Our daily voyage around the world

🍊 Global orange juice prices hit fresh (heh) new highs this week. Prices of the breakfast staple have climbed sharply in recent years, largely due to declining output in Florida and extreme weather in Brazil (the world’s largest orange producer/exporter). The benchmark for frozen concentrated OJ futures closed at a record-high $4.77/pound on Wednesday, nearly double the price one year ago. These price increases are forcing some producers to explore replacing oranges with other fruits like mandarins.

🇺🇦 President Biden is secretly allowing Ukraine to strike inside Russia using US-provided weapons, per multiple reports. According to unnamed US officials, the permission is restricted so that Ukraine can only hit targets on Russian soil located close to Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, where Russian troops have begun a major assault. Officials say the decision is aimed at allowing Ukraine to counter Russian artillery and missiles being fired into Kharkiv from across the border. They also say the US hasn’t changed its policy prohibiting Ukraine from using American weapons for “long range” attacks inside Russia.

🇭🇰 Hong Kong convicted 14 pro-democracy activists in its largest national security trial to date. The defendants, who face prison terms ranging from three years to life, were among 47 activists arrested in 2021 for allegedly holding an unofficial primary election. The year-long trial centered around a controversial national security law enacted by Hong Kong in response to anti-China and anti-government protests in 2019-2020.