In the day's other news: Pfizer's COVID vaccine for young children won approval from a CDC
advisory panel. The group endorsed a low-dose version for kids 5 to 11 years
old. That sent the issue to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky for final approval.
We will return to this later in the program.
World leaders at the U.N. climate summit pledged today to cut methane emissions
and to conserve forests. President Biden wound up his two days at the Glasgow gathering
focusing on America's role in the new initiatives.
William Brangham reports.
JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: It's one of the most potent greenhouse gases there is.
It amounts to about half, half the warming we're experiencing today.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Hoping to solidify America's role as a leader in the
fight against climate change, President Biden joined the European Union today
to announce a proposed 30 percent reduction in methane emissions worldwide by 2030.
Methane, which can come from agricultural production,
doesn't last in the atmosphere as long as carbon dioxide, but it traps far more heat than CO2.
Controlling its release is considered one of the quickest ways to slow the pace of climate change.
The president also formally announced a plan to cut back on U.S. methane emissions by targeting
the oil and gas industries, which are a major source. His proposal includes two new rules to
be enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation.
Another new global commitment made today was on deforestation. These forests,
sometimes described as the lungs of the planet, serve as enormous reservoirs for carbon.
Over 100 countries, including the U.S., China, and Russia, pledged to stop cutting them down by 2030.
Promises like this have been made before, but often not kept. This initiative covers about
85 percent of the world's forests, and would provide financial support
for conservation and restoration, as well as aid for indigenous peoples who rely on them.
Meanwhile, amidst the pledges and promises from world leaders, legendary documentary filmmaker Sir
David Attenborough hoped that the current impacts of a warming world would stir even greater action.
SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH, Naturalist: Perhaps the fact
that the people most affected by climate change are no longer some imagined future generation,
but young people alive today, perhaps that will give us the impetus we need to rewrite our story.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William Brangham.
JUDY WOODRUFF:
And, in Ethiopia today, the government declared a six-month state of emergency.
Rebels from Tigray Province have captured key towns and are now threatening Addis Ababa,
the country's capital. The U.S. is warning the rebels not to besiege the city.
Facebook has announced that it's shutting down its facial recognition system over growing
privacy concerns. The system automatically identifies users in photos and videos. The
company says that it will delete the faceprints of more than one billion people by December.
Yahoo is the latest tech company to leave China,
citing growing restrictions. Government censors had already blocked many of Yahoo's services.
The professional networking site LinkedIn shut down its operations in China last month.
Lawyers in Kenosha, Wisconsin, began making their cases today in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. He
is charged with killing two men and wounding a third amid protests and violence after police
shot a Black man in 2020. Prosecution and defense depicted Rittenhouse
as either acting to protect himself, or looking for trouble, as they made opening statements.
THOMAS BINGER, Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney: The evidence will show
that hundreds of people were out on the street experiencing chaos and violence,
and the only person who killed anyone was the defendant, Kyle Rittenhouse.
MARK RICHARDS, Attorney For Kyle Rittenhouse: It isn't a whodunit, when did it happen, or
anything like that. It is, was Kyle Rittenhouse's actions privileged under the law of self-defense?
JUDY WOODRUFF: Rittenhouse is now 18. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
The U.S. Justice Department sued today to block a giant merger in book publishing. Penguin Random
House, the nation's largest publisher, wants to buy Simon & Schuster for $2.2 billion.
The suit says the new company would have too much power, hurting authors and readers.
And on Wall Street, all three major indexes set records again.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 138 points to close above 36000 for the first time.
The Nasdaq rose 53. The S&P 500 added 17.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": election workers from across the country
discuss the threats they face for doing their jobs;
why some parents remain resistant to getting their children the COVID vaccine;
the pandemic's effect on the mental health of millions of college students; plus much more.