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Hard Numbers: More good food news, runaway Argentine inflation, Ivorian pardon, Bangladesh fuel price hike
170,000: Four more ships carrying almost 170,000 metric tons of grain left Ukraine's Black Sea ports on Sunday, the same day the first foreign-flagged vessel arrived there since the Russian invasion in February. More welcome news for mitigating the global food crisis, although it'll take months to reach pre-war export levels.
90.2: Analysts now predict that Argentina's inflation will reach a whopping 90.2% this year, 16.2 percentage points higher than the previous estimate. Getting inflation under control is priority no. 1 for Sergio Massa, the newly minted "super minister" in charge of saving the economy.
20: Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara pardoned his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo, sentenced in 2018 to 20 years in prison for stoking political turmoil that led to a brief civil war in 2011. Gbagbo returned from exile a year ago after the ICC acquitted him of war crimes during the same period.
50: Bangladesh has raised the price of fuel by 50%, its largest-ever hike. The government needs to cut back on subsidies in order to get a big IMF loan, but the move is already triggering mass protests and will likely result in higher inflation.Hard Numbers: US rare-earth push, grow your own food in Sri Lanka, don’t protest in Cuba, Whisky Wars
120 million: An Australian company signed a $120 million deal with the Pentagon to refine rare-earth metals in Texas. The US wants to stop playing catch-up to China, which dominates the global trade of these metals crucial for modern technology.
297: Cuba sentenced 297 people for up to 25 years behind bars for participating in a rare anti-government protest last summer. The Castro brothers may be gone, but the regime is still hell-bent on quashing internal dissent.
4: Cash-strapped Sri Lanka asked public-sector workers to follow a 4-day workweek, taking Fridays off to ... grow food in their backyards. The government has long run out of foreign currency to pay for basic imports amid the country's worst-ever economic and political crisis.
50: Canada and Denmark have settled a 50-year sovereignty dispute over an uninhabited Arctic island, the closest we've ever been to a “war” between two NATO members. They had been amicably tussling like only ultra-polite Canadians and Danes can — by planting bottles of Canadian whisky and Danish schnapps along with their national flag all over the rock.Filipinos go the whole hog despite Covid-19 fallout
MANILA • Filipinos are not letting the coronavirus pandemic prevent them from getting a roasted pig delicacy onto their dining tables during the holiday season, despite a hit to the disposable incomes of many.
Filipinos ignore Covid-19 pandemic to get roasted pig on holiday tables
MANILA (BLOOMBERG) - Filipinos aren't letting the coronavirus pandemic prevent them from getting a roasted pig delicacy onto their dining tables during the holiday season despite a hit to the disposable incomes of many.
Malaysians blast federal agency, minister over halal meat scandal
A federal Islamic agency is facing a public backlash over a scandal involving tainted meat and cakes sold in halal-certified shops.
Anxiety mounts over safety of Vietnam's food staples
HANOI • Vietnam's fragrant noodle soups and fresh spring rolls have won fans across the globe, but mounting food safety scandals on the country's streets are sparking a rising tide of anxiety among millennials about what they eat.
Tokyo's tiny noodle bars shut down rather than put up prices amid Covid-19 crisis
TOKYO (BLOOMBERG) - Covid-19 and social-distancing measures are forcing some owners of Japan's tiny noodle shops to consider either pushing up their prices or pulling down their shutters.
HK consumers go on revenge spending spree
Hong Kong residents have gone on a spending spree after two months of being cooped up at home, although it is not clear if this will be enough of a lifeline to the retail and food and beverage (F&B) sector which remains among the worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.