Hello!  It’s May 7, and we’re tracking today's top stories: Russia’s budget getting twice as much oil money as year ago, U.S. sanctions Lockbit ransomware gang, the rise of white terrorists who set out to kill minorities and immigrants, 13 federal judges say they will no longer hire law clerks from Columbia University, and much more...    

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Featured Story

🎯 Russia’s budget getting twice as much oil money as year ago. Russia has been able to circumvent price caps by deploying a shadow fleet of tankers and expanding the circle of non-western oil buyers. Bloomberg

🚩 EU proposes first sanctions on Russia’s LNG sector Politico

Top Stories

🌎 U.S. Sanctions Senior Leader of the LockBit Ransomware Group. The U.S reveals the identity of and imposes sanctions on Dmitry Khoroshev, a senior leader of the ransomware group. U.S. Treasury

🌎 The rise of white terrorists who set out to kill minorities and immigrants. No one wanted to believe their neighbors may be radicalizing around them until a seemingly ordinary German trio committed mass murder. Telegraph

🌎 13 Federal Judges Say They Will No Longer Hire Law Clerks From Columbia University. While 12 judges joined the Yale boycott anonymously, this marks the first time that more than two judges have said on the record that they will not hire graduates from an elite university. Free Beacon

🌎 Binance CEO Says Nigeria Must Release Gambaryan, Detention Sets Dangerous New Precedent. In January the company refused to pay a demand from "unknown persons" to settle allegations. CoinDesk

🔐 Indonesian Authorities Bust Synthetic Marijuana Lab Supported by Crypto CoinDesk

🌎 The Secret Weakness of TikTok’s All-Powerful Algorithm. It didn’t take much effort to recast the secretive algorithm as a weapon — or digital fentanyl — making the prospect of a ban or forced sale first plausible, then imminent. NY Mag

🌎 China hacked UK Ministry of Defense. The cyberattack hit payroll system with service personnel and veterans – names and bank details have been exposed. Sky

🌎 FAA Opens New Boeing Inquiry Over 787 Inspections. Jet maker recently said employees may have skipped some Dreamliner checks tied to electrical safeguards. AP

🌎 Newly unsealed grand jury testimony from Trump’s valet helps explain FBI’s desire to search Mar-a-Lago. Nauta’s account was corroborated by a second witness, whose identity is not publicly known. CNN

💥 Ex-top Biden DOJ official now prosecuting Trump was once paid by DNC for political consulting Fox

🌎 First these Army families lost their loved ones. Then the man assigned to help them took their money. Caz Craffy was an Army financial counselor who was supposed to help Gold Star families, but he bilked them instead. NBC

🌎 U.S. senators threaten ICC with sanctions if they seek Netanyahu’s arrest. Neither Israel nor the U.S. is a member of the ICC, though the Palestinian territories have member status. Hill

📕 Prepared Remarks of FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki During the SIFMA AML Conference FinCEN

IN THE NEWS

Russia

🇷🇺 Russian Oil Product Cargoes Stranded as South Korea Cracks Down Bloomberg

🇷🇺 TradeXBank to resume full operations after Sberbank Switzerland taken off sanctions list Swissinfo

🇷🇺 EU Aims to Target 11 Russian Ships Involved in Sanctions Busting Bloomberg

🇷🇺 Commission floats EU-wide sanctions against Voice of Europe Politico

🇷🇺 EU Aims to Bar Russian Funds to Parties Before European Vote Bloomberg

🔥 Get more news at Illicit Edge!

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China

🇨🇳 China’s cheating threatens to wreck Paris Olympics Politico

🇨🇳 China’s Ant Group doubles down on global expansion with cross border payments offering Alipay+ CNBC

🇨🇳 China is guiding Iran's deadly new drone Express

🇨🇳 China, Djibouti and the Tory MP WSJ

🇨🇳 China's Sinopec in talks for gas offtake, stake in Canada's Cedar LNG Reuters

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Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Archegos boss Bill Hwang's trial to test unusual manipulation theory Reuters

💸 Goldman Sachs criminal case over 1MDB formally ends Reuters

💸 The People Setting America on Fire Tablet

💸 Signal’s Katherine Maher Problem City Journal

💸 Malta’s ex-PM Muscat charged in connection with hospital sell-off scandal Politico

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Crypto & Cyber

🔐 Bitcoin Mixers Pull Out of the U.S. Amid Regulatory Heat Decrypt

🔐 Biden administration rolls out international cybersecurity plan Politico

🔐 Australia’s Tax Office Tells Crypto Exchanges to Hand Over Transaction Details of 1.2 Million Accounts CoinDesk

🔐 Poloniex hacker launders $3.4M via Tornado Cash mixer Block

🔐 Microsoft Creates Top Secret Generative AI Service for U.S. Spies Bloomberg

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Trafficking

🚚 Trump vows to deport nearly 20M illegal immigrants who have entered the U.S. Post Millenial

🚚 Colombian maritime companies hit with U.S. visa curbs over migrant transport Reuters

🚚 Law enforcement dismantle cocaine lab in Spain with 100 kg monthly capacity Europol

🚚 Report shows CBP expanding mass surveillance system along Mexican border Record

"They muddy the water, to make it seem deep.” -- Nietzsche

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