6/25/24

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Greetings! It’s June 25, and we’re tracking today's top stories: Hamas skims $1 billion in UN aid, Russia's crusade against DPRK sanctions, Japan orders compliance improvements at MUFG, Treasury targets shadow banking network moving billions for Iran’s military, and much more...

Featured Story

🎯 Hamas Skimmed $1B in U.N. Aid for Weapons and Tunnels. Israeli Terror Victims Sue UNRWA for Leading 'Billion-Dollar Money Laundering Operation That Funded Hamas'. Free Beacon

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🌎 Trump seeks to exclude evidence seized from Florida home in documents case. The evidence is foundational to the case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Reuters

🌎 U.S. moves Brunei, Sudan to blacklist. U.S. State Department moved Brunei and Sudan to Tier 3 on the annual Trafficking in Persons Report. VOA

🌎 Texas Children’s Hospital Still Leaning into Gender Ideology Even after Trans-Procedure Scandal. The hospital is at the center of a PR firestorm for covertly performing experimental surgeries on children. NR

🌎 Julian Assange reaches plea deal and walks. WikiLeaks founder has been held in a British prison for the last five years and fought extradition to the U.S. NBC

🌎 U.S. dollar's dominance secure, BRICS see no progress on de-dollarization. USD remains the world's reserve currency, and neither the euro nor the BRICS have been able to change status quo. Reuters

🌎 Inside the Chinese-funded and staffed marijuana farms springing up across the U.S. Workers were trafficked to a farm in New Mexico, prevented from leaving, and never got paid. NPR

🌎 ICC issues war crimes arrest warrants for Russia’s Shoigu and Gerasimov. The two warrants bring the total number of top Russian officials wanted for war crimes to four. CNN

🌎 LockBit claims FED breach, threatens release of 'Americans' banking secrets'. U.S. State Department has announced a $15M reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone involved in LockBit. UPI

🌎 The Global Jigsaw: The evolution of the Islamic State Group. After a lull in activities, in 2024 the Islamic State Group claimed several major attacks. BBC

Get much more of today's news at Illicit Edge...

IN THE NEWS

Russia

🇷🇺 EU targets Russia’s LNG ghost fleet AP

🇷🇺 Export controls on Russia might be working better than you think Politico

🇷🇺 EU approves up to €1.4B military aid to Ukraine from Russian frozen assets Politico

🇷🇺 Bankers who helped Putin's friend move millions via Swiss bank accounts lose appeal Reuters

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China

🇨🇳 Millions in Taxpayer Cash Awarded to Subsidiary of U.S.-Sanctioned CCP ‘Military Company’ Free Beacon

🇨🇳 US probing China Telecom, China Mobile over internet, cloud risks Reuters

🇨🇳 ByteDance working with Broadcom to develop advanced AI chip Reuters

🇨🇳 Huawei isn’t just back from the dead. It’s a force to be reckoned with. CNN

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Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Inside the staggering rise of sextortion schemes targeting teen boys Fast Company

💸 Qatari Foreign Agents Secretly Paid $250K for PBS Documentary Free Beacon

💸 EU prosecutors launch bombshell corruption probe into former EI Bank chief Politico

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Crypto & Cyber

🔐 Donor to Anti-Bitcoin Rep. Brad Sherman Coordinates With China’s “Magic Weapon” Bitcoin Mag

🔐 BlackSuit Cybercrime Gang Blamed in CDK Hack That Roiled Car Dealers Bloomberg

🔐 Mt. Gox to Begin Repayments in July; BTC Slides Under $61K CoinDesk

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Iran

💥 Planes flying from Lithuania to SE Asia mysteriously land in Iran JP

💥 Iran, Bahrain start talks on releasing Iranian funds Reuters

💥 Iran’s New Nuclear Threat Foreign Affairs