Biden knocks China and Russia.<\/b>
\nWe\u2019re covering Biden\u2019s jab at Russia and China at the climate summit in Glasgow and Ethiopia\u2019s state of emergency. On Day 2 of the climate summit in Scotland, President Biden said the two nations\u2019 leaders were wrong not to join more than 100 world leaders looking for solutions to the climate crisis. We have live updates here. \u201cI think it\u2019s been a big mistake for China\u201d not to show up at the conference, he said. \u201cIt just is a gigantic issue and they walked away,\u201d Biden said. Of Putin, he said, \u201cLiterally, his tundra is burning.\u201d 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\u2019s 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\u2019s 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. It has criminalized topics that were once subjects of historical debate and research, including Mao Zedong\u2019s rule. Context: The new law is part of an intensified campaign under China\u2019s leader, Xi Jinping, who is seeking to solidify a moral foundation for the Communist Party\u2019s supremacy. Risky questions: Was Mao\u2019s Long March really not so long? Was Mao\u2019s son, Mao Anying, killed by an American airstrike during the Korean War because he lit a stove to make fried rice? Asking those questions could lead to arrest and prosecution. Quotable: \u201cIt is a sign of the establishment of an absolute political totalitarianism,\u201d said Wu Qiang, an outspoken political analyst in Beijing. After Tigrayan rebel forces captured two crucial towns about 160 miles from Addis Ababa, the government declared a state of emergency and called on citizens to pick up arms. The Tigrayans, who have been fighting the government for the past year, have joined forces with another rebel group. The Ethiopian military suffered a major defeat when it was forced to withdraw from Tigray in June. Now the war is rapidly moving toward the capital. Under the state of emergency, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has sweeping powers to arrest and detain critics, impose curfews and restrict the media. Any citizen over 18 could be called into the fight, the justice minister said. What\u2019s next: Jeffrey Feltman, the Biden administration\u2019s envoy to the Horn of Africa, said the deepening conflict could have \u201cdisastrous consequences\u201d for Ethiopia\u2019s unity and its ties to the U.S. sanctions: President Biden said that he would revoke trade privileges to Ethiopia, citing \u201cgross violations of internationally recognized human rights.\u201d Asia Pacific Coronavirus Pandemic Other Big Stories A Morning Read A large wedding is an important rite of passage for many Palestinian men, who take out wedding loans, often worth about $2,000, or nearly an average annual salary in Gaza. We followed Wasfi al-Garosha, who ended up in prison more than a dozen times for failing to repay a wedding loan. His story is emblematic of the economic crisis in the area, and the stresses of life in the Gaza Strip. Cultural institutions have been trying to lure audiences back with shorter shows. Not the Metropolitan Opera. The Met is staging the longest opera in its repertory, Wagner\u2019s nearly six-hour \u201c Die Meistersinger von N\u00fcrnberg,\u201d about love and music-making in medieval Germany. The show includes more than 400 artists and stagehands, breakneck set changes, fight scenes and two 40-minute intermissions. \u201cThere\u2019s always room for epics,\u201d Peter Gelb, the Met\u2019s general manager, told The Times. \u201cThere is always an appeal for huge events.\u201d For now, the audience has been slow to turn out. On opening night last week, a little more than half of the auditorium\u2019s 3,700 seats were filled. On Saturday, about two-thirds of the seats were full. What to Cook These Korean barbecue-style meatballs are savory and sweet. What to Read In \u201c1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows,\u201d the Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei writes about family, exile and the inseparable nature of art and politics. What to Watch \u201cThe Tomorrow War,\u201d a mega-budget time-travel extravaganza is among the five science-fiction movies to stream now. Now Time to Play Here\u2019s today\u2019s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Broadway\u2019s \u201c___ Boots\u201d (five letters). And here is today\u2019s Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here. That\u2019s it for today\u2019s briefing. See you next time. \u2014 Melina P.S. Emma Goldberg will cover the future of work in our Business section. The latest episode of \u201c The Daily \u201d is about inflation in the U.S. You can reach Melina and the team at briefing@nytimes.com.<\/p>\n