running an investment portfolio on behalf of Hamas or helping Russia evade sanctions. Bloomberg
🌎 Russia expects to reach agreement on gas hub project with Turkey soon. Last year, Putin laid out plans to establish a gas-trading hub in Turkey, including the possibility of laying more undersea natural gas pipelines across the Black Sea. Bloomberg
🚀 IE Insights: Top 10 Ways Iran Provides Financial and Material Support to Hamas Terrorists Illicit Edge
🌎 US dollar dominance is facing a crypto-yuan hostile takeover. Dollar-cryptos are simply components of an alternative money transfer system, akin to Western Union, Fedwire, or SWIFT, but without disclosure or regulation. FT
🌎 EU Nations Push to Weaken Russia Sanctions Enforcement Plan. Debate bubbles as the EU works to curtail Moscow’s ability to get its hands on key goods through third countries such as Kazakhstan, Serbia and Turkey. Bloomberg
🌎 Crypto Kingdom: Bhutan Built A Bitcoin Mine On The Site Of Its Failed ‘Education City’. Education City was scrapped in 2014. But left behind were roads, bridges, a water supply and, crucially, power lines – building blocks for a bitcoin mine. Forbes
🌎 Chinese hackers lurked for two years to steal chip designs from major Dutch semiconductor company. NXP is a major player in the global semiconductor market and has been particularly influential after it acquired Freescale in 2015. Tom’s Hardware
🌎 Russia and China planning underwater tunnel link to Crimea. CRCC is an important element in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative to increase its global leverage through the construction and financing of transport and infrastructure projects. Telegraph
🌎 Crypto Scam: Inside the billion-dollar ‘pig-butchering’ industry. Fraudulent crypto investment schemes directed from Asia have become a global billion-dollar industry. Reuters
🌎 ‘El Mago,’ drug trafficker linked to son of Sinaloa cartel kingpin, gunned down in L.A. “The Magician,” served five years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute more than 10,000 kilograms of marijuana LA Times
🌎 OCC Ex-Fintech Chief’s Fake Resume, DUIs Raise Fresh Questions. Bhardwaj’s Work History Included Easily Disprovable Claims – Including Working at “Citi Bank” At 13 Years Old. Fintech Business Weekly
.png?upscale=true&width=800&upscale=true&name=ILLICIT%20EDGE%20(1200%20%C3%97%20200%20px).png)
