Global food prices jump 10% in July

Global food prices have leapt by 10% in the month of July, raising fears of soaring prices for the planet's poorest, the World Bank has warned. The bank said that a US heatwave and drought in parts of Eastern Europe were partly to blame for the rising costs.

The price of key grains such as corn, wheat and soybean saw the most dramatic increases, described by the World Bank president as "historic". The bank warned countries importing grains will be particularly vulnerable. From June to July this year, corn and wheat prices each rose by 25% while soybean prices increased by 17%, the World Bank said. Only rice prices decreased - by 4%.

In the United States, the most severe, widespread drought in half a century has wreaked havoc on the corn and soybean crops while in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, wheat crops have been badly damaged. The World Bank said that the use of corn to produce ethanol biofuel - which represents 40% of US corn production - was also a key factor in the sharp rise in the US maize price. Read more >>

More on Battle for Control of Caspian Sea

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Press TV reports Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has assured Iran that it will not be left out at any decisions to be made on the status of the Caspian Sea. In a letter to his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki, Lavrov reiterated that Iran will be part of any decision makings on the issues pertaining to the Caspian Sea, IRNA reported on Friday.

"Russia is of the conviction that any talks or decision makings on the Caspian Sea should be made unanimously and collectively by all five littoral states."

Lavrov said cooperation between the littoral states was the key to peace, stability and security in the region. He expressed hope that the third future summit to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, will help solve a range of issues regarding the legal status of the sea. Lavrov's letter came in response to Mottaki's earlier protest at Iran's exclusion at an informal summit of the littoral states.

The presidents of the central Asian states of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan as well as Russia and Azerbaijan met in the Kazakh coastal city of Aktau earlier this month to discuss issues of mutual interest.

The Iranian president was, however, absent in the meeting described as an informal gathering which did not aim to 'consider the issues on the status of the Caspian Sea and division of the seabed.' Iran protested being left out by summoning the ambassadors of all four countries and writing to their foreign ministers. Mottaki also called his four counterparts to express dismay over the exclusion.

The maritime and seabed boundaries of the Caspian Sea have yet to be demarcated among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan, the five countries bordering the Sea. Despite extensive negotiations, the legal status of the Caspian Sea has been unclear since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.