Thursday Morning Briefing: U.S. officials still fighting global warming despite Trump's skepticism

Highlights

“We really don’t detect any change with the Americans,” said one of the officials, Aleksi Härkönen of Finland, who chairs the eight-nation Arctic Council’s key group of senior officials. U.S. President Donald Trump has bashed international efforts to combat climate change and questioned whether global warming is driven by human consumption of fossil fuels. But there is a disconnect between what Trump says at home and what his government does abroad. State Department envoys, federal agencies and government scientists remain active participants in international efforts to both research and fight climate change.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved spending more money on metal detectors, locks and other school security measures, but took no steps to tighten gun control laws a month after a Florida high school shooting that killed 17 people.

IHeartMedia, which filed for bankruptcy along with some of its units, said it ‍reached the agreement with holders of more than $10 billion of its outstanding debt for a balance sheet restructuring, which would reduce its debt by more than $10 billion.

Commentary: The European Union is at a crossroads in its energy policy, writes Agnia Grigas. As another conflict over gas contracts is erupting between Russia and Ukraine, the EU and the United States should oppose Moscow's efforts to start construction of Nord Stream 2, a pipeline that "may give the Russian military a freer hand in Ukraine, impede the EU’s foreign policy and energy strategy, and increase Moscow’s influence over Germany’s political and business elites, thus aggravating divisions between Europe and the United States."

World

Russia warned that it would retaliate very soon for Britain’s expulsion of 23 diplomats over a nerve toxin attack on a Russian former double agent. Russia denies any involvement and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused London of behaving in a “boorish” way, adding that this was partly due to the problems Britain faces over its planned exit from the European Union next year.

Syria’s civil war began seven years ago with protests against President Bashar al-Assad’s government. It has since dragged in global and regional powers. Fractured into areas held by rival forces, the country continues to endure through war with the death toll from the war remaining unclear as estimated fatalities vary vastly between organisations.

On March 16, 1968, 504 people were killed by American soldiers in Son My, a collection of hamlets between the central Vietnamese coast and a ridge of misty mountains, in an incident known in the West as the My Lai Massacre.

Luke Baker  @BakerLuke

Anything you can do, we'll try to do better (Middle East Cold War looms) -- Saudi crown prince says will develop nuclear bomb if Iran does http://reut.rs/2HAG1lz

08:31 am - mar 15, 2018

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