Highlights
There continues to be major differences in the weather forecasts for the dry areas of Brazil. Midday Sunday, some forecasts had the Rondonópolis area receiving 1 to 2 inches rain the first few days of December, while others said not so. By early this morning, the rainfall for early December in the Rondonópolis had been reduced by 20 to 30% while other services continued to predict mostly dry.
Unidentified individuals seized the tanker, Central Park, carrying a full cargo (19,998 mts) of phosphoric acid, in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday. The USS Mason responded to the distress call of the Central Park and the tanker was freed last night. The original news report was that the Central Park was carrying crude oil. The ship is managed by Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime Ltd, a London-headquartered international ship management company.
Last week, an Israeli-linked cargo ship was hijacked by Yemen Houthis, allies of Iran, in the Southern Red Sea. The group, which also fired ballistic missiles and armed drones at Israel, vowed to target more Israeli vessels.