The first

The UN’s World Food Program is facing a $500 million shortfall. The reason: rising food prices. This is bad news for the 73 million people fed by the WFP. So what does that have to do with us?

The United States is the largest single contributor to the WFP, accounting for about 40% of the agency’s food and money donations, followed by the European Union. U.S. officials have already warned that it is likely they will be cutting donations to global humanitarian organizations because of higher costs.

Source: the L.A. Times. See also the Guardian. (Hat tip: God’s Politics.)