This country has been having a nationwide nervous breakdown since 9/11. A nation of people suddenly broke, the market economy goes to shit, and they’re threatened on every side by an unknown, sinister enemy. But I don't think fear is a very effective way of dealing with things—of responding to reality. Fear is just another word for ignorance.”

- Hunter S. Thompson, gonzo journalist

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Qatar Holding, owned by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), is looking to sell some £510 million ($644 million) worth of its shares in Barclays, one of the UK’s oldest banks, according to terms of the offering, seen by Bloomberg.

The transaction is expected to cut QIA’s ownership of Barclays in half, reducing it from a 5% stake to about 2.4%.

The Gulf State has been an anchor investor in Barclays since 2008, when it helped the bank, the UK’s second largest lender, to avoid a government bailout with an injection of £4 billion (over $5 billion).

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China has commissioned what is believed to be the first fourth-generation nuclear power plant located in the country's eastern province of Shandong, the Chinese National Energy Administration (NEA) announced on Wednesday.

The Chinese energy department said that a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor at the Shidao Bay nuclear power plant, also known as Shidaowan, was put into commercial operation after 168 hours of continuous work.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, during a rare trip abroad, to discuss oil production, OPEC+ and the wars in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo called for tighter export controls on advanced technologies going to China and labeled Beijing “the biggest threat we’ve ever had.”

Raimondo made the comments at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in California. “On matters of national security, we got to be eyes wide open about the threat. This is the biggest threat we’ve ever had,” she said.

As a cease-fire ticked down last week and Israel prepared to resume its round-the-clock airstrikes, Sen. Bernie Sanders and a robust group of Democratic senators had a message for their president: They were done “asking nicely” for Israel to do more to reduce civilian casualties in Gaza.

Central banks gobbled up gold over the summer and the buying spree has continued into the fall.

Globally, central banks added another net 42 tons of gold to their reserves in October.

China continues to be the biggest gold purchaser. The People’s Bank of China added another 23 tons of gold to its hoard in October as it expanded its official reserves for the 12th straight month.

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Just days after it was reported that Jeff Ubben would be shutting down his "green" Inclusive Capital fund, the former ValueAct manager isn't pulling any punches with what he thinks about green investing. 

Tesla's Scandinavian labor disputes may intensify, as Denmark's most prominent union announced its workers will stop offloading and transporting Tesla vehicles to Sweden. This comes amid Tesla's ongoing labor disputes in Sweden. Elon Musk has labeled the industrial actions threatening to disrupt operations in Europe as "insane." 

Recent conversations about climate change, emissions, and health have put a spotlight on the world’s energy sources.

As of 2021, nearly 90% of global CO₂ emissions came from fossil fuels. But energy production doesn’t just lead to carbon emissions, it can also cause accidents and air pollution that has a significant toll on human life.