Hello Tuesday! It’s January 27, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: Iraqi spy chief warns of reemerging threat from ISIS as its ranks swell, Bank of Scotland fined £160,000 over account for sanctioned Putin ally, Academia is the Muslim Brotherhood’s quietest beachhead, Solar Companies Scramble To Hide China Ties, and much more…

🎯 FEATURED STORY

Iraqi spy chief warns of reemerging threat from ISIS as its ranks swell. Dramatic developments in northeastern Syria, where Syrian government troops pushed last week to retake territory long held by Kurdish-led forces, have sharpened concerns over a renewed Islamic State threat. Washington Post

🔥 TOP STORIES

Bank of Scotland fined £160,000 over account for sanctioned Putin ally Guardian

Academia is the Muslim Brotherhood’s quietest beachhead Washington Examiner

Solar Companies Scramble To Hide China Ties As Trump Readies Rules Barring Chinese Owned Green Energy Firms From Receiving Taxpayer Funds Free Beacon

Sanctioned Iranian banker amassed €400mn European property empire Financial Times

Why Muslims worldwide are being ‘debanked’ Guardian

UK crypto ‘debanking’ is getting worse, lobby group warns in damning report DL News

📘 Special Report: Chinese Language Money Laundering Networks Emerge as Major Facilitators of the Illicit Crypto Economy Chainalysis

Son of Norway’s Crown Prince Has Narcotics Charges Added to Sexual Assault Trial Vanity Fair

Investigation into International “ATM Jackpotting” Scheme and Tren de Aragua results in 87 Total Charged U.S. DOJ

Treasury Cancels Contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton U.S. Treasury

Global operation safeguards 4,400 potential trafficking victims, detects 13,000 irregular migrants INTERPOL

Rapid Buildup of Chinese Military Fuels Corruption Scandals Wall Street Journal

Albania Created an ‘A.I. Minister’ to Curb Corruption. Then Its Developers Were Accused of Graft. New York Times

Ex-Olympic snowboarder pleads not guilty to running a drug smuggling ring NBC

Reimpose sanctions on Syria Washington Times

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

Captain of suspected Russian shadow tanker in French custody BBC

Putin targets migrant smuggling networks to boost his ranks The Telegraph

TikTok blames data center outages for U.S. app problems, denies censorship claims CNBC

TikTok Is Now Collecting Even More Data About Its Users. Here Are the 3 Biggest Changes. WIRED

Germany’s Uniper Seeks $50M From Gazprom in Gas Transit Dispute Moscow Times

Energy firms face up to $4 billion payout after losing Karachaganak arbitration Reuters

🇮🇷 IRAN

Iran’s shadow fleet is fueling the Myanmar junta’s air war Reuters

Iran is selling more oil but making less money Wall Street Journal

Trump says Iran wants a deal as U.S. "armada" arrives Axios

Emory fires Iranian official's daughter after campus protests over controversial hiring decision Fox

Italy urges EU to list IRGC as 'terrorist organization' Euronews

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

Former NATO Official and Turkish Defense Contractor Indicted for Bribery Scheme Related to Military Contracts U.S. DOJ

Norway Indicts PetroNor Unit Over Alleged Congo Oil Bribes Bloomberg

Jewelry heist suspect’s deportation left victims 'in disbelief,' lawyer says Washington Post

The far-left network that helped put Alex Pretti in harm's way, then made him a martyr Fox

Los Angeles homeless services CEO charged with defrauding taxpayers to pay for luxury lifestyle AP

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

An Unlikely Source of Crypto Innovation: Afghanistan New York Times

UK plans sweeping overhaul of policing amid surge in online crimes The Record

Tether debuts federally regulated USAT stablecoin via Anchorage Digital CoinDesk

Individual behind $40M government wallet theft is son of seized-crypto contractor executive The Block

149M Login Credentials Leaked, Including 420,000 Binance Accounts Binance Square

🚚 TRAFFICKING

Federal sex trafficking trial begins for luxury real estate brokers and their brother NBC

Mass immigration is economic warfare and few Americans understand why Fox

Corporate Executives Sentenced for Sprawling Racketeering Conspiracy Aimed at Violating Immigration Laws U.S. DOJ

"Narco sub" sinks with drugs on board after record amount of cocaine seized from vessel off the Azores CBS

Evolving tactics in maritime cocaine trafficking operations Europol

“All money is a matter of belief.” —Adam Smith

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