Hello Saturday! It’s November 9, and we’re tracking top stories to take you through the weekend: Russia explores plan to merge oil giants into mega producer, crypto ‘mixer’ gets 12 1/2 years for money laundering, Spanish phone giant Telefónica to pay $85M to resolve US probe of Venezuelan bribery scheme, Trump to revive ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran, and much more…

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Featured Story

🎯 Russia Explores Plan to Merge Oil Giants Into Mega Producer. The resulting company would easily be the world’s second-biggest crude producer, pumping three times the output of Exxon Mobil. WSJ

🇷🇺 EU’s Von der Leyen Suggests US LNG Could Replace Russian Supply Bloomberg

Top Stories

🌎 Crypto ‘Mixer’ Gets 12 1/2 Years for Money Laundering. Sterlingov provided a service that jumbled digital tokens to make it more difficult to find the source of proceeds from illegal activities. Bloomberg 

🌎 Spanish phone giant Telefónica to pay $85M to resolve US probe of Venezuelan bribery scheme. Spain’s largest telecommunications operator to resolve a DOJ investigation into a scheme to bribe Venezuelan officials with a lavish Caribbean vacation and expensive watches. AP

🌎 Trump to revive ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran via sanctions. One of his first priorities will be to renew his campaign against Iran by backing Israeli strikes against the Islamic Republic while imposing sanctions on Tehran’s oil exports. NYP

🚩 3 charged in Iran-linked murder plots, with one targeting Donald Trump ABC 

🌎 A Xi Enforcer Is Revving Up China’s Spy Machine – and Alarming the West. Agency accused of vast cyberattacks on U.S. has grown more powerful with trusted protégé of Chinese leader at the helm. WSJ 

🌎 Californians Finally Get Serious on Crime. On Tuesday, voters decided to trust their own eyes. What took so long? Free Press

🌎 ‘The king is back:’ Binance billionaire CZ plots life after prison. Now a self-described passive investor in crypto, Zhao claims his “felon status” hasn’t deterred people from doing business with him. Fortune

🌎 Plea deals revived for alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others. A military judge voids an order by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to throw out the deals. AP 

🚩 On Election Day, Biden-Harris Admin Quietly Waived Terrorism Sanctions on Palestinian Government Free Beacon

Russia & China

📌 ECB pushes Raiffeisen, UniCredit to hold capital for Russia risk Reuters 

📌 Top China Hedge Fund Urges Clients to Pull Cash on Trump Risks Bloomberg 

📌 House panel questions chip manufacturing equipment makers over any ties to China Hill 

📌 Trump attorney’s phone tapped by Chinese hackers CNN

Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Massive corruption scandal in Jackson, Miss.: Mayor, DA, councilman all indicted USAT 

💸 Qatar agrees to kick Hamas out of Doha following US request CNN 

💸 Bill Hwang’s Lawyers Suggest No Prison Time in Archegos Case Bloomberg

💸 Two Swiss men charged with money laundering Swissinfo

Crypto & Cyber

🔐 CEO of Canadian Crypto Holding Returns Safely After Paying $720K Ransom CoinDesk 

🔐 Digital ID Trials Test Anonymous KYC For Mainland Chinese In Hong Kong Forbes 

🔐 Lost Money in the 2016 Bitfinex Hack? DOJ Says There Are 'No Victims' Decrypt

Trafficking

🚚 Federal judge strikes down Harris-Biden admin effort to grant ‘amnesty’ to illegal migrants married to US citizens NYP 

🚚 Adviser to El Chapo son indicted in Chicago CST 

🚚 Are giant rats the future in sniffing out wildlife trafficking? USAT

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

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