A group of private sector professionals launched the Digital Pound Foundation, an organization that aims to promote the development of the U.K.’s central bank digital currency (CBDC). The foundation will conduct research, advocate and enable multi-stakeholder collaboration to help the design and roll out of a digital pound. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/digital-pound-foundation-launches-push-084254886.html

The point, again, is that today systemic risk is more dangerous than ever, and each crisis is bigger than the one before. Remember, too-big-to-fail banks are bigger than ever, have a larger percentage of the total assets of the banking system and have much larger derivatives books. The ability of central banks to deal with a new crisis is highly constrained by low interest rates and bloated balance sheets, which have exploded even higher in response to the pandemic. https://dailyreckoning.com/contagion-2/

Brazilian exports of green coffee fell 29% in September compared with a year earlier, to 2.74 million 60-kg bags, as shipping difficulties continued to hamper the commodity's flow. Cecafe's head, Nicolas Rueda, said there was no change regarding shipping, with exporters struggling to get bookings for containers and vessels, as well as facing frequent loading postponements from shipping companies. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/brazil-coffee-exports-fall-29-214341207.html

Russia's international reserves have reached historic levels, with the country investing in assets like gold and foreign currency amid growing economic uncertainty with inflation spiking steeply after a global borrowing spree. Moscow’s Accounts Chamber revealed that the nation has more overseas assets on hand than ever before. “The volume of Russia’s international reserves now exceeds 61 billion US dollars,” a statement from officials reads. “This is a historic record. No such figure has been achieved before in the whole existence of the Bank of Russia.” https://www.rt.com/russia/537449-russia-gold-reserves-record/

Israel -A day after falling victim to the biggest cyberattack in history on the Israeli health system, Hillel Yaffe Medical Center still has no idea of the amount of damage caused and does not know when they will be able to return to normal operations, according to a senior official. The hospital was hit by a still-unresolved ransomware attack, forcing it to shut down its technology network and causing delays in care. https://www.timesofisrael.com/hospital-has-no-idea-of-scale-of-cyberattack-havoc-recovery-could-take-months/

Laptop maker Acer has confirmed a cyberattack on its India servers earlier this week. The hackers, the Desorden Group, claimed to have stolen 60GB of data after breaching the company’s servers. The group even emailed ZDNet to inform them about the hack and claimed to have customer and corporate business data, apart from financial information. The hackers, however, told the outlet that it was not a ransomware attack and said it gained access to the servers over time. https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/acer-india-servers-hacked-over-50gb-of-user-data-including-financial-details-allegedly-stolen/ar-AAPyRkg?pfr=1

Oil in London rose past $85 a barrel for the first time since 2018, the latest milestone in a global energy crunch that has seen prices soar. A shortage of gas and coal is triggering extra demand for oil products from the power market, and some banks expect the switch to boost prices further with winter approaching in the northern hemisphere. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/oil-set-best-run-weekly-063243810.html

USA- The nation's top civilian cybersecurity agency in the DHS issued a warning Thursday about ongoing cyber threats to the U.S. drinking water supply, saying malicious hackers are targeting government water and wastewater treatment systems.https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/hackers-targeted-us-drinking-water-and-wastewater-facilities-as-recently-as-august-homeland-security-says/ar-AAPyVqB

Major Asian banks have shown great interest in CBDCs as reports show collaborative efforts by Thailand’s, Hong Kong’s and China’s central banks to create a digital ledger technology (DLT) for a CBDC prototype designed to bridge cross-border gaps. https://cointelegraph.com/news/asian-cbdc-projects-what-are-they-doing-now

Continuous rainfall for more than ten days has caused the lower reaches of the Luo River in China’s west to spill their banks. Large volumes of floodwater released from upstream have destroyed two dams in one county, and villages are flooded. Local jujube growers and those in animal husbandry have suffered serious losses. https://www.theepochtimes.com/flooding-in-west-china-destroys-agricultural-production_4050113.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge

One of Brazil's largest insurance groups, Porto Seguro has reported it suffered a cyberattack that resulted in instability to its service channels and some of its systems. The company is the latest of a list of major Brazilian organizations suffering major security incidents over recent weeks. Earlier this month, CVC, one of the country's largest travel operators, was hit by a ransomware attack that brought its operations to a standstill. https://www.zdnet.com/article/brazilian-insurance-giant-porto-seguro-hit-by-cyberattack/ #ICE9

Customers of Ecuador’s largest bank continued to experience service disruptions on Friday following a cyberattack on the institution several days earlier. Long lines formed outside Pichincha bank branches and thousands of customers took their complaints to social media. People reported being unable to access services offered by the bank's online and mobile app. https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/cyberattack-disrupts-services-ecuadors-largest-bank-80607755

Protests in Italy over the country’s new COVID-19 rules for workers spread on Friday to several of the country’s largest ports. While reports vary on the level of disruption, workers at three of the country’s major ports were reported either on strike or staging protests calling for the government to either pay for mandatory testing or drop the so called “Green Pass” restrictions. Another unresolved issue under the new regulations concerns the large number of foreign truck drivers who service the ports and transport shipments across the country’s borders. A spokesperson for Italy’s logistics association said they feared 30 to 40 percent of drivers might not show up for work. https://maritime-executive.com/article/protests-over-covid-regulations-for-workers-spread-to-italy-s-ports

The UK's shortage of lorry drivers had led to supermarkets receiving fewer deliveries of products, so when they sell out of a particular item, it now takes longer for the gap on the shelf to be refilled. "The impact of the driver shortage is felt across the entire supply chain, all the way through to the last mile – where consumers are faced with fewer choices at checkout and longer delays on their deliveries due to retailers' struggles to keep their warehouses stocked." https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1506970/uk-food-shortages-full-list-areas-worst-affected-evg

Uzbekistan is hoping to rent up to 1 million hectares of land in Russia to grow wheat, soy, and oilseeds there. Uzbekistan produces about 6.6 million to 7.6 million tons of wheat a year and imports some 3 million tons, though imports have reportedly swelled to 3.7 million tons in 2020-21. https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbekistan-wheat-shortage-russia/31512890.html

Disruptions to transportation of coffee around the world, caused by container shortages and port congestion, will likely keep coffee prices high for a longer time since they make it more difficult for the market to rebalance supplies geographically. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/trade/exports/insights/shipping-disruptions-to-keep-coffee-prices-high-for-longer-say-experts/articleshow/87055486.cms

There’s a widening scarcity of essential raw materials for aluminum used to make automobiles, building supplies and food preservation canning that threatens to worsen a supply squeeze that already has pushed U.S. prices close to all-time highs. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/aluminum-makers-sound-alarm-u-223623072.html

According to the Green Markets North America Fertilizer Price Index, the cost of fertiliser is currently at a record high, eclipsing its 2008 heights recorded during the last strong inflationary episode. Analysts are forecasting the cost of US corn production to increase by 16 per cent. With more fertiliser plant closures possible as producers attempt to come to grips with rocketing gas costs, fertiliser prices may continue to head even higher. https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/rising-fertiliser-and-energy-prices-could-hit-aussie-supermarkets-hard/news-story/b55905302f02b6336229e73b9782514c

USA - The water has been temporarily shut off on a portion of Robinson’s land. In exchange, he’s receiving $909 this year for each acre of farmland left dry and unplanted. The water is instead staying in Lake Mead, near Las Vegas, to help slow the unrelenting decline of the largest reservoir in the country. https://www.chronline.com/stories/as-drought-worsens-california-farmers-are-being-paid-not-to-grow-crops,275411

ASIA- Philippines - The Association of Feed Millers Inc. (PAFMI) sees importation as a band aid solution or the “the best route to take” at the moment as Severe Tropical Storm Maring destroyed a significant amount of corn output. The DA was so far able to take into account 60,195 affected farmers and fishermen. For corn, as much as 8,624 metric tons (MT) of production was already wiped out, while 7,830 hectares were damaged. https://mb.com.ph/2021/10/18/farmers-see-importation-a-band-aid-solution-as-maring-destroys-corn-output/

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., one of the largest owners of broadcast stations in the U.S., said it is working to contain a cybersecurity incident that disrupted some of its networks and had some of its servers and workstations encrypted with ransomware. https://www.wsj.com/articles/sinclair-says-it-was-hit-by-cyberattack-11634563871