4.92: Orange juice futures — which price the fruits on the open market — have hit an all-time high of $4.92 per pound as supply shocks from Brazil and Florida (the two leading exporters) squeeze the harvest for the third year running. Bad weather, the widening spread of a disease called “citrus greening,” and rising consumer demand are to blame for the price spike.
2: Better late than never. Rich nations finally met their pledge of earmarking $100 billion in climate finance for developing countries in 2022, two years after the original goal. Although the 20 largest economies are responsible for the vast majority of emissions, poorer nations often suffer bigger climate impacts and have less cash on hand to fund green transitions.
15: Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatrafaces up to 15 years in prison after authorities unexpectedly charged him with insulting the monarchy in an interview from 2015. Thaksin, a populist telecom billionaire, fled into exile after being ousted in a 2006 coup but returned for the first time last year after his party struck up a governing alliance with its former opponents from the military-royalist establishment.
3: The renowned German soccer club Borussia Dortmund has signed a three-year wide-ranging sponsorship agreement with Rheinmetall, a German arms manufacturer that is rapidly increasing its production of artillery shells and other weapons. Far from downplaying the political symbolism of the news, Dortmund President Hans-Joachim Watzke said “security and defense are cornerstones of our democracy … especially today when we see every day how freedom must be defended in Europe.”
