Biden knocks China and Russia.
We’re covering Biden’s jab at Russia and China at the climate summit in Glasgow and Ethiopia’s state of emergency. On Day 2 of the climate summit in Scotland, President Biden said the two nations’ leaders were wrong not to join more than 100 world leaders looking for solutions to the climate crisis. We have live updates here. “I think it’s been a big mistake for China” not to show up at the conference, he said. “It just is a gigantic issue and they walked away,” Biden said. Of Putin, he said, “Literally, his tundra is burning.” World leaders promised to curb methane emissions and end deforestation by 2030. At the same time, though, the most important goals remain elusive. Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, can warm the atmosphere 80 times as fast as carbon dioxide in the short term. More than 90 countries agreed to limit it. Russia and China, despite abstaining from the methane pact, joined Brazil and more than 100 countries in pledging to end deforestation in the coming nine years. The pact encompasses about 85 percent of the world’s forests. Analysis: Although the two agreements are potentially big wins in the battle against climate change, leaders failed to secure aggressive commitments to reach net-zero carbon emissions globally, and slow the rising temperatures that have led to lethal fires, floods and more. A young woman in Beijing posted online about the toxic masculinity of those who idolized Dong Cunrui, a textbook war hero for the Communist Party. She was sentenced to seven months in prison under an amended criminal code that punishes slander of China’s martyrs and heroes. Since it went into effect in March, the statute has been enforced with zeal. It has been used at least 15 times to punish people who slight party history. Dissent has long been policed in China, but this new law goes beyond previous restrictions.
