The U.S. State Department was recently hit by a cyber-attack and notifications of a “possible serious breach” were issued, a Fox News reporter tweeted on Saturday. It’s unclear when the breach was discovered, but it’s believed to have happened a couple of weeks ago, according to a series of tweets by reporter Jacqui Heinrich. The Department of Defense’s Cyber Command made the notifications, she said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-state-department-hit-by-recent-cyber-attack-fox-says/ar-AANAdrl

JAMAICA’S central bank, called the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), is reporting that pilot implementation of a local Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), which commenced in June, remains on schedule.

https://trinidadexpress.com/business/local/jamaica-to-roll-out-its-digital-currency-next-month/article_c026bdca-02dc-11ec-b261-5fcf6e6ae705.html?fbclid=IwAR21bgLs-SvlB3cfPM4nHgUdRqkwEF3LN1q0VFu4EYf2h6e5cdn47z6EGls#utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

It is hopefully clear from this brief primer what the digital currencies proposed by central banks are. In a word, they are the final evolution of fiat money: money totally under the control of the issuing government. While the language and some of the technology may be inspired by or borrowed from cryptocurrencies, don’t be deceived. Bitcoin is an attempt to preserve wealth by placing it outside the reach of government; CBDCs are intended to frustrate that end.

https://www.newswars.com/central-bank-digital-currency-what-theyre-not-telling-you/

Dryness over the next six months in Argentina is expected to reduce the size of the country's two main cash crops, corn and soy, while complicating navigation of grain cargo ships on the Parana River, analysts said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/la-nina-seen-hurting-argentine-cornsoy-crops-export-logistics/ar-AANG77T?pfr=1

So far this year, China's demand for corn continues unabated. After buying a record 11.3 million metric tons of corn in 2020, this marketing year's total could reach as much as 26 million metric tons according to the (USDA). In response, global corn prices have continued to climb, now above $6 a bushel — a near eight-year high.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/chinas-appetite-for-corn-and-soybeans-continues-to-grow/ar-AANGdZ7

Specifically, retail account-based CBDCs provide government and central banks with the ability to install totalitarian supervisory and control systems, enabling: the monitoring of all economic and financial transactions within their jurisdiction; the collection of bulk data, the implementation of social management policies such as social credit scores and the confiscation of CBDCs held at the central bank, either through negative nominal interest rates, specific fees and charges or by outright confiscation.

https://www.adamseconomics.com/post/the-potential-orwellian-horror-of-central-bank-digital-currencies

The CEO of UK grocer The Co-op has amplified concerns over UK food shortages as post-Brexit immigration rules and a lack of qualified haulage drivers has led to empty shelves for some products.

https://www.just-food.com/news/uk-food-shortages-worst-ive-seen-co-op-ceo/

China's central bank-backed digital yuan was used by the Dalian Commodity Exchange to pay for storage charges in a local warehouse on Tuesday, marking the first time that the sovereign digital currency has been applied in the futures market.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1232348.shtml

Crypto exchange Liquid, one Japan’s most popular exchanges, is now short $97 million in total assets after a cyber attack that pulled funds directly from the wallets of some of its customers.

https://www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/cyber-attack-on-crypto-exchange-liquid-results-in-loss-of-97-million-in-ethereum-tokens-and-other-assets/

China's gold reserves have grown every year for 15 consecutive years, reaching 14,727.16 tons by 2020, according to a yearbook issued by China Gold Association (CGA)

https://ukranews.com/en/news/796027-china-s-gold-reserves-scale-up-for-15-consecutive-years-by-2020-report

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is planning to launch its first central bank digital currency (CBDC) trials by the end of this year, Being an emerging market, India is one of the fastest-growing crypto destinations in the world. The adoption of cryptocurrency assets has increased rapidly in India during the last 12 months.

https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/india-plans-to-launch-cbdc-pilot-by-december-2021/

Russia’s gold and foreign currency holdings grew by another $1.8 billion in the week through August 20. Forex reserves totaled $595.6 billion compared to $593.8 billion a week earlier. Russia’s international reserves are highly liquid foreign assets consisting of monetary gold, foreign currencies and Special Drawing Rights, which are at the disposal of the Central Bank of Russia and the government.

https://www.rt.com/business/533144-russia-foreign-currency-reserves/

Belarus has imposed a six-month grain export ban because of a poor, weather-hit harvest, the government said on Thursday. The country has completed the 2021 harvest, threshing 6.2 million tonnes of grain compared with 7.2 million tonnes in 2020. The government resolution said the ban applies to wheat, rye, corn and other types of grain and cereals.

https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/belarus-suspends-grain-exports-after-poor-harvest/

North American fertilizer prices are nearing a decade high this week. The fertilizer industry is experiencing supply-side constraints while demand is rising. https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/fertilizer-prices-hit-near-decade-high-farm-demand-increases

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has shortlisted 15 “Global CBDC Challenge” participants to help build an in-house retail central bank digital currency (CBDC). https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/singapore-central-bank-shortlists-15-companies-to-develop-retail-cbdc-2604122

Statistics Canada in this season’s first crop production report issued Aug. 30 forecast Canadian wheat production at a 14-year low, canola outturn at a nine-year low and most other crops also down sharply due to drought and hot weather across major growing areas. https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/19470-drought-takes-toll-on-canadian-crops

Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa unveiled a joint central bank digital payment pilot on Thursday.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/australia-malaysia-singapore-and-south-africa-will-trial-cross-border-central-bank-digital-payments/ar-AAO1byS?pfr=1

Brazilian soybean farmers are keeping their crops instead of selling them because they expect prices to rise further as global supplies tighten.
https://www.thepigsite.com/news/2021/09/brazils-soy-farmers-are-hoarding-their-crops-in-hopes-that-prices-will-rise

One of the hardest hit crops is tall fescue, a type of grass seed, causing concern about a possible worldwide grass seed shortage.
https://www.kezi.com/content/news/Extreme-drought-could-cause-worldwide-grass-seed-shortage-575238391.html

New Zealand's third largest internet provider Vocus NZ said on Friday its response to a cyberattack temporary triggered a widespread internet outage. The company said its systems blocked a denial of service (DDoS) attack on one user but in doing so caused some Vocus customers in the country's largest cities - Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch - to suffer outages.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/vocus-says-its-response-to-a-cyberattack-temporarily-triggered-nz-internet-outages/ar-AAO2Rtv?pfr=1

Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM), has started to move away from the U.S. dollar to China's yuan in settlements for fuelling planes in China.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russias-gazprom-neft-moves-yuan-fuelling-planes-china-2021-09-03/