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Farmers in both are fighting a losing battle to save the soil that produces our food. By contrast, there's not enough water in the vast Yangtze basin, which produces a third of China's crops. Soil erosion could lead to a 10% loss in global crop production by 2050, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Similarly, other measures such as digging thousands of new wells and encouraging farmers to switch crops to boost yields have limited impact. Options include not tilling soil to reduce erosion, and planting off-season cover crops to prevent erosion and nutrient loss.

Companies Theranos Inc FollowNov 11 (Reuters) - Elizabeth Holmes urged a U.S. judge not to send her to prison, as the founder of Theranos Inc prepares to be sentenced next week for defrauding investors in the blood testing start-up. "We ask that the court consider, as it must, the real person, the real company and the complex circumstances surrounding the offense." Holmes founded Theranos in 2003 at age 19, before dropping out of Stanford University. Theranos was once valued at $9 billion, and Forbes magazine in 2015 estimated Holmes' net worth at $4.5 billion. More than 130 friends, family, investors and former Theranos employees submitted letters to Davila urging leniency for Holmes.

☆ Partners Group buys data center platform EdgeCore Digital with $1.2 bln investment
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Krystal Hu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 11 (Reuters) - Swiss private investment company Partners Group Holding AG (PGHN.S) is investing up to $1.2 billion in U.S. data center operator EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure, the private equity firm told Reuters. Partners Group will use the fund to acquire a majority stake in EdgeCore and help it build out new data center sites across the United States, the latest of Partners' investment in data center assets. Some of the themes include cloud computing, machine learning, artificial intelligence, 5G and mobile," said Ed Diffendal, managing director at Partners Group. In 2021, Partners Group made four digital infrastructure investments, including acquiring atNorth, the largest data center operator in Iceland. Founded in 1996, Partners Group manages $119 billion across private equity, real estate, infrastructure, credit and secondaries globally.

☆ Meet the 19 Y Combinator group partners and visiting advisors coaching the famed incubator's Winter 2023 startup class
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Y Combinator assigns a group partner or visiting group partner to founders in its cohorts. YC group partners are expert advisors from many fields like biotech, fintech, and data analytics. Here are 19 group partners and visiting group partners coaching founders in the Winter '23 lineup. Visiting group partners, who work with Y Combinator on a temporary basis, also advise the startups. Many group partners and visiting group partners have gone through the accelerator themselves in past years as startup founders.

☆ Xi shook up the power order in China, but the world should expect little change — because Xi is still the complete puppet master, 2 experts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Last month, Xi Jinping announced who would join him to be the top seven officials in China. Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty ImagesBoosted to the second-in-command spot by Xi, Li is thought to be one of the president's closest protégés. Having been the lowest-ranked member of the previous standing committee, Zhao has jumped four positions to get to his current role. It indicates to me that Xi Jinping is satisfied with the work that Zhao has done," said Loh. "Xi Jinping makes it very clear.

☆ No immediate end in sight for China’s costly zero-Covid policy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Hong Kong CNN —China has reiterated its unswerving commitment to its longstanding zero-Covid policy, despite mounting public frustration the stringent measures are costing the very lives they’re intended to protect. Tragic cases perceived to be linked to the policy have gained momentum online as people question why it should continue. In another tragedy that sparked nationwide outrage, a 3-year-old boy died of gas poisoning Wednesday at a locked down compound in the northwestern city of Lanzhou after Covid restrictions delayed rescue efforts. VCG/Visual China Group/Getty ImagesA long way homeEven in places not under extended lockdowns, the constant Covid testing edicts and stringent travel restrictions have fueled growing discontent. In a series of Weibo posts, he openly questioned the far reaching travel restrictions and criticized propaganda efforts exaggerating Covid deaths overseas.

☆ China posts 6-month high Covid count as it sticks with strategy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

China recorded 4,420 new locally transmitted Covid-19 infections on Saturday, the National Health Commission said, the most since May 6 and compared up from 3,659 new local cases a day earlier. At a news conference on Saturday, health officials reiterated their commitment to the "dynamic-clearing" approach to Covid cases as soon as they emerge. China's anti-Covid measures are "completely correct, as well as the most economical and effective", said disease control official Hu Xiang. China's capital Beijing reported 43 symptomatic and six asymptomatic cases, compared with 37 symptomatic and five asymptomatic cases the previous day. Still, the annual Beijing marathon took place on Sunday morning under strict Covid protocols, after being cancelled the previous two years.

☆ China posts 6-month high COVID count as it sticks with strategy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

At a news conference on Saturday, health officials reiterated their commitment to the "dynamic-clearing" approach to COVID cases as soon as they emerge. China's anti-COVID measures are "completely correct, as well as the most economical and effective", said disease control official Hu Xiang. China's capital Beijing reported 43 symptomatic and six asymptomatic cases, compared with 37 symptomatic and five asymptomatic cases the previous day. Still, the annual Beijing marathon took place on Sunday morning under strict COVID protocols, after being cancelled the previous two years. Reporting by Ella Cao and Tony Munroe; Editing by Michael Perry and William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ America's next main battle tank may be a slimmed-down, high-tech version of the iconic Abrams
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The US military has fielded the Abrams tank for more than 40 years. General Dynamics, which builds the Abrams, recently unveiled an updated version of the M1. The diet M1General Dynamics' AbramsX tank. US soldiers do maintenance on an Abrams tank in Germany in August 2017. "If you keep the armor protection at a very minimal level, that's how we achieve the 60 tons," Reese said.

☆ Unseen Jan. 6 Video Shows Lawmakers' Response to Capitol Attack
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Watch: China’s Space Station Takes Shape With Docking of Final Module After a 13-hour flight, China successfully docked the final module to its space station. Mengtian, which translates to “Dreaming of the Heavens,” is designed to study physics and microgravity and marks a milestone in China’s plan to become a global space power. Photo: Hu Zhixuan/Xinhua via ZUMA Press

☆ Midterms 2022: Where Republicans and Democrats Stand on the Issues
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ China vows to continue with 'dynamic-clearing' COVID strategy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The country's strict COVID containment approach is still able to control the virus, despite the high transmissibility of COVID variants and asymptomatic carriers, an official from the China National Health Commission told a news conference. Asked if there would be a change of policy in the near term, disease control official Hu Xiang said China's measures are "completely correct, as well as the most economical and effective." The briefing followed a week in which markets surged on hope China would relax restrictions, buoyed further on Friday when a former disease control official told a banking conference that China would make "substantial" changes to COVID policy in the coming months. "We attach great importance to these problems and are rectifying them," said Tuo Jia, another disease control official. China reported 3,837 new COVID-19 infections for Friday, of which 657 were symptomatic and 3,180 were asymptomatic, a slight decrease from the six-month-high of 4,045 new COVID-19 infections reported a day earlier.

☆ Logistics startup Flexport plans hiring spree, to double engineers in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Krystal Hu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Flexport, one of the most valuable logistics startups, is looking to add about 400 engineers to double its technical team by next year, a top company executive told Reuters. Flexport raised $935 million led by venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and MSD Partners earlier this year at a valuation of $8 billion. Founded in 2013 by Ryan Petersen, Flexport enables buyers, sellers and their logistics partners to ship, store and trade goods on its digital platform. The expanded team will work on building the core product, and improve the tracking system and add more automation to the platform. Flexport currently has over 3,200 employees across the world, and now has a hybrid work policy, requiring employees to work for two to three days in the office.

☆ Chinese leader Xi Jinping's power grab fueled a $6 trillion stock selloff and the yuan's decline. These 4 charts capture the market meltdown.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

China's President Xi Jinping has tightened his grip on power — and that has rocked markets. Investors dumped Chinese stocks in a $6 trillion blowout as Xi shut reformers out of decision making. Spooked investors dumped Chinese stocks in a $6 trillion blowout Monday, according to Bloomberg data. Under Xi, the People's Bank of China has tended to favor softer yuan fixes, allowing the currency to depreciate. Alibaba, the largest US-listed Chinese stock by market value, fell 12% Monday, and about 46% this year so far.

[1/2] The Truth social network logo is seen displayed behind a woman holding a smartphone in this picture illustration taken February 21, 2022. The involvement of the previously unnamed financial backers of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) – parent company of social media app Truth Social – shows how Trump tapped his political supporters to launch an outlet aimed at political conservatives and libertarians after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on Congress. TMTG launched Truth Social in February in the Apple App Store and in Google’s Play Store in October. Truth Social has been downloaded 2.9 million times across both platforms, according to market tracker Appfigures. Trump had 4.37 million followers on Truth Social as of Oct. 27, compared to the more than 88 million followers he had on Twitter when the platform permanently suspended him.

[1/2] The Truth social network logo is seen displayed behind a woman holding a smartphone in this picture illustration taken February 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationOct 28 (Reuters) - Ever since former U.S. President Donald Trump launched a new media company aimed at rivaling Twitter, there has been a mystery over who provided the money. TMTG launched Truth Social in February in the Apple App Store and in Google’s Play Store in October. Truth Social has been downloaded 2.9 million times across both platforms, according to market tracker Appfigures. Trump had 4.37 million followers on Truth Social as of Oct. 27, compared to the more than 88 million followers he had on Twitter when the platform permanently suspended him.

☆ Claude Monet, Larry Fink, and Ted Cruz: Climate stunts grab headlines but can they get results?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

That was an improvement over the previous year, but still not nearly enough given the threat the climate crisis presents for humanity, Hu told Insider. "I could spend 20 minutes talking about the destruction from climate change. "More people are aware of this climate crisis and that we have to do something about it because of our actions," Harris said. "Journalists don't report on the climate crisis like it is an emergency. Ridiculous stunts like the art action gets the climate crisis into the headlines and millions of people talking."

☆ Crypto exchange Binance, Musk's co-investor, to help Twitter with blockchain
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Krystal Hu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Darrin Zammit LupiOct 28 (Reuters) - Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange that has invested $500 million into Elon Musk's buyout of Twitter Inc, is creating a team to work on how blockchain and crypto could be helpful to Twitter, the company's spokesperson said on Friday. As one of Elon Musk's equity co-investors to fund his $44 billion deal, Binance said it will brainstorm plans and strategies that could help Elon Musk run the platform. In November 2021, Twitter launched an internal crypto team to build features that involve such technologies. In text messages with confidants that were released as part of the litigation with Twitter, Musk discussed the possibility of placing Twitter on the blockchain, though he later appeared to decide such a move would not work. Binance's Chief Executive Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, is an active Twitter user with over 7 million followers on the platform.

☆ What happened to former Chinese leader Hu Jintao?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Analysis Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

China's former leader Hu Jintao is lifted from his chair by a young aide at the closing of the Communist Party Congress on Saturday. Neither has the incident been reported in Chinese language media, or discussed on Chinese social media, where conversations around senior leaders are highly restricted. Former Chinese leader Hu Jintao is taken by the arm and escorted out. “For whatever reasons, Xi ordered Hu to be escorted out when he must have thought that Hu might not behave exactly as Xi would have wanted,” he said. Former Chinese leader Hu Jintao pats the shoulder of his protege, Premier Li Keqiang.

HONG KONG — Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s first two terms in power were marked by intensifying competition and tensions with the United States. The United States does not seek conflict with China, Biden told a meeting of his top military advisers Wednesday. “China stands ready to work with the United States to find the right way to get along with each other in the new era,” he said. But China under Xi has a “superficial stability,” Johnson said. Hulton Deutsch / Corbis via Getty ImagesAt 69, Xi has appointed no obvious successor, indicating he may plan to stay in power indefinitely.

☆ Hu Jintao’s Removal From China’s Party Congress, a Frame-by-Frame Breakdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( James T. Areddy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Observers are debating the meaning of the removal, apparently ordered by Xi Jinping. While the move indicated the leader's power, many also saw Hu Jintao as an elderly man in distress; later, illness was the official explanation.

Then, two men led Mr. Hu — who appeared reluctant to go — out of Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. Was Mr. Hu, 79, suffering from poor health, as Chinese state media would later report? When the aide finally succeeds in coaxing Mr. Hu from his chair, Mr. Li, the No. As the two aides begin guiding Mr. Hu away from his seat, the older leader stops to say something to Mr. Xi. The state broadcaster’s news program that night showed footage of Mr. Hu voting, and then his empty seat later in the ceremony, without explanation.

☆ China's Xi deals knockout blow to once-powerful Youth League faction
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

BEIJING, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The three most glaring omissions from China's new Communist Party leadership share one common trait: all rose through its Youth League and were considered members of a once-powerful faction whose influence Xi Jinping has now effectively crushed. "On Hu Chunhua, I think this has been Xi Jinping's main tactic of shutting down the youth league faction," said Victor Shih, an expert on elite politics in China and a professor at the University of California, San Diego. "They are completely defeated," said Cheng Li, a specialist on the transformation of political leaders in China, referring to the sidelining of the Youth League faction. The Youth League has been active in attacking foreign brands accused of misbehaviour in China, such as false advertising. The Youth League did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

☆ On China's internet, only plaudits for the party and Xi
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Eduardo Baptista | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING, Oct 24 (Reuters) - While financial markets judged the outcome of China's Communist Party Congress harshly on Monday, on China's internet the only permitted response has been full-throated support. But no such reaction was visible on China's internet, which was already heavily policed and saw a tightening up of censorship before and during the Congress, analysts said. Some social media users voiced criticism in opaquely written posts. State and party groups across China, meanwhile, promoted the Congress energetically in their online postings, highlighting praise for Xi and the outcome of the party's deliberations. Hashtags for state media congress coverage dominated the top of Weibo's viral topics list.

☆ What Cramer is watching Monday — Fed pivot, Xi consolidates, DHR and META downgrades
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Mizuho doesn't like it either, cuts price target to $180 from $225 ... worried about expenses. Barclays cuts price targets on almost all of the chip makers, including Nvidia (NVDA), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Skyworks (SWKS). Amazing: American Express (AXP) price target trimmed to $128 from $130 at Citi. Wells Fargo cuts to $170 from $180 but keeps buy rating. Generac (GNRC) — Wells Fargo takes this down to $175 from $285.

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