The cost of war risk insurance—cover that shipping companies buy before sailing through hot spots—has roughly doubled for Red Sea voyages over the past week, said an insurance executive. Costas Paris Joe Wallace

266 days in Russian captivity Free Evan #IStandwithEvan freegershkovich.com

My friend and colleague Evan Gershkovich won't be with his family during the holidays. Instead, he'll be in a Russian jail cell, detained on bogus allegations as he has been since March. Share his story. Save a seat for Evan. #IStandWithEvan #FreeEvan

Yesterday marked yet another grim milestone in the detention of my friend and The Wall Street Journal colleague Evan Gershkovich: 300 days. Evan was detained by Russia simply for doing journalism. Grateful to everyone who continues to share his story and call for his release.

The mystery revealed. "Subterfuge appears to be integral to the operation." wsj.com/business/energ… Joe Wallace Anna Hirtenstein Costas Paris

I'm honored to be on the repoting team for this. Hats off to Joe Wallace & Anna Hirtenstein. A clandestine trading and shipping empire that moves vast quantities of Russian oil to global markets—and sidesteps Western sanctions. wsj.com/business/energ… via The Wall Street Journal

A little-known trader from Azerbaijan named Etibar Eyyub assembled a clandestine trading and shipping empire that moves vast quantities of Russian oil, and emerged as Rosneft's premier middleman. Costas Paris Anna Hirtenstein Alex Frangos wsj.com/business/energ…

BOOK ALERT🚨: I'm excited to share with you all that my book on Afghanistan, based on 8 years of reporting, will be published by Farrar,Straus&Giroux in August. "Twenty Years: Hope, War, and the Betrayal of an Afghan Generation" is available for preorder now: us.macmillan.com/books/97803746…

How a little-known Azerbaijani trader built a secretive shipping empire that moves vast amounts of Russian oil to China, India and other markets, defying efforts to choke off Putin's oil cash. ⁦Joe Wallace⁩ ⁦Anna Hirtenstein⁩ ⁦Costas Paris⁩ wsj.com/business/energ…

When the West tried to sever Russia from its financial system, Moscow found workarounds. Now, Washington’s efforts to close loopholes appear to be paying off. wsj.com/finance/bankin… via The Wall Street Journal benoit faucon Joe Wallace

Hell of a thing to see this guy last night at Andrew’s airbase. The first thing he said to me ⁦drew hinshaw⁩ was; “I hear you have a great story today.”

Our The Wall Street Journal colleague is free and we have three stories on the front. Doesn’t get much better in our game. I’m going on holiday now.

One of Clark’s first tasks was to travel to Sudan to arrange gold exports from mines Srivastava claimed to own. Srivastava later scammed millions by posing as a CIA operative, then used donations to cozy up to powerful people in Washington. wsj.com/politics/natio… via The Wall Street Journal

The fake spy, the oil trader and the four-star general. Nicholas Bariyo, Costas Paris, Elisa Cho, searcherJim wsj.com/politics/natio…

Many outside Europe don't realize how violent organized crime has become here. If anyone embodies that trend, it's drug lord Ridouan Taghi who was recently sentenced to life but is still a major threat to society, even from jail. My story from Amsterdam: wsj.com/world/europe/e…

Exclusive: Moscow is exploring a plan to merge oil giants into a single national champion, tightening President Putin’s grip over global energy markets and Russia’s wartime economy. Story w/ Costas Paris & Joe Wallace wsj.com/business/energ…

Exclusive - A plan to merge Russia’s three big oil companies would create the world’s second-largest crude producer behind Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, pumping almost three times the output of Exxon Mobil wsj.com/business/energ… via The Wall Street Journal Joe Wallace Anna Hirtenstein

The U.K. sanctioned a secretive oil-trading company that it described as a linchpin in Russia’s oil market. The company’s activities were first documented by the Journal earlier this year Costas Paris Anna Hirtenstein Alex Frangos wsj.com/business/energ…

The U.S. isn’t sure what to do with $2 billion that Russia has stuck at JPMorgan. The money was frozen after Justice Department investigators found Russia and Turkey had used a nuclear plant to sidestep U.S. sanctions. wsj.com/politics/polic… via The Wall Street Journal Jared Malsin Joe Wallace

Was fun to help Joe Wallace on background for this #gold long-form good read in the WSJ today. Deja vu all over again from Liz Hoffman & Joe’s gold piece during the pandemic, the last time the NY-London EFP blew out like this. If anyone wants further background on what’s