It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
People shop at a grocery store, in Schaumburg, Ill., Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
PARIS — World food prices rose in August to their highest since late 2022, as adverse weather and war disruption in the Black Sea heightened concern over supply of staples, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday.
Extreme heat and drought in Europe, the threat of a severe El Nino weather pattern and trade upheaval caused by the Ukraine and Iran wars have unsettled agricultural markets, pushing grain prices to three-year highs and sugar to a one-year peak.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in a basket of internationally traded food commodities, averaged 133.3 points in August, up from July’s revised reading of 130.8.
That was the highest score since November 2022, though nearly 17 per cent below a record peak from March 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“August’s increase in global food prices is a warning that the risk premium is returning to food markets: climate shocks, geopolitical tensions and disrupted trade logistics are converging to tighten supply expectations,” FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero said in a statement.
The FAO’s price benchmarks for cereals, vegetable oils, sugar, meat and dairy all rose in August.
The extreme weather in Europe affected prospects for the maize (corn) and sugar beet harvests as well as livestock output, while the anticipated El Nino phenomenon fueled concerns for palm oil and sugar output in Asia, it said.
Escalating attacks in the Black Sea have curtailed grain shipments from Russia and Ukraine in their 4-1/2-year-old war, while the U.S.-Iran conflict was straining flows of fertilizer for crops.
Among food categories, FAO’s cereals price index rose 2.2 per cent month-on-month to its highest since May 2024, and the vegetable oil index edged up 0.6 per cent to its highest since June 2022.
The agency’s sugar benchmark jumped 11.9 per cent to its highest since June 2025, with lower production in Brazil’s crucial center-south region adding to weather concerns in Europe and Asia.
In a separate report, the agency cut its 2026 global cereal production forecast by 3.4 million metric tons from a previous estimate in July to 2.980 billion tons, now 2.0 per cent below 2025 in the largest annual decline since 2018.
Projected output would still be the second-largest on record, however.
Forecast world cereal stocks at the close of 2026/2027 were revised down 1.1 per cent to 947.2 million tons, now only marginally above the previous season.
A reduced estimate of coarse grain stocks outweighed an upward revision for wheat that reflected an anticipated build-up in Russian and Ukrainian stocks due to shipping disruption, the FAO said.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz;Editing by Alison Williams and Clarence Fernandez
Thursday, September 03, 2026
Peru The crisis will worsen with the Fujimorist victory
Keiko Fujimori’s electoral victory as head of the Peruvian government is part of the advance of neo-fascism in the world and of the offensive, spearheaded by Trump in Latin America, to capture governments and turn these countries into the USA’s backyard in order to strengthen the weakened hegemony of the US. The arrival of Keiko Fujimori is not just a simple change of government; it is the direct return of an authoritarian project initiated in the 1990s by the dictatorship of Alberto Fujimori.
Despite the fact that the organisation Juntos por el Perú [1] won more than 9 million votes nationally and in most regions, mainly in the Andes and the Southern Andes, victory was given to Keiko Fujimori by the Jurado Nacional de Elecciones [2] and we entered another political period. This was an electoral victory riddled with irregularities, but one that does not end the political, economic, and social crisis that was forcefully expressed in the social uprising from December 2022 to March 2023, when the far right staged a coup against Pedro Castillo, and Fujimorism and its allies began to govern from parliament in an authoritarian manner, capturing almost all state institutions determined to continue the economic model that does not resolve the most pressing contradictions for Peruvians and only strives for the interests of powerful groups.
Since December 7, 2022, Keiko Fujimori and her mafia-like coalition have failed to defeat the social and citizen movement; they did not win the elections, and now they are preparing an authoritarian offensive against the majority of citizens, in favour of big business and international corporations, taking advantage of their control of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Constitutional Court, the National Board of Justice, the Armed Forces, and the National Police. Keiko Fujimori will implement a continuation of the policies of her puppet predecessors: Dina Boluarte, José Jerí, and José Balcázar are now seeking legislative powers from Congress to implement their reactionary and anti-popular government plan. In addition to democratic and labour setbacks, they intend to crush social mobilisation by empowering the Armed Forces to intervene with a bill that deprives citizens of their human rights. Now, law enforcement could commit abuses, even killings, and will be tried in military courts—meaning they will investigate themselves if any accusations arise. The so-called Mafia Pact, led by Keiko Fujimori for the past ten years, is leading the country into a crisis of decay; applying a neoliberal model in deep crisis and also establishing a corrupt regime, a State with its back to the country, a bicameral parliamentary regime with a Senate with all the power; assaulting the institutions of state power.
A presidential message of contionuity, a cabinet that expresses dictatorship, and the demand for legislative powers
Keiko Fujimori lacks the stature of a president or a great leader of the state; she is, in reality, an intermediary (lobbyist) for national and foreign private interests. That is why, in her inaugural address, she did not outline the major principles of a national project for the country, but rather continued measures favouring private capital projects, such as the anti-forestry law designed to repay favours to the Romero Group for logging and benefiting the palm oil industry. And so it is in every ministry, to such an extent that the bombastic increase in the minimum living wage to Peruvian Soles 1,300 [USD388] (a ridiculous Sol170 or less than USD51 increase) has been consigned to the freezer of the National Council for Labour and Employment Promotion. [3] The height of subservience is the appointment of an employee of the United States embassy as Foreign Minister, a person who has been a mouthpiece for the empire for 15 years, confirming that this government will be subservient to the interests of neo-fascist imperialism headed by Trump. In order to impose this reactionary government plan they are requesting legislative powers from Congress to enable rigid enforcement without hindrance.
Unity, organisation and the struggle to confront the corrupt government and imperialism
In this first phase of government, Keiko rearticulates, realigns and deploys her conservative and ultraconservative forces. Her defeat in the election for the Bureau of the Chamber of Deputies and her fraudulent victory in the election for the Bureau of the Senate show that she does not have the parliamentary correlation of previous congresses, so governance will be more complex and her offensive will need to use all the power of the state. This is evident in the opening of criminal cases against retired colonel of the Peruvian National Police Harvey Colchadowho has led investigations into corruption, investigative journalist Gustavo Gorriti, and anti-corruption prosecutors Rafael Vela and José Domingo Pérez. It is also seen in the manipulation of judges to apply pro-crime laws and laws favouring military and police jurisdiction in the prosecution of military and police personnel. The current Parliamentary group (JP, Ahora Nación or Nation Now, Partido Cívico OBRAS or Civic Party OBRAS), as well as the one united with the Partido del Buen Gobierno (Good Government party), must be part of this accumulation of forces acting in coordination with social and citizen struggles; for this task, a space of broad unity called Frente Patriotico, Democratico y Popular (Patriotic, Democratic and Popular Front or FPDP) has been formed.
The FPDP formed on July 26th of this year, a space that brings together various social organisations and the left, emerged to agree on a Platform for Struggle with the demand for solutions to urgent and unavoidable demands such as the repeal of pro-crime laws, the increase of the legal minimum wage to Soles1,500 or USD448, the freedom of Pedro Castillo and those unjustly imprisoned for the social uprising; as well as the resolution of regional, provincial and territorial demands in each part of the country. At the same time, it must propose concrete measures of strategic scope, such as restoring the right to a referendum to hold a citizen consultation on whether or not they agree with a new Constitution, and others.
This Fujimori mafia government has not resolved the crisis; the existing polarisation is a reality that works against it. The main task is to strengthen the Patriotic Front at the national level so that it can resist and confront this reactionary and dangerous moment.
October elections for governors and mayors
In October, elections will be held for regional governors and mayors in provincial and district offices. Our Electoral Alliance Venceremos (We will Win) has registered 13 regional lists, 41 provincial lists, and more than one hundred district lists throughout the country. Another equally important task is to give priority support to the candidacy of our comrade Veronika Mendoza for governor in Cusco, and to obtain militant support in every region, province, and district for her. A victory in Cusco opens the opportunity for us to strengthen, from all over the southern Andes, the struggle against the Fujimori government and forcefully raise our most deeply felt demands, such as gas for all, the rights of indigenous peoples, a second agrarian reform for family farming, and to continue striving for a democratic solution to the existing crisis; for a Constituent Assembly and thus to bury the corrupt and subservient constitution of Fujimorism.
We make a united call to close ranks in this just citizen and popular struggle to defeat the anti-popular government plan of the Fujimori regime, but the task is more arduous than this. At the same time, it is crucial to advance in building a great Latin American unity to stop the neo-fascist project of imperialism led by Trump and his agents in our region. The only tool will be the broadest unity and winning the streets to our cause.
August 19, 2026
Translated and annotated by David Fagan International Viewpoint from Sumate.
[1] Juntos por el Perú (Together for Peru or JP) is an anti-Fujimorist party which placed second in the elections.
[2] Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (National Jury of Elections or JNE) serves as Peru’s electoral court.
[3] The National Council for Labour and Employment Promotion (Consejo Nacional de Trabajo y Promoción del Empleo — CNTPE) is a body within the Ministry of Labour consisting of state, unions and employer groups.
President Donald Trump is making the U.S. resemble the "fall of Rome" at an alarming rate, according to a new piece from The i Paper, as his aggressive policies increasingly turn the nation into a "friendless" pariah.
Writing for the outlet on Saturday, reporter Nick Bryant argued that the recent 250th anniversary celebrations in the U.S. had been turned into something more like "a season of national waning," despite Republicans hoping that the milestone would reinvigorate Trump and the party's electoral momentum. He added that the "decadence" and "gold trappings" in Washington, D.C., that are dominating Trump's attention invoke the "decline" and ultimate collapse of the Roman Empire.
"Donald Trump’s United States is becoming increasingly friendless," Bryant wrote. "American isolationism is conventionally thought of as an active choice by the United States itself. Now, as the age of America comes to an end, it is being imposed from outside by other countries, including long-standing allies. This week it was not the US President who was heralded as the leader of the free world, but the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney who adopted the tone of a wartime leader in the trade dispute with Washington. 'You’re at war when you’re attacked, and we got attacked,' said the former Bank of England governor, channeling his inner Churchill. Carney has dispensed with the deferential default adopted by so many Western leaders towards Trump and again opted for defiance."
He added further: "A protracted dollar-for-dollar trade war would be more economically ruinous north of the border than south. But Canada has a significant economic arsenal. As Carney reminded his compatriots, it supplies 85 per cent of electricity imports, and 60 per cent of crude oil imports. It is also the largest customer for 26 US states, and a top three customer for 45. Trump, as well as threatening the destruction of the Canadian auto industry, has renamed Lake Ontario Lake America. Typically sophomoric, its the sort of stunt that again diminishes his office and his country."
Further "signs of America’s waning have abounded" throughout Trump's harsh summer months, Bryant added, highlighting the bruising scandals involving the USS Abraham Lincoln, the depleted military stockpiles, the pullback from joint exercises with South Korea and Israel's rejection of a proposed Gaza peace plan. He also noted that various European nations recently held a "coalition of the willing" meeting to address the ongoing Ukraine war, with the U.S. not involved at all and new U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham overseeing the proceedings, providing yet more evidence of the country's diminished stature as a global leader.
While the U.K. seems willing to continue the "special relationship" with the U.S. for now, Bryant noted that it is also in the process of "diversifying diplomatically by resetting its relationship with Beijing," signaling the decline of American influence.
"To say that 'America First' means America alone has become a cliché. More and more, it doubles as a truism," Bryant concluded. "Why, Trump is even thinking of rekindling his first term bromance with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. A summit between the two would highlight Trump’s isolation: 'Little Rocket man' and an incredibly shrinking US president."
Chonnam National University researchers investigate how biodiesel feedstocks and production pathways affect their life cycle sustainability
Study provides biofuel producers with a practical, multi-dimensional framework for choosing feedstocks by weighing both climate impact and air pollution together
Chonnam National University, The Research Information Management Team, Office of Research Promotion
Researchers reveal that waste-derived pathways exhibit the lowest greenhouse gas emissions while plant-based pathways dominate by Scope 3 contributions from farming and indirect land-use change.
Credit: Professor Boreum Lee from Chonnam National University, Republic of Korea
For mitigating climate change and limiting global warming to within 1.5 °C, scaling up global renewable energy capacity is an important goal. However, this effort towards transition to clean energy faces significant resource constraints. To address this challenge, diverse approaches are required like biodiesel, which can serve as a crucial bridge technology for decarbonization of the transportation sector while renewable energy is scaled up.
Biodiesel is compatible with already existing diesel infrastructure and can be deployed quickly without extensive modifications, making it a particularly promising solution. However, not all biodiesel is equally sustainable. Its environmental impact depends strongly on the feedstock used and the way it is produced. This creates a complex decision-making landscape for policymakers and stakeholders, necessitating comprehensive life-cycle assessments (LCAs) of different biodiesel pathways. Although previous LCAs have compared biodiesel pathways, most have focused primarily on total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a limited range of feedstocks. They have also rarely examined feedstock-specific mitigation strategies or air-pollution impacts.
To address this gap, a research team led by Professor Boreum Lee along with Mr. Sanghyuk Koh, both from the Department of Environment and Energy Engineering, Chonnam National University, Republic of Korea, presents a comprehensive Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (GREET)-based framework for LCA across five different biodiesel feedstocks. Their study was made available online on July 01, 2026 and was published in Volume 422 of Applied Energy on November 01, 2026.
The study considered three plant-based feedstocks, namely soy oil, carinata oil, and palm oil, representing diverse agricultural systems, and two waste-derived feedstocks, namely used cooking oil (UCO) and beef tallow. A Well-to-Tank approach, based on the GREET model, was adopted aiming to capture emissions across the full life cycle. The full life cycle was divided into three categories: Scope 1 that covers direct emissions during biodiesel production, Scope 2 that encompasses indirect emissions from energy use, and Scope 3, which integrates emissions from major upstream and downstream processes.
For plant-based feedstocks, the upstream processes included farming, oil extraction, refining, transportation, and emissions from indirect land use change (ILUC). In contrast, waste-derived feedstocks included rendering, oil extraction, and refining as upstream processes, while overseas import and long-distance international transport were excluded.
Emissions analysis showed that waste-derived feedstocks consistently demonstrated lower GHG emissions than plant-based oils. This is mainly due to the absence of emissions from upstream agriculture and land use. Among plant-based options, carinata oil showed the lowest emissions as it avoids ILUC emissions. For plant-based feedstocks, Scope 3 farming processes had the greatest contribution to GHG emissions, while for waste-derived feedstocks Scope 1 and the Scope 3 refining stage were dominant.
“Waste-derived pathways, when paired with renewable energy inputs in processing, can achieve net-negative emissions, meaning they could actually remove more carbon from the atmosphere than they emit with a reduction of up to 346–352% relative to their own baseline (conventional-input) production,” saysProf. Lee.
Interestingly, air-pollution analysis showed that low GHG intensity did not necessarily mean uniformly low pollution. For example, carinata oil, despite its lowest plant-based GHG emissions, had the highest volatile organic compound (VOC) and carbon monoxide (CO) levels across all pathways. These findings highlight the importance of considering air-pollution impacts alongside GHG emissions when evaluating biodiesel sustainability.
Furthermore, Monte Carlo simulation-based uncertainty analysis, aimed at capturing the effect of data variability, showed wider emission ranges for plant-based pathways, compared to much narrower distributions for waste-derived feedstocks.
Importantly, best-case GHG mitigation scenarios revealed emission reduction potentials ranging from 66% to 352%. Waste-derived feedstocks offered the greatest mitigation potential, achieving net-negative GHG emissions through the use of renewable energy in rendering and refining processes.
“Our findings argue against one-size-fits-all biofuel mandates: regions with strong waste-collection infrastructure should prioritize used-oil-based biodiesel, while agricultural regions may benefit more from dedicated energy crops. In the near future, this feedstock-specific, region-aware analysis approach will help policymakers design smarter policies and foster the broader biofuel industry, including aviation and marine fuels, paving the way towards a more sustainable future,” concludes Prof. Lee.
***
Reference
Title of original paper: Decarbonizing biodiesel supply chains: a GREET-based life cycle assessment with Scope 1–3 emissions and best-case mitigation
About the institute Chonnam National University (CNU), established in 1952, is one of South Korea's leading national universities located in Gwangju. Building on its founding commitment to cultivating leaders of integrity and professional excellence, CNU contributes to national development and global progress through the pursuit of knowledge, ethical responsibility, and inclusive excellence. Guided by the core motto “Truth, Creativity, and Service,” the university advances research, education, and public engagement that strengthen resilient societies, foster sustainable development, and promote the well-being of future generations. As a trusted partner in the global community, CNU remains dedicated to addressing complex challenges in an increasingly interconnected world.
About Professor Boreum Lee Dr. Boreum Lee is a Professor at the Department of Environment and Energy Engineering, Chonnam National University, Republic of Korea. His research focuses on the design and evaluation of carbon-neutral process systems, including hydrogen production, CO₂ capture, utilization and storage, ammonia synthesis and cracking, Power-to-X technologies, and water treatment. By integrating Aspen Plus process simulation with techno-economic and environmental assessments, he works to develop and optimize sustainable energy and chemical processes.
About Mr.Sanghyuk Koh Mr. Sanghyuk Koh is a master’s candidate at the Department of Environment and Energy Engineering, Chonnam National University, Republic of Korea. His research focuses on the life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis of biodiesel supply chains and green hydrogen production to evaluate their environmental and economic sustainability.
