Global food prices hit record highs in 2022 amid drought and war
Global prices of food commodities such as grains and vegetable oils were at their highest on record last year, after falling for nine straight months, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization said amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, drought and other factors. increased inflation and worsened hunger around the world.
The FAO food price index, which tracks monthly changes in international prices of commonly traded food commodities, fell 1.9% in December from the previous month, the Rome-based organization said on Friday. It averaged 143.7 points for the full year, more than 14% above the 2021 average, which also saw big increases.
December’s decline was led by lower vegetable oil prices amid falling import demand, expectations of increased soybean oil production in South America and lower oil prices. Grain and meat also fell, while dairy and sugar rose slightly.
“After two very volatile years, calmer food commodity prices are welcome,” FAO chief economist Maximo Torero said in a prepared statement. “It is important to remain vigilant and focus strongly on mitigating global food insecurity as world food prices remain at elevated levels, with many staples near record highs and rice prices rising, and there are still many risks to future supplies. “
The UN food price index last year reached its highest level since records began in 1961, according to FAO data.
Mexico reports on violence after capture of ‘Chap’s’ son.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — An operation to capture Ovid Guzmán, the son of jailed drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman, sparked a shootout that turned the northern city of Culiacan into a war zone with 30 dead, authorities said Friday.
In a detailed account of Thursday’s battles that killed 10 soldiers and 19 suspected members of the Sinaloa drug cartel, Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said cartel gunmen opened fire on the soldiers with half a dozen .50 caliber machine guns. .
The military responded by calling in Blackhawk attack helicopters to attack a convoy of 25 cartel vehicles, including trucks mounted with cartel gun platforms. The ongoing firefights also killed one Culian policeman and wounded 17 policemen and 35 soldiers.
The cartel then opened fire on the military planes, bringing two of them down with “a significant number of hits” in each of the two planes, Sandoval said. The gang then dispatched hordes of gunmen to attack fixed-wing aircraft, both military and civilian, at the city’s international airport.
One civilian aircraft was hit. Gunmen also blew up airport buildings in an attempt to prevent authorities from taking the captured cartel boss out of the city. But Sandoval said authorities, anticipating resistance, loaded Ovidio Guzmán into a military helicopter to fly him back to Mexico City.
Family of slain Utah family says husband took guns from home
ENOCH, Utah (AP) — A Utah man who fatally shot his five children, mother-in-law and wife before killing himself removed the guns he and his wife owned days before the murder-suicide, leaving the family “vulnerable” . a relative said Friday.
Wife Tausha Haight told her extended family that her husband, Mike Haight, took guns from the family home this week, just two weeks after she filed for divorce, sister-in-law Jennie Earl told The Associated Press.
She said she didn’t know how Tausha Haight felt about the transfer, but said it “left the family vulnerable,” noting that both Tausha and her mother, Gail Earl, had been trained in gun safety and personal protection. Jennie Earl’s comments came after the Earl family released a statement lamenting the tragedy and revealing the guns had been removed.
“The protective arms were intentionally removed from the home prior to the incident as all adults were properly trained to protect human life,” the Earl family said in a statement. “This is the type of loss that will continue to occur in families, communities and this country when protective guns are no longer available.”
Enoch City Manager Rob Dotson said local law enforcement was not involved and said in an emailed statement that police “never had reason to and never had to remove firearms.”
The Hawaiian eruption is not dangerous, but it offers a spectacular sight
HONOLULU (AP) — Lava from Kilauea spewed high into the air and spread across a 300-acre (120-hectare) crater floor atop a Hawaiian volcano, creating a spectacular sight as the mountain began erupting again after weeks.
Jillian Marohnic said the lava pool that formed in Halemaumau Crater was the “most beautiful” she had ever seen in her 25 years of observing the volcano.
“The lake was so high. And so full. It’s sparkling,” said Marohnic, who runs Volcano Hideaways vacation rental in the nearby village of Volcano with her husband.
“The surface of the lake looks like stained glass,” she said.
Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. This latest eruption began on Thursday, less than a month after Kilauea and its larger neighbor Mauna Loa went quiet. Kilauea last erupted from September 2021 to mid-December. Mauna Loa sprang to life for the first time in 38 years when it erupted for about two weeks starting in late November.
Old NASA satellite falling from the sky this weekend, low threat
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A 38-year-old retired NASA satellite is about to fall from the sky.
NASA said Friday that the chance of debris falling on anyone is “very low.” According to NASA, most of the 5,400-pound (2,450-kilogram) satellite will burn up upon reentry. But some pieces are expected to survive.
The space agency estimated the odds of being injured by falling debris at about 1 in 9,400.
According to the Department of Defense, the science satellite is expected to come down on Sunday night, taking or lasting 17 hours.
California-based Aerospace Corp. however, is targeting 13 hours on Monday mornings on a route through Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the westernmost regions of the Americas.