The Coast Guard said Thursday that it had recovered four more bodies in its search for dozens of people whose boat capsized off Florida's coast after traveling from the Bahamas.
The big picture: The maritime security agency said that it plans to suspend its search for survivors later Thursday if it doesn't receive new information. The Coast Guard has found a total of 5 bodies. More than 30 people remain missing.
The European Union launched legal action against China at the World Trade Organization on Thursday, accusing Beijing of "discriminatory trade practices" against Lithuania. The Baltic country has faced a months-long campaign of intimidation from Beijing for strengthening its ties with Taiwan.
Why it matters: The decision to refer China to the WTO is an important symbolic intervention by the EU, which had been divided in its response to the coercion of a tiny member state by one of the bloc's largest trading partners.
Chile’s Atacama Desert hasbecome a clothing graveyard, with around 35,000 tons of unsold second-hand clothing getting dumped there every year. A handful of organizations are working to reduce and reuse the polluting fabrics.
What's happening: It starts when used clothing from the U.S, Europe and Asia arrives at Iquique, a tax-free port near the desert, for resale in Chile and other Latin American countries.
White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk says the U.S. and Iran "are in the ballpark of a possible deal" to return to the 2015 nuclear agreement, but he “doesn’t want to put odds on it."
Why it matters: That's the most optimistic statement from the Biden administration since the nuclear talks resumed in Vienna last December. McGurk, who was speaking at a Carnegie Endowment event, didn’t explain the reasoning behind his assessment.
The world invested $920 billion in clean energy deployment and innovation in 2021, a record high. However, in order to meet the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, this figure must at least triple in the next few years, warns a report out Thursday from BloombergNEF.
Why it matters: This report provides a crucial snapshot of where public and private sector money is helping to shift economies away from their reliance on fossil fuels and meet climate goals.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that the United States' written answers to Russia's security demands do not contain a "positive response" to the Kremlin's top priority, which is a freeze on NATO expansion, according to Russian state media.
Why it matters: A spokesperson for the Kremlin stressed that no conclusions will be drawn until Russian President Vladimir Putin has time to analyze the papers, but a lack of movement on Russia's core concerns means the crisis over Ukraine is unlikely to de-escalate.
Republicans running in high-profile primary races aren't racing to defend Ukraine against a possible Russian invasion. They're settlingon a different line of attack: Blame Biden, not Putin.
What's happening: Leery of the base, they are avoiding — and in some cases, rejecting — the tough-on-Russia rhetoric that once defined the Republican Party. GOP operatives working in 2022 primary races tell Axios they worry they'll alienate the base if they push to commit American resources to Ukraine or deploy U.S. troops to eastern Europe.
The U.S. will make sure the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project between Russia and Germany won't go ahead if Russian troops invade Ukraine, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told NPR on Wednesday.
Why it matters: Germany's ambassador to the U.S. appeared to support Price's strong rhetoric on the strategically significant pipeline that would circumvent Ukrainian transit infrastructure and deliver Russian gas directly to Germany, eliminating one of the last deterrents Ukraine has against an invasion, per Axios' Zachary Basu.
Asian American and Pacific Islander groups, led by Tongan Americans, wrote to President Biden Wednesday to urge his administration to ramp up aid assistance to Tonga and follow through on climate action to address root causes.
The big picture: The call came as British and Australian navy ships arrived in Tonga to deliver aid without making contact with anyone on the coronavirus-free Pacific Island nation that's been devastated by the deadly Jan. 15 volcanic eruption and tsunami.
