Why the price of your cup of coffee is set to rise

The cost of a cup of coffee is likely to rise after key producers like Brazil and Vietnam were struck by extreme weather.

Arabica coffee futures in New York surged to a 13-year high of over $2.60 per pound on Monday, driven by record-breaking drought in Brazil and the destruction caused by Typhoon Yagi in Vietnam.

The prices for the premium coffee beans have surged roughly by 40 per cent this year, according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile there has also been a shortage of the cheaper robusta beans.

The surge comes as there are rising fears over shortages in global supply after threats to some of the coffee crops in key producers.

Brazil, the world’s largest producer of arabica coffee, is grappling with a severe drought. In the country’s Minas Gerais region, which produces almost a third of Brazil’s arabica coffee, rainfall has been well below normal, according to Somar Meteorologia, Brazil’s national weather agency.

This drought is threatening the 2025 to 2026 arabica crop, which, according to Carlos Mera, an agri-commodities analyst at Rabobank, “is hanging by a thread.”

Mr Mera told Bloomberg that this crisis is compounded by logistical challenges like port congestion and a global shortage of shipping containers, which are hampering the movement of coffee worldwide.

In Vietnam, the world’s largest producer of robusta coffee, Typhoon Yagi devastated the country’s coffee-growing regions, killing more than 200 people and damaging large swaths of farmland.

Robusta coffee, which is typically used in instant coffee, is already in short supply, with damages adding pressure to global coffee prices.

The price of a cup of coffee has already surged in recent months with retailers like JM Smucker, the company behind brands like Dunkin’ and Café Bustelo, raising prices twice in recent months to offset the increase in green coffee costs.

The company attributed these price hikes to “recent higher green coffee costs and the pass-through nature of the coffee category,” according to Bloomberg.

In the UK, Pret A Manger has discontinued its popular coffee subscription service that allowed customers up to five barista-made drinks per day, the outlet said.

The recent price hikes underscore a much larger issue: coffee production is increasingly under threat from climate crisis.

Coffee is grown in more than 40 countries within the narrow tropical “bean belt” that stretches along the equator. However, as temperatures rise and weather becomes more unpredictable, many of these regions are becoming less suitable for coffee cultivation.

Climate models predict that areas suitable for coffee farming could shrink by up to 50 per cent by 2050. In Brazil, this figure could be as high as 80 per cent, threatening the country’s dominant role in global coffee production.

By 2080, wild coffee, an important genetic resource for farmers, could become extinct. Over 120 million people worldwide rely on coffee farming for their livelihoods.

Arabica coffee, which is prized for its flavor, is especially vulnerable to temperature changes. It grows best at altitudes between 1,000 and 2,000 metres and requires specific temperature ranges between 18C and 23C. When temperatures rise above these limits, coffee plants experience heat stress, reducing crop yields.

Robusta coffee, which is more heat-tolerant, still faces challenges due to its high water requirements. With droughts becoming more frequent, even robusta farms are struggling to maintain output without increased irrigation.

The situation is worsened by the limited genetic diversity of coffee crops. Arabica and robusta varieties account for 99 per cent of the world’s coffee production, making the crop highly vulnerable to pests, diseases, and climate crisis.

While researchers are working to develop more resilient coffee strains, the wild species needed for breeding are under threat. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), more than 60 per cent of wild coffee species are at risk of extinction, limiting the potential for genetic improvements.

India reacts after Iran’s Ayatollah raises concerns for its Muslims

India “strongly deplored” comments made by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who expressed concern over the treatment of Muslim minorities in the South Asian nation.

Mr Khamenei said in a social media post on Monday Muslims cannot be oblivious to the suffering of their brethren in India, Myanmar, and Gaza.

“The enemies of Islam have always tried to make us indifferent with regard to our shared identity as an Islamic Ummah,” he wrote.

“We cannot consider ourselves to be Muslims if we are oblivious to the suffering that a Muslim is enduring in Myanmar, Gaza, India, or any other place,” Mr Khamenei said.

New Delhi on Tuesday objected to the “unacceptable” statement, calling it “misinformation”.

“Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others,” an Indian foreign ministry spokesperson said.

India’s 200 million Muslims, under the governance of prime minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have been subjected to discrimination, economic boycott, mob lynchings and sectarian violence, according to rights group.

A Human Rights Watch report in August found Mr Modi made Islamophobic remarks in at least 110 speeches during the general election while campaigning for BJP to secure a rare third term in office.

Despite sharing strong bilateral ties with New Delhi, Mr Khamenei has repeatedly criticised the majoritarian government’s outlook towards minorities and the troubled Indian federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Iranian supreme leader in March 2020 protested the religious violence in capital New Delhi which led to the deaths of 53 people, mostly Muslims. Mr Khamenei called the riot a “massacre of Muslims” and called on India to confront “extremist Hindus and their parties” to prevent India’s “isolation from the world of Islam”.

A year earlier, he expressed concern over the condition of Muslims in Kashmir just days after the Modi government revoked its special status, imposed a communications blockade, and bifurcated the state into two federal territories.

“We have good relations with India, but we expect the Indian government to adopt a just policy towards the noble people of Kashmir and prevent the oppression and bullying of Muslims in this region,” he said on social media. His comments were rejected by India’s foreign ministry.

Tehran is notorious for its violations of the human rights of women and minority communities. Significant human rights issues include reports of arbitrary killings by the government, forced disappearances and rise in gender-based violence, according to the US State Department.

A months-long security crackdown killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained in 2022 during protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini. The Kurdish-Iranian woman died in a hospital after her arrest by the country’s morality police over allegedly not wearing her hijab to the liking of the authorities.

India and Iran signed a 10-year contract in May to develop and operate the Iranian port of Chabahar.

India has been developing the port in Chabahar on Iran‘s south-eastern coast along the Gulf of Oman as a way to transport goods to Iran, Afghanistan and central Asian countries, bypassing the ports of Karachi and Gwadar in its rival Pakistan.

Police investigating graffiti attack on New York temple as hate crime

Police in New York are investigating the vandalism of a major Hindu temple as a possible hate crime.

A sign board and driveway of the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) temple in Melville, Suffolk County, was defaced with spray paint, the police said.

The vandals wrote “anti-Hindu” messages that also targeted Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, the police said. The incident took place between 7pm (local time) on Sunday and 6.30am on Monday, they added.

The Suffolk police said its Hate Crimes Unit was investigating the graffiti, which had “threatening and derogatory anti-Hindu messages”.

The graffiti was painted on the sign board and driveway of the temple, which was inaugurated in 2016.

The incident comes just days ahead of Mr Modi’s scheduled visit to Long Island on 22 September, where he will address a community event at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Indian consulate on Monday condemned the incident and urged the US authorities to take action against “the perpetrators of this heinous act”.

BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, the organisation that runs the temple, held a prayer meeting at the site of the vandalism with US members of Congress Nick LaLota, Tom Suozzi, and senator Mario Mattera in attendance.

“There is too much hate,” Mr Suozzi wrote on X following the prayer meeting. “Such acts of vandalism, bigotry, and hate are happening far too often because of inflammatory rhetoric by national leaders, extremism, and lack of accountability,” the Democrat said.

“Acts like these are un-American and contradict the core values of our nation.”

Leader of the temple Girish Patel said the incident left the community shocked. “Our place is a place of worship,” he said told NewsDay. “We strongly believe in peace, harmony and working together.”

He said Monday’s temple prayer was attended by public officials along with representatives of faiths including Christianity, Judaism and Islam. “It’s a good message that came out,” he said.

“Deeply saddened by the desecration of our BAPS Mandir [temple] in Melville an act aimed at inciting hatred against Hindus, BAPS, one of the largest Hindu groups in the US, said.

“Guided by our faith, we stand united against hate with compassion and solidarity.”

The Hindu-American foundation has called on the US Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security to open an investigation into the vandalism.

Earlier in July, a BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Edmonton, Canada, was desecrated with similar “anti-India graffiti”, the local police said.

Another Hindu temple, the Ram Mandir, in Canada’s Mississauga was vandalised with anti-India graffiti in February.

Shanghai battered by Typhoon Bebinca, strongest storm since 1949

Typhoon Bebinca, the strongest storm to directly hit Shanghai since 1949, made landfall on Monday morning, bringing the city to a standstill.

The storm hit Shanghai’s Pudong district, an industrial area southeast of the city’s core, at around 7.30am local time, with wind speeds of up to 151 kmph, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center classified Bebinca as a Category 1 Atlantic hurricane equivalent.

Bebinca formed late on Saturday and intensified quickly before slamming into Shanghai, a city of 25 million people that is rarely in the direct path of typhoons.

Hundreds of flights and ferries were cancelled and highways closed from Sunday afternoon as the financial capital prepared for the storm.

An elderly man was injured by a falling tree and over 414,000 people were evacuated to shelters amid a red typhoon warning, China’s highest alert level.

The storm uprooted over 10,000 trees, flooded major roads, and damaged farmland.

After making landfall, Bebinca weakened and moved westward into Jiangsu, Anhui, and Zhejiang provinces. By Monday afternoon, it was moving inland as a severe tropical storm at a speed of 20 kmph.

In spite of weakening, the storm was expected to cause heavy rain, with up to 30 centimetres forecast in some places through Wednesday.

Although it was expected to weaken further on its inland journey and dissipate, the risk of torrential rain and flooding remained high, particularly in low-lying areas.

“The greater impact of the typhoon might come after landfall,” Tang Jie, deputy head of the Shanghai Typhoon Institute, was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency, adding that wind and rainfall would intensify Monday night.

Bebinca’s arrival coincided with China’s three-day mid-autumn festival, disrupting travel and holiday plans for millions of people.

As many as 1,600 flights were cancelled in Shanghai and neighbouring regions, nearly 1,400 of them at Shanghai’s two international airports alone.

Train services were suspended, ports were closed, and major highways were shut down as authorities scrambled to mitigate the storm’s impact.

Pictures and videos posted on social media showed scenes of destruction across the city and there were many reports of power and water outages.

The typhoon caused significant damage to infrastructure, knocking out power to at least 380 households in Shanghai.

Nearly 56,000 rescue workers and 12,000 firefighters were deployed to deal with the aftermath as the storm subsided.

Bebinca was the second major storm to strike China this month after Super Typhoon Yagi, which made landfall in the southern province of Hainan on 6 September, killing four people on the island. Yagi also left hundreds of people dead in Vietnam and the Philippines.

Scientists say that warmer ocean waters due to the climate crisis are making tropical storms more intense and frequent.

First conviction under Hong Kong’s security law for ‘seditious slogan’

A Hong Kong man has pleaded guilty to sedition for wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan on it, becoming the first person to be convicted under the city’s new security legislation.

Chu Kai-pong, 27, was arrested in June last year for wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times”, which the city’s authorities consider secessionist.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of “doing acts with seditious intent”.

After Mr Chu’s arrest, police said that the slogan on his clothing could incite hatred, contempt, or disaffection against the “fundamental system of the state established by the constitution of the People’s Republic of China”.

Mr Chu admitted to wearing the T-shirt to commemorate the 2019 street protests and said he wanted to remind people of the demonstrations.

He is the first person convicted under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance in Hong Kong – also known as Article 23 – which was passed in March.

The new security law increased the maximum sentence for the offence of sedition from two to seven years and even 10 years in case of “collusion with foreign forces”.

Mr Chu said he purchased the protest slogan T-shirt from a company in Taiwan. At the time of his arrest, he was also wearing a yellow mask with the letters “FDNOL”, an acronym for the protest slogan “five demands, not one less”, representing the movement’s key demands.

In court on Monday, it was revealed that Mr Chu had told police that “FDNOL” carried a meaning similar to the “Liberate Hong Kong” slogan.

Both slogans were commonly chanted during the protests of 2019.

In Hong Kong’s first trial under a separate national security law enacted in 2020, the court determined that the phrase “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” carried secessionist connotations.

Mr Chu’s lawyer, Steven Kwan, clarified in court that the protest slogan related to the movement’s demands had not been declared illegal and carried a different meaning.

Mr Kwan also argued that there was no evidence showing anyone had been “incited” by the slogan during the 25 minutes Mr Chu wore the T-shirt, and noted that Mr Chu had not used the internet to commit the offence.

The lawyer acknowledged that a prison sentence was inevitable but requested a one-third reduction due to Mr Chu’s guilty plea.

The new Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, separate from the 2020 national security law, targets sedition and other offences.

The 2020 law introduced life imprisonment as the maximum penalty for crimes like secession, subversion, terrorism, or collusion with foreign forces.

Chief Magistrate Victor So, specifically appointed by city leader John Lee to handle national security cases, postponed Mr Chu’s case until Thursday for sentencing.

Rare smelly penguin wins New Zealand bird of the year contest

A rare, smelly and yellow-eyed penguin species has been crowned New Zealand’s bird of the year for the second time in less than a decade.

The hoiho, which translates as “noise shouter” in the Maori language, won the country’s fiercely fought avian election on Monday, offering hope to supporters of the endangered bird that recognition from its victory might prompt a revival of the species.

The yellow-eyed, shy bird is thought to be the world’s rarest penguin and is the largest of New Zealand’s mainland penguin species. The birds, with their distinctive pale yellow bands of feathers, live along parts of New Zealand’s South and Chatham Islands and in the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands.

Despite conservation efforts, the hoiho population has dropped perilously by 78 per cent in the past 15 years, and 18 per cent in the last year alone, according to the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust. There are believed to be roughly 5,000 fish-smelling penguins left in the world.

The victory on Monday followed a campaign for the annual Bird of the Year vote that was free from past years’ foreign interference scandals.

More than 50,000 people voted in the poll – 300,000 fewer than last year, when British late-night host John Oliver drove a humorous campaign for the puteketeke – a “deeply weird bird” that eats and vomits its own feathers – to secure a landslide win.

This year, the campaigners sought votes in the usual ways – launching meme wars, seeking celebrity endorsements, and even getting tattoos to prove their loyalty.

“Birds are our heart and soul,” said Emma Rawson, who campaigned for the fourth-placed ruru, a small brown owl with a melancholic call. New Zealand’s only native mammals are bats and marine species, putting the spotlight on its birds, which are beloved – and often rare.

The hoiho bid was run by a collective of wildlife groups, a museum, a brewery and a rugby team in the city of Dunedin, where the bird is found on mainland New Zealand.

“This spotlight couldn’t have come at a better time. This iconic penguin is disappearing from mainland Aotearoa before our eyes,” said Nicola Toki, chief executive of Forest & Bird, the organisation that runs the poll.

The birds drown in nets and can’t find enough food, she said, adding that hoiho are “being hammered from all angles”. “They suffer from horrible diseases like diphtheria and get attacked by dogs.”

The tiny and vulnerable chicks are threatened by introduced predators such as cats, stoats and ferrets, which “can wipe out an entire breeding site in a single season”, she added.

The hoiho drew endorsements from legendary conservationist Dr Jane Goodall, former prime minister Helen Clark, and Labour leader Chris Hipkins, making it the highest-powered campaign of the 2024 vote.

“The campaign has raised awareness, but what we really hope is that it brings tangible support,” said Charlie Buchan, campaign manager for the hoiho.

The hoiho joins the kakapo as one of the only two species of bird to win the world’s favourite avian election twice. The kakapo won in 2008 and 2020. The hoiho previously won in 2019.

Over the years, the contest has become a focus of controversies. Forest & Bird demanded that electors verify their ballots after the event was plagued by foreign interference.

In 2018, Australian pranksters cast hundreds of fraudulent votes in favour of the New Zealand king shag. The following year, Forest & Bird was forced to clarify that a flurry of votes from Russia appeared to be from legitimate bird-lovers.

While the campaigns are fiercely competitive, managers described tactics more akin to pro wrestling – in which fights are scripted – than divisive political contests.

“Sometimes people want to make posts that are kind of like beefy with you, and they’ll always message you and be like, ‘Hey, is it okay if I post this?’” said Emily Bull, a spokesperson for the runner-up campaign, which supported the karure – a small, “goth” black robin only found on New Zealand’s Chatham Islands.

“There is a really sweet community. It’s really wholesome.”

Additional reporting by agencies

Japan celebrates historic Emmy win for Shogun: ‘You did it’

Japan erupted with joy on Monday as the samurai series “Shogun” won a record 18 Emmys for its first season.

It took home prizes including Outstanding Drama Series, as star and co-producer Hiroyuki Sanada became the first Japanese actor to win the Emmy for best lead actor in a dramatic series. Co-star Anna Sawai won best actress in a dramatic series, also a first for Japan.

“You did it. You did it. Congratulations,” Takashi Yamazaki, director of ” Godzilla Minus One,” wrote on social media.

People followed the awards live as the wins made national headlines. Entertainment media Oricon proudly reported that a work whose spoken lines were mostly in the Japanese language “made Emmy history.”

“The grand scale of Hollywood combined with the high quality of the production, including costuming, props and mannerisms; the collaboration between the Japanese professional team, headed by producer Sanada, and the local production team; as well as the acting that delivered a strong sense of reality, all came together,” the report said.

Actor Kento Kaku, who starred in the 2024 series “Like a Dragon: Yakuza,” said he was feeling inspired to pursue Hollywood dreams.

“After seeing how cool that was, who’s not going to want to take up the challenge,” he wrote on X.

Actress Tomoko Mariya said she broke into tears the moment Sanada’s win was announced.

“What hardships you must have endured, choosing to leave your entire career behind in Japan and going to America alone. But it has borne fruit,” she wrote, referring to Sanada’s move to Los Angeles 20 years ago.

The accolades for “Shogun” reflect not only the growing diversity in American entertainment, but also the legacy of Japan’s “jidaigeki” samurai films, which have influenced directors worldwide.

The first Asian actor to win the Emmy for Best Lead Actor in a Dramatic Series was Lee Jung-jae, for the hit 2022 Korean series “Squid Game.”

Sanada is one of a handful of Japanese actors to land major Hollywood roles, including “The Last Samurai,” released in 2003, and “The 47 Ronin,” starring Keanu Reeves in 2013.

The role Sanada plays in “Shogun” was first portrayed by Toshiro Mifune in the 1980s.

Sanada, who also starred in Yoji Yamada ’s 2002 “Twilight Samurai,” alluded to those who went before him in his acceptance speech.

“I thank all those who supported and kept the legacy of jidaigeki alive,” he said in his speech in Japanese, clutching his trophy.

“The passion and dreams we inherited traveled across the seas and crossed borders.”

Police arrest over 100 striking Samsung factory workers in India

Police in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu have detained nearly 150 Samsung plant workers and union leaders for planning a protest march without permission.

Several hundred workers have been on strike protesting low wages in a makeshift tent near the Samsung Electronics plant outside the state capital of Chennai for over a week. The workers have been demanding higher wages, better working hours, and recognition of a union backed by influential labour group the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, or CITU.

The protesting workers and CITU members were detained on Monday while they were marching towards the Kanchipuram district collectorate to hand over a memorandum on the eighth day of the strike.

“It is the main area which would become totally paralysed and the protest would disturb public peace,” senior Kancheepuram district police officer K Shanmugam told Reuters.

He cited the presence of schools, colleges and hospitals in the area to justify denying permission to the protest march.

“We have detained them in wedding halls as all of them can’t be in stations,” he added.

The Samsung protest has cast a shadow on prime minister Narendra Modi’s plan to woo foreign investors to “Make in India” and triple the country’s electronics production to $500bn in six years. Lured by cheap labour, some foreign companies have been manufacturing in India to diversify their supply chains beyond China.

Samsung is not keen to recognise any union backed by a national labour group such as the CITU and talks with its workers, as well as state government officials, have not yielded a resolution.

The factory employs nearly 1,800 workers to produce appliances like refrigerators, TVs and washing machines.

This is the first strike at the plant since it came up in 2008, the Hindu Businessline reported. “For 16 years, these workers have been without a registered union, but the management’s attitude, prudishness, abusive practices, and workload have prompted the workers to form a union,” a strike notice read.

S Kannan, the CITU state deputy general secretary, condemned the police action. “This is an archaic move by the state government,” he said.

In spite of Monday’s police action, 12 labour groups, including one affiliated with the ruling party of Tamil Nadu, said they would stage a protest in support of the striking workers in Chennai this week.

“We are going ahead with Wednesday’s protest,” A Jenitan, a local leader of the CITU, confirmed. “No changes to the plan.”

The protest adds to Samsung’s challenges in India, a key growth market.

The South Korean company is planning job cuts of up to 30 per cent of its overseas staff in some divisions, including in India, risking blowback.

India’s antitrust body has found that Samsung and other smartphone makers colluded with e-commerce platforms to launch devices exclusively, violating competition laws.

Additional reporting by agencies.