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🎯 Armenia funnels U.S. cars to Russia in blatant sanctions evasion scheme. Unprecedented sanctions levied on Moscow have created a business opportunity for used car dealers like 31-year-old Yaroslav Kolchenko, who sips a coffee in the sun near the queue. AFP
Top Stories
🌎 A Global Web of Chinese Propaganda Leads to a U.S. Tech Mogul. Behold a financial network that stretches from Chicago to Shanghai and uses American nonprofits to push Chinese talking points worldwide. NY Times
🌎 Cartels Cashing In Big Time on Biden's Border Woes. The cartels have taken advantage of desperate migrants, increasing fees during their perilous journeys and forcing them to traffic drugs. Fox News
🌎 To catch fentanyl traffickers, feds dig into crypto markets. While US diplomats have made fentanyl a point of emphasis in high-level talks with Mexico and China, a multi-agency effort is underway to keep pace with the rapidly changing nature of how fentanyl is trafficked into the US. CNN
🌎 Biden order curbing investment to China expected this week. The goal of the order is to prevent U.S. capital and expertise from accelerating the development of technologies that support China's military and threaten U.S. national security. CNBC
🌎 Upstart Traders of Russian Oil Had Connections in Common. As fallout from the Ukraine war upended global energy markets, one of the biggest mysteries has surrounded the pack of upstart traders that stepped in to handle Russian oil as western firms pulled back. Bloomberg
🌎 The West Sanctioned Russia’s Billionaires. Now They’re Fighting Back. While high-profile oligarchs are pushing back on their sanctions in European courts, so far they haven’t challenged their U.S. sanctions “for the simple reason that they don’t think they are going to win.” WSJ
🌎 JPMorgan stops processing Russia grain payments. The Russian Agricultural Bank, or Rosselkhozbank, was cut off from the SWIFT international payments system by the European Union last year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Politico
🌎 Iraq seeks Interpol alerts for former officials over $2.5 billion graft. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has said one of his priorities is fighting the rampant corruption that pervades the Iraqi state. Reuters
🌎 The FBI is investigating a multiple-state hospital ransomware attack. The attack, which began last Thursday, shut down emergency rooms and primary care services in several states. The Verge
🌎 Serbia Disregards US Sanctions on Bosnian Serbs. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the sanctioned ethnic Serb officials from neighboring Bosnia will still be welcome in Serbia. AP
🌎 Putin Bars 'Unfriendly' Foreigners from Russian Firms. Under the law, the rights of foreign investors from unfriendly countries – those that have imposed sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine – could be suspended, and their shares distributed among Russian owners. Reuters
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