Hello Wednesday! It’s February 12, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: Trump fires USAID’s top watchdog after reports of billions wasted on educating al Qaeda terrorist, Russia targets tycoons with foreign ties in wartime assets grab, Binance cleans up after paying the price, DOJ announces lawsuit against New York, Hochul and state AG James over ‘sanctuary’ status, and much more…

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💥 FEATURED STORY

Trump fires USAID’s top watchdog after reports of billions wasted on educating al Qaeda terrorist. News of Martin’s departure came as unearthed records showed USAID had shelled out thousands to send American-born jihadist Anwar al-Awlaki to Colorado State University back in 1990. NYP

🎯 TOP STORIES

Russia Targets Tycoons With Foreign Ties in Wartime Assets Grab Bloomberg

Binance Moved Fast, Broke Things – and Paid the Price. Richard Teng Is Cleaning It Up. Wired

DOJ announces lawsuit against New York, Hochul and state AG James over ‘sanctuary’ status ABC 

The cost of Trump’s lifeline to Eric Adams Politico

Russian money launderer is being released in exchange for Marc Fogel CNN 

India Is Building a Sanctions-Proof Supply Chain for Russian Oil Bloomberg 

Trump freezes U.S. law banning bribery of foreign officials CBS 

US spy planes hunt for intel on Mexican drug cartels CNN

DeFi Lending Platform zkLend Drained of $9.5 Million in Exploit Decrypt 

Sicily's gangsters complain they can't get the staff BBC 

2024 Corruption Perceptions Index Transparency International

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🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

Russia lashes out at EU plans to seize its ‘shadow fleet’ in the Baltic Sea Politico

Ukraine Seeks $300B of Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons Bloomberg 

China Hawk Picked for Key US Commerce Dept Job Reuters

Former Aide to Democratic Governors Faces New Charges in Foreign Agent Case Newsweek 

Chinese Companies’ New Tactic to Stop Damaging Research: Legal Threats NYT

Switzerland Adopts 15th EU Sanctions Package Against Russia Swiss Govt 

US sanctions strand Iran, Russia oil on tankers, driving up crude costs Reuters

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

Musk’s X Agrees to Pay About $10M to Settle Trump Lawsuit WSJ 

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan convicted on 10 corruption counts CBS 

Panama vessel registry says it is 'not a haven for sanctions evasion' Reuters

Trump pardons disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich NPR

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

Trump Has Made His Major Decisions on His Crypto Regulation Team CoinDesk

US, UK, Australia sanction Zservers for hosting crypto ransomware LockBit Cointelegraph 

U.S. adversaries increasingly turning to cybercriminals and their malware for help Cyberscoop 

Subgroup of Russia’s Sandworm compromising US and European organizations Record 

New hack uses prompt injection to corrupt Gemini’s long-term memory Ars

🚚 TRAFFICKING

261 trafficking victims rescued from Myanmar scam center VOA

Crackdown on Narcos Reveals Lithuanian Trafficking Group OCCRP

Arrests of US citizens for cartel-related crimes in Mexico soared under AMLO Guardian 

Illegal immigrants streaming back home after being blocked by Trump’s border Wash Times 

Smuggler reveals migration routes to US for Indian migrants ABC

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