Weekly News Digest - August 2

July 31 - DDTC’s Open General Licenses Reached Their July 31 Expiration: What Defense-Trade Participants Should Do Next. The licenses covered qualifying retransfers and reexports involving Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. No renewal was located in the materials reviewed, so this promising topic requires same-day confirmation with DDTC before publication. Official notice

July 29 - OFAC Targets Iran’s Strait of Hormuz “Insurance” Scheme: Maritime, Crypto, and Shadow-Fleet Risks. OFAC designated 10 entities and identified eight vessels on July 29. The novel hook is Treasury’s allegation that purported mandatory maritime insurance—including digital-asset payments—was generating revenue for Iran.

July 27 - Treasury Announces Second Round of Sanctions Removals, Updates in Modernization Initiative. On July 27, this actionthis action removed 84 individuals and entities and improved identifying information for 22 list entries to facilitate compliance.

July 2026 - INTERPOL’s New Africa Cyberthreat Assessment: AI Fraud and Cross-Border Investigations
INTERPOL reports that AI was involved “in some capacity” in 55% of cybercrime reported by surveyed African countries. The article could address synthetic identities, international evidence gathering, asset recovery, and cooperation barriers—while clarifying that the assessment is not a Red Notice, prosecution, or new legal rule. INTERPOL announcement