Happy Monday! It’s August 11, and we’re tracking top stories to start the week: Combat by Commerce: Trump's forever war in trade, leader of terrorist group pleads guilty, cartels can target witnesses after major court hack, crypto’s richest man campaigns for a pardon, and much more…

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🎯 FEATURED STORY

Combat by Commerce: Trump's forever war in trade. Trump has displayed a willingness to tear up trade deals he's negotiated, opening the possibility of never-ending trade hostilities. Quartz

🔥 TOP STORIES

Leader of Terrorist Group Pleads Guilty to Soliciting Murder and Conspiring to Provide Material Support to Terrorists DOJ

Cartels may be able to target witnesses after major court hack Politico

Flattery, Lobbyists and a Business Deal: Crypto’s Richest Man Campaigns for a Pardon NYT

China Detains Senior Diplomat Who Aided U.S. Relations WSJ

USPS blocks shipping of illicit vapes in boost for Big Tobacco Reuters

Very British bribery: the whistleblower who exposed the UK’s dodgy arms deals with Saudi Arabia Guardian

Secret Compartments and Cartel Lookouts: How Fentanyl Reaches the U.S. NYT

Hackers Went Looking for a Backdoor in High-Security Safes — and Now Can Open Them in Seconds Wired

‘Digital Child Trafficking’: Luhansk Officials Launch Child Adoption Database MT

Shadow fleet sustains Iran’s oil flows but sanctions drive up costs Iran Intl

Lifting sanctions on Putin for Trump meeting is a massive victory for Moscow Sky 

Israeli company reveals how users can hack ChatGPT accounts remotely JP

Posing as a migrant to infiltrate a cross-Channel gang BBC

Oligarchs spied on UK lawyers who ran Serious Fraud Office cases Guardian

🔥 PODCAST DROP!

FinCrime Unfiltered with Sarah Beth Felix
AI, Paxos, and a $26M Penalty
Watch on YouTube // Listen on Spotify / Apple

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

Nvidia and AMD to pay 15% of China chip sales revenues to the U.S. government CNBC 

Xi Looks to Tighten Grip After Scandals Shake China’s Military Elite NYT

Propaganda from the Bottom Up: How Government Messaging in China Reaches Fragmented Social Media Audiences Stanford

Iran and Russia stand to lose from U.S. deal with Azerbaijan and Armenia Guardian

Will EU-India ties survive the latest Russia sanctions? DW

CATL Suspends Output at China Lithium Mine for Three Months Bloomberg

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

How North Korea’s $1.5 billion hack exposed Asia’s crypto weaknesses SCMP 

Ghanaians Extradited For Stealing $100M Through Romance Scams DOJ

CrediX team vanishes after $4.5 million exploit, deletes socials and takes website offline Block

A Russian Hacking Group Is Using Fake Versions of MetaMask to Steal $1M in Crypto Decrypt

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

The Anticorruption Angle Foreign Affairs 

Vatican under fire for money laundering dodge Politico

DOJ investigates New York attorney general who won fraud case against Trump CNN

Affairs, fraud and attack ads: The dirty fight for the Texas Senate Telegraph

Ex-minister Tulip Siddiq on her Bangladesh corruption trial Guardian

🚚 TRAFFICKING

These Are Drug Cartels Designated as Terrorists by the U.S. NYT 

NYC to shut down last migrant hotel after shelling out $170M to crime-ridden shelter NYP

New U.S. bill aims to clamp down on money laundering through art holdings ICIJ

Lebanese Army Kills Top Drug Traffickers OCCRP

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