The Black Shadow hacking group, in recent days has been leaking personal information from Israeli websites. The suspected Iran-linked group’s main Telegram channel for communicating messages, as well as a separate channel for releasing data, were both removed on Sunday afternoon, just hours after it had demanded a new ransom payment of $1 million in digital currency to stop the leak. https://www.timesofisrael.com/suspected-iran-linked-hackers-telegram-account-blocked-after-ransom-demand/

Peabody Energy Corp., the top American supplier, has contracts for more than 90% of its coal from the Powder River Basin region next year and all of the power-plant fuel from its other U.S. mines. And Arch Resources Inc., the No. 2 producer, has lined up deals with utilities for all of its 2022 output from the basin at an average price that’s 20% higher than current spot prices. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-28/u-s-coal-miners-sold-out-for-2022-as-utility-demand-surges

Fuel retailers in parts of China are rationing diesel volumes to customers as the nation ramps up efforts to avert a similar supply crunch that’s engulfing the coal and natural gas sectors. In some areas, customers are being restricted to 1,000 yuan ($157) of diesel a day, down from 2,500 yuan, as filling stations rationed supplies to prevent shortfalls.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-27/china-gas-stations-ration-diesel-adding-to-supply-chain-squeeze

Wheat export prices in Russia, the world's largest exporter, have been rising for four months on a weekly basis except one week in October when they took a brief pause. Chicago futures, a global benchmark for this market, are close to the highest since 2013 on Monday amid supply woes. Russian wheat with 12.5% protein loading from Black Sea ports for supply in the first half of November was $317 a tonne free on board (FOB). https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/russian-wheat-prices-rise-with-global-benchmarks-export-demand-2021-11-01

Bulgaria's gas network operator Bulgartransgaz said it has halted the transport of natural gas to Serbia and Hungary early on Monday following a pipeline rupture in the gas network near the northeastern village of Vetrino. Bulgaria transports Russian gas through its gas network to Serbia and Hungary. https://news.trust.org/item/20211101074540-d7k36

Namibia suspended imports of live poultry, birds and poultry products from Germany and the Netherlands on Monday after outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu in the European countries. The risk to humans from the disease is considered low, but previous outbreaks among farm birds have resulted in extensive slaughtering programmes to contain the spread. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/namibia-suspends-poultry-germany-netherlands-after-bird-flu-outbreak-2021-11-01/

A possible cyber attack against the healthcare system in the Canadian province of Newfoundland has disrupted services and forced the cancellation of some appointments. "This led to progressive failure of what's been described to me as the brain of the data center and a loss of functionality and systems across the regional health authorities," https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/possible-cyberattack-disrupts-healthcare-services-in-canadian-province-minister/ar-AAQcdDx

Wheat surged to $8 a bushel in Chicago for the first time since December 2012 as strained global supplies collide with robust demand. The most-active futures contract for soft red winter wheat -- baked in cookies and cakes -- climbed 3.5%. World wheat reserves are ebbing after extreme weather battered crops in key exporters, and dryness is again spreading in North America. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-01/priciest-wheat-since-2012-threatens-to-worsen-food-inflation

China ordered the country's top state-owned energy companies to secure supplies for this winter at "all costs." Now they're telling households to stockpile food ahead of winter, sparking wild conspiracies among netizens about heightening tensions with Taiwan. According to Bloomberg, the Ministry of Commerce told households Monday to stock up on food in case of emergencies after a resurgence of the virus pandemic, heavy rains that sparked vegetable prices to jump, and the onset of colder weather. https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/china-sparks-panic-buying-after-telling-households-stockpile-food-ahead-winter

India - The shortage of Di-Ammonium Phosphate is troubling wheat cultivators as they are unable to sow the crop in absence of the fertiliser. The farmers are making frantic enquiries about the availability of the fertiliser and many even are ready to pay higher prices to get it. While the shortage is being faced, farmers fearing that delaying the sowing would result in decrease in optimum moisture level in the soil which is required for germination of seeds and as a result they would have to irrigate the fields. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/amritsar/shortage-of-dap-worries-wheat-cultivators-333422

Canada - The price of pasta is expected to rise at the grocery store and on restaurant menus because of a summer drought that affected durum wheat drops in Alberta and elsewhere. In August the price of Alberta durum wheat hit nearly $500 per tonne. That's 70 per cent higher than it was in August of 2020. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/pasta-durum-wheat-alberta-producers-1.6234775

China's central bank digital currency has been used for $9.7 billion in transactions, as of the end of October. More than 140 million people have opened digital wallets for the digital yuan. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/chinas-digital-currency-sees-soaring-growth-in-users-as-transactions-near-2410-billion/ar-AAQhwce

Russia plans to impose a six-month quota on some fertilizer exports to safeguard local supplies and limit costs for farmers after the energy crisis sent nitrogen nutrient prices soaring. The move -- covering exports of nitrogen and complex fertilizers containing nitrogen -- comes as nutrients prices have surged globally as soaring gas prices boost production costs and force some plants to cut production. That risks curbing harvests in the year ahead and accelerating food inflation. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/russia-slap-quotas-fertilizer-exports-131808345.html

Greek shipping companies have been hit by a ransomware attack that spread through the systems of a popular, well-established IT consulting firm, according to Greek outlet Mononews. Danaos Management Consultants, the IT service provider whose services were affected by the hack, confirmed the incident and. The company said that Danaos’ own shipping operations have not been hit, and that fewer than 10 percent of its external customers had their files encrypted by the ransomware attack. https://greekcitytimes.com/2021/11/04/cyberattack-multiple-greek-shipping/

World food prices are the highest since July 2011, reflecting in part reduced wheat harvests by major exporters and higher palm oil prices, the United Nations' food agency said Thursday. The Rome-based (FAO) said international prices of its basket of food commodities rose by 3% in October, for a third straight month of increases. https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/world-food-prices-hit-peak-wheat-harvests-factor-80970338

One cybersecurity expert says the cyberattack on the Newfoundland and Labrador health-care system may be the worst in Canadian history, and has implications for national security. "We've never seen a health-network takedown this large, ever," Shipley said in an interview with CBC News. "The severity of this is what really sets it apart." the cyberattack has delayed thousands of appointments and procedures this week, including almost all non-emergency appointments in the Eastern Health region. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nl-cyber-attack-worst-canada-1.6236210

The problems couldn’t have come at a worse time for agricultural supply chains. Global food prices have surged more than 30% in the past 12 months to reach a decade high. With fertilizer markets now seeing unprecedented supply shocks and record prices, it means even more food inflation across the world.
Global commodity futures are already convulsing. Benchmark wheat prices have shot up to the highest since 2012, coffee is near multi-year highs and corn has also jumped. https://www.farmprogress.com/fertilizer/global-fertilizer-crisis-may-push-food-prices-higher

A trial of a digital cross-border payment system between Asia and the Middle East made progress in the eight months after it was launched. A total of 22 banks and financial institutions from mainland China, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Thailand participated in the study of the Multiple Central Bank Digital Currency (m-CBDC) Bridge project. The collaboration among the central banks of the four jurisdictions completed more than 2 billion yuan ($312 million) of cross-border transactions, according to the report released at the Hong Kong Fintech Week conference. The project aims to facilitate real-time cross-border foreign exchange transactions in a multi-jurisdictional context and explore cross-border business usage employing domestic and foreign currencies. https://www.caixinglobal.com/2021-11-04/asia-middle-east-digital-currency-trial-reports-progress-101800288.html

The world is facing the prospect of a dramatic shortfall in food production as rising energy prices cascade through global agriculture, the CEO of Norwegian fertilizer giant Yara International says. "I want to say this loud and clear right now, that we risk a very low crop in the next harvest," "I’m afraid we’re going to have a food crisis." https://fortune.com/2021/11/04/energy-crisis-food-shortage-security-fertilizer-prices-yara-ceo-madagascar-cop26/

Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) has announced the possibility of trailing its digital Real on Lithosphere blockchain as the bank is in discussion with the developer, KaJ Labs.
The bank has been exploring and working on a central bank digital currency (CBDC) since 2020. In August 2020, the bank created a multidisciplinary study group to analyse its risks, advantages, and potential impacts on the Brazilian economy. https://thepaypers.com/cryptocurrencies/brazils-central-bank-to-trial-cbdc--1252600

World wine production is expected to fall to one of its lowest levels on record after harsh weather battered vineyards in Europe’s major wine-producing regions. The conditions “severely impacted” production in Italy, Spain and France, resulting in “extremely low” production volumes, an international wine body has said. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/nov/05/warning-over-extremely-low-wine-production-in-europe-due-to-bad-weather