Oil and gas companies should pay more to drill on federal lands and waters, the Department of the Interior argued in a report released Friday, saying that the current rates were "outdated."
Driving the news: The Department of Interior report said that the federal government's oil and gas leasing and permitting program "fails to provide a fair return to taxpayers, even before factoring in the resulting climate-related costs that must be borne by taxpayers."
During his six years as governor, Sen. Joe Manchin developed a rough three-part test he's taken to Washington: Are proposed programs paid for? Do they have bipartisan support? And do they solve a specific problem facing his constituents?
Why it matters: The West Virginia Democrat wields unparalleled power in a 50-50 Senate, but in many ways he still thinks of himself as a state executive with a practical streak — and that may spell trouble for President’s Biden’s $2 trillion social spending plan as it moves to consideration in the Senate.
Donations are flowing in for Kevin Strickland, a Black man who was wrongly convicted of three murders in 1979, following his release from a Missouri prison this week.
Why it matters: Strickland, who was finally exonerated and freed Tuesday, doesn't qualify for a wrongful imprisonment payout as this only applies to people exonerated via DNA testing in Missouri, CNN notes. A GoFundMe account set up to help him had raised over $1 million by Friday morning.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect that the fund-raising total has now exceeded $1 million.
The leader of a U.S. congressional delegation to Taiwan declared during a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday that the self-governing island was a "force for good," per Reuters.
Why it matters: The group arrived in Taipei on Thursday despite pressure from Beijing to call off the visit, according to two of the five lawmakers on the trip. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) tweeted that the message she received from the Chinese Embassy was "blunt."
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Friday "foreign powers" were to blame for days of unrest in the South Pacific nation.
Why it matters: His government's decision to change alliances from Taiwan to China sparked a wave of anger and massive protests and riots in the capital, Honiara, this week — which resulted in Sogavare declaring a lockdown and calling in Australian police, who swept in to take control of the city Friday, per Reuters.
My Mom, my three siblings and their 11 amazing kids, who encouraged my all-consuming life as a young reporter — which must have seemed mysterious and a bit batty. But it led to Axios, and the privilege of visiting with you each morning.
During NBC's live coverage, Paul Butler, a Georgetown Law scholar of race and criminal justice, had this insight on the murder conviction of three white men for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery near Brunswick, Ga.:
The tape that the jurors wanted to hear today is the 911 call to the dispatcher: "What's your emergency?" The answer was: "There's a Black man running down the street." Lester [Holt], there's a lot of historical resonance in those words.
The Biden administration approved Wednesday plans for a major offshore wind farm to supply power to New York.
Why it matters: The approval for the installation of a dozen turbines near Rhode Island marks a major step in the administration's goal of reaching 30 gigawatts of offshore wind-generating capacity in U.S. waters by 2030, powering more than 10 million homes.
The British and French governments have pledged to increase joint efforts to stop migrant crossings after at least 27 migrants died when their U.K.-bound inflatable boat capsized in the English Channel Wednesday, per Euronews.
The big picture: French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told reporters five women and a girl were among the dead in what's one of the worst migrant boat tragedies to occur on the busy shipping route between the U.K. and France. Four people were missing, presumed drowned.
President Biden had a polyp removed that was a "benign, slow-growing, but thought to be precancerous lesion" after having a routine colonoscopy last week, the White House physician said in a memorandum released Wednesday.
Driving the news: Testing identified it "as a tubular adenoma," which was "similar to the polyp which he had removed in 2008," according to physician Kevin O'Connor's memo, dated Tuesday.
The Biden administration will begin requiring essential travelers crossing U.S. borders to be fully vaccinated starting Jan. 22, a White House spokesperson told Axios Wednesday.
Why it matters: The move comes after the U.S. opened land borders with Canada and Mexico to non-essential travel in November, but only to those fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The Justice Department directed U.S. attorneys on Wednesday to prioritize the prosecution of airline passengers who have committed federal crimes aboard aircraft.
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