UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. food agency said millions of people are being pushed into acute hunger by the Iran war, as it warned would happen if the conflict escalated and oil prices remained high.
The World Food Program said an analysis in three vulnerable countries found that an additional 2.5 million people in Somalia, 2.3 million in Afghanistan and 1.3 million in Sri Lanka are struggling to meet their basic food needs.
In March, WFP predicted that 45 million people could be pushed into food insecurity by the end of June. That would be on top of the 318 million people around the world who are already food insecure.
“We remain by that prognosis,” WFP’s acting Executive Director Carl Skau told U.N. reporters. “That’s mainly because the correlation between the prices of energy and food is so tight in many places, and also that in the poorest countries people are already spending all their money on food, and hence when food prices rise, they eat less.”
WFP said in its report, circulated late Thursday, that its findings indicate the Mideast crisis is generating “significant spillovers," particularly on the prices of food and fuel, and disrupting trade. Especially in already vulnerable countries, the Rome-based U.N. agency said, these factors interact and quickly impact food security and livelihoods.
“These impacts are expected to intensify in the coming months, even if the crisis in the Middle East de-escalates,” WFP said.
Skau cited other global hotspots with food insecurity, including Sudan, Gaza, southern Lebanon, Yemen and Haiti.
WFP has had to limit aid to millions of needy people because of funding cuts, and Skau urged donors to step up, especially for Somalia and Afghanistan “because the human consequences of not doing more will be massive.”
FILE - The symbol of the United Nations is displayed outside the Secretariat Building, Feb. 28, 2022, at United Nations Headquarters. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Carlos Alberto Solari, the Argentine singer-songwriter known as “the Indio” who led Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, one of the country's most popular and influential rock groups, died Friday. He was 77.
Solari, who had struggled with Parkinson’s disease for at least a decade, was found dead near an indoor pool at his house in the provincial town of Ituzaingó, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, authorities said, without identifying a cause of death.
His family confirmed his death on social media, saying they would hold a public funeral to allow people to bid farewell to the rock legend. As news of his death broke, fans began gathering at his home, with some bearing flowers and wearing T-shirts printed with his nickname.
“We will mourn as is fitting, listen to his songs and, above all, take care of one another, as he taught us to do,” the family's statement said.
As the lead singer of Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota — known more simply as “Los Redondos” — Solari became a countercultural icon for disaffected Argentines coming of age as their country transitioned from a bloody military dictatorship to a democracy characterized by newfound freedoms but also instability and hyperinflation in the 1980s.
During the consumerist frenzy that gripped Argentina the 1990s, under the free-market policies of then-President Carlos Saul Menem, Solari's classic rock anthems, punchy dance tunes and cryptic lyrics gave voice to a spirit of rebellion against the excesses of capitalism and influences of foreign powers. Los Redondos released 10 studio albums, eschewing major record labels to maintain artistic independence.
The band broke up in 2001, but Solari found continued success as a solo artist, releasing five more albums under his own name that mixed mainstream rock and electronic influences and drawing hundreds of thousands of fans to parks and stadiums across Argentina.
At a massive concert in 2016, he announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. “Mr. Parkinson is nipping at my heels. But here I am,” he said. The crowd went wild. He later retired from touring, speaking candidly in interviews about the debilitating effects of the disease.
Tributes poured in from politicians, artists and soccer stars across the country.
The Argentine Soccer Association said Solari's voice “became a popular rallying cry” and “echoed in the stands” of the soccer-crazed country.
The Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, a prominent activist group which sought to find relatives who had been killed or “disappeared” by the 1976-83 dictatorship, said the singer “inspired society as a whole to doubt, to question and to think critically.”
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina's former president who is serving a corruption sentence under house arrest, posted one of his famous lyrics on social media, popularized as a call to live courageously: “Just living costs you your life.”
Solari is survived by his wife, Virginia Mones Ruiz, and 25-year-old son Bruno.
People gather to remember Carlos Alberto Solari, the Argentine singer-songwriter known as "the Indio" who led Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, on the day of his death, at Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
People gather near a drawing depicting Carlos Alberto Solari, the Argentine singer-songwriter known as "the Indio" who led Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, on the day of his death, at Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
People gather to remember Carlos Alberto Solari, the Argentine singer-songwriter known as "the Indio" who led Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, on the day of his death, at Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
A person lights a candle near a picture of Carlos Alberto Solari, the Argentine singer-songwriter known as "the Indio" who led Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, on the day of his death, at Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
FILE - Argentine singer Indio Solari performs in Olavarria, Argentina, March 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Hernan Leonardi, File)
