“You should be ashamed of yourself not standing up,” Trump snapped as he lashed out at the Democrats.
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Report Details Russia’s Shadowy Digital Pipeline Concealing $90BN In Crude Exports
Report Details Russia’s Shadowy Digital Pipeline Concealing $90BN In Crude Exports
Global sanctions meet the digital age in a recent interesting bit of FT analysis, which concluded that a single email server may have exposed what amounts to a $90 billion shadow pipeline for Russian crude.
While Western media and officials would consider this an ‘illicit’ sprawling sanctions-evasion machine hiding in plain sight, Moscow sees US-EU efforts to stamp out its international energy trade as an unjust tactic to impose total economic isolation related to the Putin’s ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine.
The Financial Times report alleges that “48 seemingly independent companies working from different physical addresses” in reality appear to be “operating together to disguise the origin of Russian oil, particularly from Kremlin-controlled Rosneft.”
Source: Shutterstock
Discovery of a common backend infrastructure reportedly exposes the scheme, as on the surface it looked like a fragmented web of independent traders – while digitally, it was one ecosystem.
For example, the FT identified 442 web domains all routed through the same private server – “mx.phoenixtrading.ltd” – with 19 of those domains reportedly tied to Russian businesses, spanning energy and real estate ventures, and curiously several are linked to Azeri nationals.
Among the heavy hitters identified are Dubai-based Foxton FZCO, listed in Russian export records as purchasing $5.6 billion worth of oil – and Advan Alliance appears in Indian customs data as having sold $1.5 billion in Russian crude into India.
Investigators further found the companies had remarkably short lifespans, suggesting fraud, and in some cases customs records revealed the average entity operated for just six months.
The report alleges additionally that once sanctioned a firm would often vanish, only to be replaced by a fresh corporate shell – leaving oversight authorities and enforcement lagging far behind.
The report further highlights in the wake of Trump sanctioning export giants Rosneft and Lukoil back in October 2025:
Since those sanctions were imposed, an otherwise unknown company in the network, “Redwood Global Supply”, has become the single largest exporter of Russian crude. The companies are linked to a group of Azeri businessmen with strong ties to Rosneft.
Ukraine and EU officials are calling for greater efforts to bust up such deceptive digital networks in order to starve the Russian war machine financially.
“The frequent changes of names of ships, managers and oil marketing companies… are long-standing deceptive shipping practices designed to obfuscate the destination, origin and ownership of cargoes and their logistics,” Michelle Wiese Bockmann of maritime intelligence firm Windward told the FT.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 02/25/2026 – 04:15
Scenes from the chamber: Trump touts economy, faces Democratic pushback at the State of the Union
Photos from President Donald Trump’s second-term State of the Union address show his remarks to Congress, Democratic protests in the chamber, and tributes to service members, veterans and invited guests at the Capitol.
Veterans Affairs secretary was designated survivor for State of the Union
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins served as the designated survivor during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, a long-standing security precaution meant to preserve continuity of government in the event of a catastrophe.Collins was also tasked with the role last year.Collins did not attend the joint session of Congress. Instead, he was escorted to a secure, undisclosed location for the duration of the address. The identity of the designated survivor is typically made public on the day of the speech, after the individual has been safely relocated.TRUMP SHATTERS CLINTON’S 26-YEAR-OLD RECORD FOR LONGEST STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESSThe role is part of the federal government’s continuity-of-government planning — a framework designed to ensure that constitutional leadership and core operations can continue if a catastrophic attack or disaster were to incapacitate officials gathered at the Capitol. The State of the Union presents a unique security concern because it brings together the president, vice president, members of Congress, the Supreme Court and much of the Cabinet in a single location.TRUMP RIPS SUPREME COURT TARIFF RULING IN SOTU, VOWS NEW LEGAL FIGHT AFTER 6-3 BLOWUnder the Presidential Succession Act, if a devastating event were to occur and those ahead in the line of succession were killed or incapacitated, the designated survivor — provided they meet constitutional requirements — could be sworn in as president.The practice dates back to the Cold War, when fears of a nuclear strike prompted new safeguards to protect the continuity of American leadership. While the designated survivor has never been called upon to assume the presidency, the role remains a visible symbol of the extensive security and contingency planning surrounding major national events.
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American tequila sales are collapsing. Diageo is cutting its dividend in half.
Diageo on Wednesday said it was cutting its dividend in half as it reduced its sales outlook, citing American consumer reluctance to spend due to affordability concerns.
Virginia Dem Gov. Abigail Spanberger delivers response to Trump’s State of the Union address
Virginia’s Gov. Abigail Spanberger asked three questions in the Democratic response to President Trump’s State of the Union address. “We did not hear the truth from our president,” she said on Tuesday night. “So let’s speak plainly and honestly.” “Is the president working to make life more affordable for you and your family?” she asked. Abigail Spanberger delivered…
Another Migrant Sex Offender Granted Asylum In Britain Despite Skipping Bail In Europe
Another Migrant Sex Offender Granted Asylum In Britain Despite Skipping Bail In Europe
Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,
An Afghan man accused of rape in Austria jumped bail and fled to Britain, where he was granted asylum and lived freely for over six years.
It is the second such case to be exposed this month after a similar incident involving a Syrian convicted of sexually assaulting a teenager in Germany, who failed to attend his probation hearings and illegally entered the U.K.
As revealed by The Sun newspaper, Omar Ali Noori, 31, arrived illegally in Britain in 2019 after fleeing Austria. He had been arrested in connection with the rape of a woman in Linz in 2018, but absconded while on bail before proceedings concluded.
Despite this, he was granted indefinite leave to remain for five years by the Home Office in 2023. His 23-year-old wife joined him in Britain last year.
Court records cited during an extradition hearing revealed that Noori had used four identities and five different dates of birth on official documents.
At Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Judge Neeta Minhas ordered that Noori, currently held at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London, be returned to Austria to serve a three-year prison sentence for absconding, in addition to facing the rape charge.
Judge Minhas said, “Noori was directly asked if he had committed or been accused of an offence in any country or whether he had been detained in any country. His response to both questions was in the negative. This was clearly not accurate. I find that Noori is a fugitive.”
Noori is now appealing his extradition back to Austria.
An almost mirror case was reported earlier this month after it emerged that Syrian national Azizadeen Alsheikh Suliman, 34, was convicted in Germany of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in Osnabrück in 2022.
According to German media reports, he approached the victim in the city center, under the pretext of asking for a cigarette, before attempting to kiss her and later sexually assaulting her in a nearby courtyard. He was also convicted of supplying drugs to a minor.
German courts handed Suliman a two-year suspended custodial sentence, conditional on probation, and ordered him to pay €3,000 in compensation to the victim. He later breached the terms of his probation and left Germany, prompting the issuance of a European arrest warrant.
Suliman subsequently travelled to Britain via a small boat across the English Channel. He applied for asylum using a different spelling of his name, enabling him to avoid detection for several years. He was housed in taxpayer-funded accommodation in the Greater Manchester area, where he lived with his wife and child before being identified by authorities.
An extradition request was upheld earlier this month, but has been appealed by Suliman. His legal team argues that he faces a risk to his life if returned to Germany because of a feud originating in Syria involving his cousin, and that extradition would breach Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights by separating him from his wife and child.
It is likely that Noori’s appeal will also focus on human rights legislation.
Read more here…
Tyler Durden
Wed, 02/25/2026 – 03:30