Fifty-three people are dead or missing after a migrant boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast, the UN migration agency reported on Monday, while the scientific community celebrated the cancellation of a $10 billion project in Chile that would have threatened the world's clearest skies. Meanwhile, the UK government awarded contracts for a record number of renewable energy projects, and French President Emmanuel Macron warned that US trade "threats and intimidation" towards the EU were not over.
The International Organization for Migration confirmed that only two survivors were rescued after the boat overturned north of Zuwara on Friday, according to The Guardian. The incident is the latest in a series of tragedies as hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers have died attempting to cross the central Mediterranean route this year.
In other news, the UK is set to see more solar farms after the government awarded contracts to a record supply of renewables projects, including 157 solar developments across England, Scotland, and Wales, as reported by BBC Business. Climate and clean energy groups welcomed the move, seeing solar as a relatively cheap way to reduce the UK's reliance on fossil fuels during the summer months. However, some local communities oppose such large developments.
Astronomers are celebrating the cancellation of a $10 billion green hydrogen and ammonia production facility in Chile's Atacama Desert, as detailed by The Guardian. The project, known as INNA, included a port, transport links, and three solar power plants and would have threatened the clearest skies in the world. Astronomers had warned that the facility's proximity to telescopes would have irreparably damaged observation.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned that threats and intimidation by the United States are not over, despite an apparent lull in tensions, according to Al Jazeera. Macron urged the EU to treat recent turbulence in the transatlantic relationship as a wake-up call to push through reforms. He stated that Europeans need to learn from the "Greenland moment" and called on EU leaders to pursue changes that would strengthen its ability to act.
Finally, Spain and Portugal have been hit by a third deadly storm in two weeks, as reported by The Guardian. Storm Marta swept the Iberian peninsula just days after Storms Kristin and Leonardo brought deadly flooding and major damage.
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