Featured Story
🎯 San Francisco Corruption Scandal: Chinese billionaire admits bribing public works chief. The idea that a Chinese billionaire with a global property portfolio across multiple continents would spend valuable time buttering up the public works director over a sidewalk shows the extent to which the city’s building inspection was broken. San Francisco Chronicle
Top Stories
🌎 US bans 14 Iraqi banks in crackdown on Iran dollar trade. The US uncovered information that the Iraqi banks engaged in money laundering and fraudulent transactions, some of which may have involved sanctioned individuals and raised concerns that Iran could benefit. Reuters
🌎 Ponzi Schemer Who Got Trump Clemency Charged in New Fraud. Less than a year after leaving prison, authorities say Weinstein launched a scheme that defrauded 150 victims out of more than $35 million. CNBC
🌎 The Fed Slaps Deutsche Bank With a $186 Million Fine. The new penalty for lingering issues marks the latest blow for the German lender, which has struggled for years to get on solid ground with regulators in Europe and the United States. Reuters
🌎 The Smoke and Mirrors of Western Oil Sanctions. Imposing and managing economic sanctions is a game of smoke and mirrors. Nothing is what it seems, and policy often bends markets in perverse ways to achieve political aims. Bloomberg
🌎 Second IRS whistleblower goes public at House Oversight hearing about Hunter Biden probe. One of the two whistleblowers identified himself publicly for the first time at the hearing: Joseph Ziegler, a 13-year IRS special agent with the Criminal Investigation Division. CNN
🌎 China Will Retaliate If the US Puts New Limits on Investment. Xie Feng, the nation’s new ambassador to the US, said that while China doesn’t want a trade or technology war, its leaders won’t sit on their hands in the face of US actions. Bloomberg
🌎 Why Britain’s most prestigious bank canceled Nigel Farage. Britain’s most prominent Brexiteer has produced a 12,000-word document from the bank Coutts which, according to Farage, reveals the truth behind the forced closure of his account there. Politico
🌎 Las Vegas police search home in connection to Tupac Shakur murder. Years ago, while stopped at a red light at East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane on the Las Vegas Strip, a white Cadillac pulled up to Shakur's vehicle and opened fire. CBS News
🌎 TikTok ‘stress test’ shows it’s not ‘fully ready’ for looming EU social media rules. TikTok has “more work” to do to meet tough new European standards that are coming for social media and content moderation. CNN
🌎 New Spy Wars: How China and Russia Use Intelligence Agencies to Undermine America. The clearest indication that the Kremlin continued its titanic struggle against the West even after the Soviet Union collapsed can be seen in the activities of Russia’s security and intelligence services. Foreign Affairs
🌎 Stanford University president announces his resignation after flaws were found in his research. Tessier-Lavigne said he was cleared of any fraud, but a probe found that researchers under him "engaged in inappropriate manipulation of research" that led to "significant flaws." NBC News
.png?upscale=true&width=800&upscale=true&name=ILLICIT%20EDGE%20(1200%20%C3%97%20200%20px).png)
