Plus: Singapore Busts $735M Laundering Ring Holding Bentleys and Luxury Houses...
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8/17/23

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Hello! It’s August 17, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: Inside the Russian effort to build 6,000 attack drones with Iran’s help, British Muslims say banks ruin lives with debanking policies, dismembered body of U.S. crypto mogul found in Bulgaria, Singapore busts $735 million laundering ring, and much more... 

Featured Story

 

🎯 Inside the Russian effort to build 6,000 attack drones with Iran’s help. Leaked documents show that Moscow is progressing toward its goal of mass-producing UAVs it could use to pummel Ukrainian cities. WaPo 

 

Top Stories

 

🌎 British Muslims Say Banks Ruin Lives With Debanking Policies. Since Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage declared that he’d lost his bank account with NatWest in June, the concept of debanking has catapulted into the spotlight. Bloomberg

 

🌎 Dismembered Body of U.S. Crypto Mogul Found in Bulgaria. The remains of Christian Peev, 41, who held U.S. and Bulgarian citizenship, were found stuffed in a toilet by plumbers who had been called to clear a blocked drain. Newsweek

 

🌎 Singapore Busts $735 Million Laundering Ring Holding Bentleys and Luxury Houses. Ten foreign nationals were arrested for committing forgery and money laundering after $735 million worth of cash and assets were seized in raids across the country. CNN

 

🌎 Former U.S. officials urge Congress to enhance Biden's China investment order. A bipartisan group of former senior U.S. national security officials urged Congress to dedicate resources to President Joe Biden's recent order restricting outbound U.S. investment to China. Reuters

 

🌎 China Is Buying the Most Iranian Oil in a Decade. The easing of a probe by Beijing into imports of bitumen mixture, which Iranian crude is sometimes disguised as, is speeding the passage of cargoes through customs. Bloomberg

 

🌎 NYC bans TikTok on city-owned devices. The directive comes after a review by the NYC Cyber Command, which found that TikTok “posed a security threat to the city’s technical networks.” The Verge

 

🌎 Sinclair Accused of Draining $1.5 Billion From Local Sports Unit. The complaint accuses Sinclair of charging Diamond exorbitant management fees totaling more than $100 million a year. Bloomberg

 

🌎 Trump supporters post names and addresses of Georgia grand jurors online. A fringe website featured the purported names and addresses of the Fulton County grand jury that indicted Trump and 18 other people for their efforts to overturn the 2020 election. NBC News

 

🌎 Coinbase wins approval to offer crypto futures trading in US. The move will allow Coinbase to offer bitcoin and ether futures directly to eligible U.S. customers. Until now, only its institutional clients could trade in such products. Reuters

 

🌎 Cartel hitman aged just 14 beheaded four victims as Mexico's lawlessness exposed. Researcher Ioan Grillo says that getting away with murder is almost routine in Mexico, with 98% of cartel executions going unsolved. Daily Star

 

🌎 Philly Criminal Lawyer Reveals Teen Terror Suspect Is His Son. A memo released by the DA alleges that the teenager had been in contact with Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ) – a Syria-based extremist group designated by the U.S. State Department as global terrorists. Daily Beast

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IN THE NEWS

Sanctions & Enforcement

 

🚨 Settlement Agreement between OFAC and Construction Specialties Inc. U.S. Treasury Department

 

🚨 US bars entry of three Congo public officials for 'significant corruption' Reuters

 

🚨 US sanctions Lebanese environmental group accused of being an arm of Hezbollah AP

 

🚨 US sanctions three companies linked to Russian arms deals with North Korea UPI

 

🚨 Swiss government lines up behind EU's 11th round of sanctions against Russia AP

 

🚨 US looks to ban imports, exports of a tropical fish threatened by aquarium trade AP

China & Russia

 

💥 China Adds World’s Biggest Energy Sector to Anti-Spy Push Bloomberg

 

💥 Coup in Niger Upends U.S. Terrorism Fight and Could Open a Door for Russia NY Times

 

💥 Russia got richer even as the war in Ukraine raged on last year Insider

 

💥 Race to Control Electric-Vehicle Supply Chains Leads to Africa WSJ

Corruption & Financial Crime

 

💸 Ex-Biden Iran envoy suspended for ‘mishandling classified docs’ lands Princeton teaching gig NY Post

 

💸 Campaign fundraiser for George Santos is indicted for impersonating top aide to House Speaker McCarthy CNN

 

💸 British Museum Fires Employee After Gems, Gold Jewelry Stolen CBS News

Crypto & Cyber

 

🔐 Trump Owns Even More Crypto Than First Known CoinDesk

 

🔐 Scam Crypto Tokens Proliferate on Blockchain Hatched by Coinbase Bloomberg

 

🔐 Dubai Fines Three Arrows Founders Over OPNX Crypto Project CoinDesk

 

🔐 Phishing campaign used QR codes to target large energy company The Record

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life." --Muhammad Ali

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