Cryptocurrency issuer Tether has frozen 32 crypto wallet addresses containing a combined $873,118 it said were linked to "terrorism and warfare" in Israel and Ukraine, the company said on Monday, Reuters reported. Israeli police said last week they had frozen crypto accounts used to solicit donations for Hamas on social media. Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed 1,300 people. Tether's first Israel-related freeze was on March 16, 2023, while the first Ukrainian-related freeze was on June 16, 2021, a Tether spokesperson told Reuters via email. TRM Labs, a major U.S.

Britain and South Korea have agreed to extend a period of low or zero tariffs on bilateral trade of products with parts from the European Union, the British government said on Monday, in a boost for the car industry, Reuters reported. Without the two-year extension, British businesses would have faced high tariffs from Jan. 1 on exports of products made using EU components, under so-called rules of origin, and on products shipped via the EU.

Indebted French supermarket chain Casino said on Monday it had agreed an initial deal to sell its stake in Latin American retailer Almacenes Exito to Grupo Calleja. Casino's board on Friday approved a pre-agreement to sell its entire stake in Almacenes Exito to Grupo Calleja, a leading grocery retailer in El Salvador, it said. Casino is in the midst of a restructuring after years of debt-fuelled acquisitions had brought it to the verge of default.

The European Central Bank won’t lower interest rates until September 2024, according to a new poll of economists — suggesting the message from policymakers that cuts won’t come soon is sinking in, Bloomberg News reported. The result of the latest Bloomberg survey is a departure from the previous round, when respondents still saw borrowing costs being lowered in March. Another reduction is foreseen in October. The survey chimes with comments from ECB officials who spoke on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s annual meetings in Marrakech in recent days.

Italy’s far-right-led government on Monday approved a budget for next year that aims to bolster public health services, encourage families to have more children and put more money in the pockets of low- and medium-wage earners, the Associated Press reported. Premier Giorgia Meloni said the 24 billion-euro ($25 billion) budget, which includes 5 billion in spending cuts, is in line with the government’s priorities. She described it as both “serious” and “realistic," even as Italy faces an expected increase of 13 billion euros in payments to service its public debt as interest rates increase.

The number of companies in Europe that go insolvent will keep growing until at least late next year as higher interest rates and tougher financing conditions weigh on businesses, according to a Scope Ratings analysis seen by Reuters on Thursday. Small businesses in sectors that are cyclical and sensitive, such as retail and construction, are facing the most pressure in the current economic environment, it said.

A key unit of collapsed UK caravan giant RoyaleLife was placed into administration this week, as a fight heats up among debtors owed hundreds of millions of pounds, Bloomberg News reported. Time GB Group Limited is one of around 200 companies that make up RoyaleLife, a group that was owned and founded by self-proclaimed billionaire Robert Bull, but has now mostly collapsed into insolvency. The firm acted as a treasury company for RoyaleLife, undertaking money transfers across the group, and is the closest thing the caravan giant had to a corporate center.

Big banks in Britain are preparing for any future escalation of Western sanctions on China and have shared their "scenario planning" with the British and U.S. governments, a senior banking official has told Reuters. The project involves sharing lessons learned from other sanctions frameworks, including those on Russia, and discussions about the effect any measures imposed on China might have, Neil Whiley, director of sanctions at lobby group UK Finance, said.

KKR & Co. is set to submit a binding offer for Telecom Italia SpA’s phone network, in what promises to be a game-changing deal for the ex-monopolist looking to slash its massive debt pile, Bloomberg News reported. Telecom Italia expects the final bid from the US private equity firm, following months of negotiations, by the end of this weekend at the latest, the people said, in line with a company deadline. KKR has valued the grid at as much as €23 billion ($24 billion).

Irish broadcaster RTÉ will be insolvent by next spring if it does not receive proper funding, its director general has said, BBC.com reported. Kevin Bakhurst made the claim at a hearing of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) Public Affairs Committee on Thursday. He and other RTÉ officials are answering questions over a payments scandal that has plagued the public broadcaster since June. Mr Bakhurst said the organisation was managing its cash "as carefully as we can" to prevent this.