U.K. shoppers face bare shelves and rationing in grocery stores amid produce shortages
CBSN
London — Some major supermarket chains in the United Kingdom have capped the amount of fresh produce customers are permitted to buy due to supply shortages. Popular items including tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and raspberries have been limited to only two or three packages per person at some chains as photos of empty shelves flood social media platforms.
The U.K. imports between 90% and 95% of its produce during the winter months, mainly from Morocco and Spain, according to the British Retail Consortium. Those countries have seen bad weather affect crop yields.
"It's been snowing and hailing in Spain, it was hailing in North Africa last week — that is wiping out a large proportion of those crops," James Bailey, executive director of the supermarket chain Waitrose, told Britain's LBC Radio.
Paris — Jean-Marie Le Pen, the historic leader of France's far-right political movement, died Tuesday at the age of 96, the French news agency AFP said, citing his family. Le Pen, who had been in a care facility for several weeks, died Tuesday "surrounded by his loved ones," the family said in a statement.
Seoul — North Korea on Monday test fired a ballistic missile as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited South Korea, where he warned that Pyongyang was working ever closer with Russia on advanced space technology. Blinken also said that while he believed a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas would end the war in Gaza, it may not happen until after President Biden's term, under returning President-elect Donald Trump.