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SummarySummary Companies IAEA says Ukraine plant rocked by 12 blastsPlant is controlled by Russian forcesRussia says Ukraine shelled the plant'You're playing with fire!' - IAEA chiefLONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian control, was rocked by shelling on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog who said such attacks risked a major nuclear disaster. An IAEA team on the ground said there had been damage to some buildings, systems and equipment at the plant, Europe's largest nuclear power station. "Explosions occurred at the site of this major nuclear power plant, which is completely unacceptable. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has six Soviet-designed VVER-1000 V-320 water-cooled and water-moderated reactors containing Uranium 235, which has a half-life of more than 700 million years.

[1/2] A general view shows Pearl Island, an artificial island spanning nearly four square kilometres, ahead of the FIFA 2022 World Cup soccer tournament at Katara Cultural Village in Doha, Qatar November 17, 2022. "What happens when the World Cup is over? I know gay men in workers' camps wouldn't be able to live the same way." Qatari organisers of the World Cup have warned visitors against public displays of affection but say that everyone, no matter their sexual orientation or background, is welcome at the event. The furore has been fuelled by comments from public figures including former Qatar player and World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman who told a German broadcaster that homosexuality was "damage in the mind".

Any crunch for Britain's small businesses, which often lack the scale to pass on cost rises to customers as easily as bigger rivals, could deliver a new economic body blow. "How are we going to get out of this hole if it's not small businesses? "But there's no question that small businesses now have less capacity to increase their borrowing because you've got a slowing economy." Indeed small companies in Britain see their access to credit at its worst level since 2015, according to a quarterly survey by the FSB of 1,383 small business owners. Many small companies have also yet to repay state-backed loans extended to prop them up during COVID lockdowns, making their credit profiles increasingly unattractive.

"There's now a big push to get nature into sovereign debt markets," said Simon Zadek, executive director at NatureFinance, which advises governments on debt-for-nature swaps and other types of climate-focused finance. At that level, it would be the biggest debt-for-nature swap struck to date. The combined value of swap deals to date is $3.7 billion, according to the data. Securing the buy-in of development banks is usually key for the economics of a deal. The WWF has projects in Central and South America where they are monitoring deforestation by tracking jaguars, said Brenes, who has worked on debt-for-nature swaps for the last 25 years.

Nov 15 (Reuters) - Solana, a poster coin of the crypto future, is in trouble. "In the current crypto shakeout, the most unfortunate innocent victim is the Solana ecosystem," said Stefan Rust, CEO of blockchain wallet company Laguna Labs. Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko tweeted that development company Solana Labs didn't hold any assets on FTX and had enough financial runway for around 30 months. Ether's market cap has fallen 21% to $150.7 billion, while bitcoin's has fallen 18% to $319 billion. The collapse of the company has seen more than $190 billion wiped from the value of the overall crypto market.

☆ Exclusive: Tesla has considered exporting EVs from Shanghai to U.S., Canada
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Tesla's evaluation has included consideration of whether parts made by Tesla's China-based suppliers would be compliant with regulations in the United States and Canada, they said. Tesla would not be the first U.S. automaker to ship made-in-China vehicles to the United States. Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory has the capacity to produce 1.1 million electric vehicles per year after an upgrade earlier this year, making it Tesla's most productive manufacturing hub. The Shanghai plant makes Model 3 sedans and Model Y crossovers to sell in China and for export to markets including Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia. That means Tesla vehicles could potentially be exported to North America at a competitive price.

☆ FTX says investigating 'unauthorized transactions'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 12 (Reuters) - Collapsed crypto exchange FTX said on Saturday it had seen "unauthorized transactions", with analysts saying millions of dollars worth of assets had been withdrawn from the platform. FTX U.S. general counsel Ryne Miller said in a tweet shortly after 0700 GMT on Saturday that the firm had "expedited" the process of moving all digital assets to cold storage "to mitigate damage upon observing unauthorized transactions." loadingCold storage refers to crypto wallets that are not connected to the internet to guard against hackers. Earlier on Saturday, Miller said in a tweet that he was "investigating abnormalities with wallet movements related to consolidation of FTX balances across exchanges." "FTX has been hacked," an account administrator in the FTX Support Telegram channel wrote in a message, according to CoinDesk.

☆ Some countries have resisted 1.5°C goal in COP27 text, US says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Valerie Volcovici | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 12 (Reuters) - A few countries have resisted mentioning a global goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in the official text of the COP27 summit in Egypt, U.S. Special Climate Envoy John Kerry said at the conference on Saturday. There are very few countries, but a few, that have raised the issue of not mentioning this word or that word," Kerry said when asked about opposition by some governments to mentioning the 1.5C target. Breaching the 1.5C threshold risks unleashing the worst consequences of global warming. Many developing countries have demanded the establishment of a "loss and damage" fund that could disperse cash to countries struggling to recover from disasters. Kerry said the United States would not support establishing such a fund, and instead believed existing platforms should be used.

☆ Some countries have resisted 1.5°C goal in COP27 text, U.S. says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Valerie Volcovici | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] John Kerry, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate speaks as he attends the opening of the American Pavilion in the COP27 climate summit in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Mohammed SalemSHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 12 (Reuters) - A few countries have resisted mentioning a global goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in the official text of the COP27 summit in Egypt, U.S. Special Climate Envoy John Kerry said at the conference on Saturday. There are very few countries, but a few, that have raised the issue of not mentioning this word or that word," Kerry said when asked about opposition by some governments to mentioning the 1.5C target. Many developing countries have demanded the establishment of a "loss and damage" fund that could disperse cash to countries struggling to recover from disasters. Kerry said the United States would not support establishing such a fund, and instead believed existing platforms should be used.

☆ FTX says it is investigating 'unauthorized transactions'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 12 (Reuters) - Collapsed crypto exchange FTX said on Saturday it was moving funds into offline storage following a series of "unauthorized transactions", with analysts saying millions of dollars worth of assets had been withdrawn from the platform. Late on Friday, Miller tweeted that he was "investigating abnormalities with wallet movements related to consolidation of FTX balances across exchanges." loadingFigures from Singapore-based analytics firm Nansen showed a one-day net outflow from FTX of about $266 million, with $73 million withdrawn from FTX U.S. alone. "FTX has been hacked," an account administrator in the FTX Support Telegram channel wrote in a message, according to CoinDesk. FTX, affiliated crypto trading firm Alameda Research and about 130 of its other companies have filed for bankruptcy court protection from creditors in Delaware, FTX said on Friday.

The firm's founder Sam Bankman-Fried had transferred $10 billion of customer funds to his trading company, Alameda Research, the sources said. Blockchain analytics firm Nansen said it saw $659 million in outflows from FTX International and FTX U.S. in the last 24 hours. In January, FTX had raised $400 million from investors at a $32 billion valuation. "Over four years, FTX raised $1.8 billion from venture capital and pension funds. In its bankruptcy petition, FTX Trading said it has $10 billion to $50 billion in assets, $10 billion to $50 billion in liabilities, and more than 100,000 creditors.

Nov 12 (Reuters) - Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes should spend 15 years in prison and pay $800 million in restitution to investors defrauded in the blood testing start-up, U.S. prosecutors recommended late on Friday. The Department of Justice recommendation, made in a court filing, came as Holmes prepares to be sentenced next week. "Considering the extensiveness of Holmes' fraud... the sentencing of 180 months' imprisonment would reflect the seriousness of the offenses, provide for just punishment for the offenses, and deter Holmes and others," the prosecutors said. Holmes earlier urged U.S. District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California not to send her to prison. Holmes founded Theranos in 2003 at the age of 19.

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.

☆ Cryptoverse-Elon Musk frees the bird and the dog coin flies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Vidya Ranganathan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter has put fresh wind in the sails of dogecoin, the meme cryptocurrency he catapulted to fame. It was trading at about $0.07 on Oct. 27 before Musk tweeted "the bird is freed" to announce his ownership. Not bad for a coin that was created as a "joke" satirizing wild speculation in the crypto market and named after an internet meme of a Shiba Inu dog. Its share of the $1 trillion global crypto market cap through the year until the end of October was 1%, a fraction of bitcoin's 39%, according to CoinMarketCap. Bets that Musk may allow crypto payments with dog tokens were kindled by his tweet last week of a picture of the Shiba Inu dog wearing a Twitter T-shirt.

☆ From Russia with cash: Georgia booms as Russians flee Putin's war
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Jake Cordell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), for example, predicted in March the Ukraine conflict would deal a major blow to the Georgian economy. "On the contrary, we see the Georgian economy growing quite well this year, double digits." Business leaders also worry that the country could face a hard landing should the war end and Russians return home. TO GEORGIA WITH $1 BILLIONGeorgia itself fought a short war with Russia in 2008 over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, territories controlled by Russian-backed separatists. 'THE CRISIS COULD HIT'TBC's Butskhrikidze said he saw potential in the new arrivals to fill skills gaps in the Georgian economy.

Nov 1 (Reuters) - After months of tears and tantrums, bitcoin wants to split up with stock markets. The cryptocurrency, which has been closely correlated with tech stocks for much of its torrid 2022, is staging one of its strongest efforts yet to break away. For some crypto backers, any bitcoin break-up from Big Tech is a sign of strength. Bitcoin and crypto is one of those 'next' growth industries," said Santiago Portela, CEO of FITCHIN, a Web3 gaming ecosystem. Yet it's anyone's guess whether fickle bitcoin will begin to rally, or slide anew, or if it will swiftly rebound to the embrace of technology stocks.

LONDON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Fresh vegetables and fish are falling off the menu. Joanne Farrer used to regularly serve her three children roast beef dinners or stews packed with fresh vegetables. Volume sales of fresh vegetables fell by more than 6% and fresh meat by over 7% in August, for example, while sales of snacks and candy rose almost 4%. "We also know that cheap highly processed foods are the ones most likely to cause obesity." "If fresh food is cheaper then we'll get that, but it's not often on offer."

[1/3] Manuela Teixeira, who runs six businesses in Old Chelsea village, stands at the counter of her cafe Biscotti & Cie, which she says faces a dire labor shortage, in Old Chelsea, Quebec, Canada, October 3, 2022. Canada has the worst labor shortages in the Western world, according to the latest OECD data from late 2021. Quebec's immigration ministry didn't respond to a query on the arrival caps and labor challenges for this article. The new census data showed 28.7% of recent immigrants to the province spoke French as their first language, up from 25.7% in 2016. When company workers had to isolate after arriving from Tunisia during COVID-19, people in the town rallied to help with supplies, she said.

☆ Cryptoverse: British pound fiasco boosts bitcoin's hedge appeal
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Lisa Pauline Mattackal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Oct 25 (Reuters) - As a developed nation, you know your currency's in a spot of bother when investors start to hedge with bitcoin. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"It was the first time we've seen such a huge increase in (bitcoin) volumes for the currency of a developed country," said Ed Hindi, chief investment officer at Tyr Capital. In fact, over the past month of market ructions, U.S. Treasuries have been equally or more volatile than bitcoin, according to Refinitiv data. The pound volumes echoed similar instances of investors jumping into bitcoin when fiat money came under pressure, including in Russia and Ukraine this year. Some crypto watchers say the September surge was nonetheless a reflection of bitcoin's enduring appeal as an asset outside mainstream finance.

"There is more asset allocation towards baskets that combine the top five or 10 crypto assets by market cap. TICK BY TICKMost active crypto ETP products are registered outside the United States, though, with Switzerland, Canada, Australia and Brazil racing ahead with spot crypto offerings. One reason is that U.S. regulators have turned down several applications for spot bitcoin funds, which mirror the cryptocurrency's price movements tick-by-tick, citing multiple reasons including a lack of surveillance-sharing agreements with regulated markets relating to the spot funds' underlying assets. The world's largest bitcoin fund, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC.PK), is down 34% in the same time. At Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust, the AUM have tumbled to $12.2 billion from over $30 billion at the end of 2021, data from the firm showed.

☆ When Chinese protesters came up against Xi's security machine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

Handout via REUTERSBEIJING, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Jack Yao, a Chinese Communist Party member, never wanted to be an activist. It offers a glimpse of the lengths some frustrated citizens will go to in taking on the world's most powerful security state. China's Ministry of Public Security, the Henan and Anhui local governments, and police departments in those provinces and Beijing didn't respond to requests for comment for this article. Chinese authorities say social stability is the foundation for a prosperous future and dismiss human rights complaints as Western propaganda and interference in internal affairs. Protesters chanted: "Henan banks, give us back our deposits."

☆ Cryptoverse: Hack jitters push bitcoin investors back to the future
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The global hardware wallet market, valued at $245 million in 2021, is expected to swell to over $1.7 billion by 2030, according to market research firm Straits Research. Reuters GraphicsBLOWING HOT AND COLDAlthough hot wallets are usually free and offer quick access to crypto, they can be vulnerable to hacks. In August, nearly 8,000 crypto wallets on the Solana blockchain were hit by hackers who made off with more than $5 million in crypto. loading"Users are strongly encouraged to use hardware wallets," Solana said at the time. France's Ledger, another hardware wallet maker, said it saw a spike in sales after the Solana wallets heist.

A bitcoin representation is seen in an illustration picture taken at La Maison du Bitcoin in Paris, France, June 23, 2017. "Bitcoin miners have continued to watch margins compress - the price of bitcoin has fallen, mining difficulty has risen and energy prices have soared," said Joe Burnett, head analyst at Blockware Solutions. That's put serious pressure on some players who bought expensive mining machines, or rigs, banking on rising bitcoin prices to recoup their investment. Shares of Marathon Digital (MARA.O), Riot Blockchain (RIOT.O) and Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI.O) have sunk more than 60% this year, for example, while crypto-mining data center operator Compute North filed for bankruptcy last week. "From managing their balance sheet, processing units and energy costs, miners will look to stay afloat regardless of current market conditions," he added.

Gareth Kaminski-Cook, CEO of Autins, which makes noise-reducing and thermal insulation for carmakers, gives a tour of the auto supplier's factory in Tamworth, Britain, May 3, 2022. Many auto suppliers, already squeezed by rampant inflation and energy prices, say they have little choice but to shoulder the extra costs of making their components sustainable to meet carmakers' environmental targets. "We're going to see a real big shakeout the next five, 10 years in the auto supply chain." The company, which is worth about $39 billion, launched its own sustainability drive in 2020 and is working on recyclable products with carmakers including Volkswagen, Volvo and BMW. Guell says carmakers only want to work with suppliers who use green energy, leaving him in a tight spot.

Institutional crypto lending involves lending cryptocurrencies as well as cash in return for a yield. Unsecured lending has become common across the crypto industry, according to the review of filings and the interviews. Crypto research firm Arkham Intelligence put the figure in the region of $10 billion, for instance, while crypto lender TrueFi said at least $25 billion. BULLISH ON BORROWINGWhile Blockchain.com has largely pulled back from unsecured lending, many crypto lenders remain confident about the practice. Sid Powell, co-founder and CEO of unsecured crypto lending platform Maple, said institutional crypto lenders were more cautious after Three Arrows' insolvency, but conditions have since normalized and lenders are now again comfortable lending unsecured.

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