New data shows global carbon emissions have returned to near record levels after a short dip due to the COVID pandemic. Emissions from coal, gas and oil all rose over the past year. The findings by the Global Carbon Project came as a critical United Nations climate summit known as COP26 continues in Glasgow, Scotland. On Tuesday, the president of the Pacific island state of Palau, Surangel Whipps Jr., warned that without immediate and dramatic action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, his nation will be swallowed by rising seas.

President Surangel Whipps Jr.: “Frankly speaking, there is no dignity to a slow and painful death. You might as well bomb our islands instead of making us suffer, only to witness our slow and fateful demise. Leaders of the G20, we are drowning, and our only hope is the life ring you are holding.”

On Wednesday, Indigenous leaders from across the world marched on COP26 demanding the protection of their lands and Indigenous-led solutions to the climate emergency. Police arrested at least five people as hundreds of Extinction Rebellion members held a protest against corporate “greenwashing” at the COP.

New Jersey Democratic Governor Phil Murphy has won a second term after surviving a surprisingly close reelection bid against Republican Jack Ciattarelli. Murphy had been heavily favored in New Jersey, which has about a million more registered Democrats than Republicans. It was the latest indication that Democrats could lose ground during critical midterm elections next year. On Wednesday, President Biden said he hoped to reverse the Democratic Party’s fortunes by passing his 10-year, $1.75 trillion green energy and social safety net bill.

President Joe Biden: “People are upset and uncertain about a lot of things, from COVID to school to jobs to a whole range of things, and the cost of a gallon of gasoline. And so, if I’m able to pass, sign into law my Build Back Better initiative, I’m in a position where you’re going to see a lot of those things ameliorated, quickly and swiftly.”

In Buffalo, New York, democratic socialist mayoral candidate India Walton has conceded to incumbent Mayor Byron Brown, who ran a successful write-in campaign after losing the Democratic primary to Walton.

In Minneapolis, Mayor Jacob Frey has won reelection. Frey opposed a ballot measure to replace the Minneapolis police with a Department of Public Safety. That measure failed to pass.

In Detroit, voters passed ballot initiatives to form a reparations task force and to decriminalize some psychedelic drugs, including magic mushrooms. Similar drug ballot initiatives passed in Oregon and Washington, D.C., last year. On Wednesday’s broadcast, we mistakenly said those votes took place on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in Tucson, Arizona, voters have approved a citywide $15-an-hour minimum wage by a two-to-one margin.

For the second time, Republicans in the United States Senate have used the filibuster to block a bill to restore parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act gutted by the Supreme Court eight years ago. On Wednesday, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski was the sole Republican to join 49 members of the Democratic Caucus voting in favor of opening debate on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The 50-49 majority was not enough to overcome the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster.

The United States recorded nearly 1,900 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, pushing the official U.S. death toll from the pandemic past 750,000. That’s three-quarters of a million confirmed coronavirus deaths, more than any other country on Earth. And researchers at the University of Washington estimate the true U.S. death toll is even higher — at over 860,000.

The White House on Wednesday urged parents to get their young children vaccinated, as the first child-sized doses of Pfizer shots were administered around the country. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy warned against the spread of misinformation about kids and vaccines.

Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy: “Many parents are already seeing inaccurate claims on social media, text threads and in their inboxes. Now, I believe every parent has a right to the facts, so they can make decisions for their children based on accurate scientific information. Misinformation robs them of this freedom.”

Russia continues to battle a worsening coronavirus wave, setting a new daily record Thursday with nearly 1,200 deaths. Russia is in the middle of what authorities are calling a “non-working week” in an attempt to keep people home and curb infections.

Cases are also surging across much of Europe. In the Netherlands, Prime Minister Mark Rutte has reintroduced face mask requirements for public spaces and will expand the “corona pass” program requiring proof of vaccination for museums, gyms, outdoor terraces and other public spaces.

The World Health Organization has granted emergency use authorization to India’s COVID-19 vaccine known as Covaxin. The two-dose vaccine is based on an inactivated form of the coronavirus. It’s easily stored and showed 78% efficacy against symptomatic disease in a clinical trial. It’s the eighth COVID-19 vaccine approved by the WHO.

The U.S. has added the Israeli firm NSO Group to a trade blacklist following reports its Pegasus spyware was used by governments to target activists, journalists and government officials. NSO’s spyware has been used on phones belonging to family members of assassinated Saudi journalist Jamal Kashoggi, and reporters and dissidents from the United Arab Emirates and Mexico, among others. Click here to see our full coverage of this issue.

Hundreds of protesters marched through the streets of Mexico City Wednesday carrying crosses bearing the names of murdered women, and demanding strong government action to end femicides. Mexico’s government reported at least 762 women were murdered between January and September of this year. But a recent report by Amnesty International found the true toll is likely much higher — with more than 10 women and girls killed daily across Mexico. Meanwhile, trans women held a ceremony in Mexico City Tuesday marking Mexico’s national holiday, the Day of the Dead. This is trans activist Kenya Cuevas.

Kenya Cuevas: “Historically, transgender women have been invisiblized. Our families exclude us. In the Mexican altars of our families, there will never be a picture of us. That is why it is crucial to place this altar, to vindicate the trans women who have died.”

Mexico has the second highest rate of reported murders of trans people, after Brazil, and just ahead of the U.S.

In immigration news, President Biden responded to reports his administration was considering compensation of up to $450,000 per family separated at the U.S.-Mexico border under Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy.

President Joe Biden: “Four hundred and fifty thousand dollars per person. Is that what you’re saying?”

Peter Doocy: “That was separated from a family member at the border under the last administration.”

President Joe Biden: “That’s not going to happen.”

Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, which is representing the affected families, said Biden’s refusal to remedy the trauma and other psychological harm caused by family separation would be an “abandonment of a core campaign promise.”

A new report from the Transnational Institute finds that some of the world’s most polluting countries have spent over twice as much on border enforcement than on combating the climate crisis. The worst offenders are Canada, the U.S., Australia and the U.K. Additionally, the world’s largest fossil fuel companies are employing the same companies that receive government contracts to militarize their borders. Activist Kumi Naidoo responded, “It’s unacceptable that rich countries are building a 'Climate Wall' and spending more on arming their borders than on tackling the root causes that drive climate-linked displacement.” Click here to see our interview with Kumi Naidoo.

In Georgia, the judge overseeing the murder trial of three white men who hunted down and killed Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery last year found “intentional discrimination” in the jury selection after a single Black juror was chosen. The 11 other jurors are white. The judge nonetheless is allowing the trial to go ahead, with opening statements expected Friday.

In labor news, New York City taxi drivers are celebrating a major victory after the city agreed to restructure medallion loans, which could eliminate millions of dollars in devastating debt. Under the agreement, individual debts will be maxed out at $170,000, down from an average of about half a million dollars. The city will also give the main lender a cash payment for each indebted driver and guarantee every loan. Taxi drivers had been on hunger strike for two weeks before the deal was announced. This is Bhairavi Desai of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance speaking Wednesday.

Bhairavi Desai: “This is a historic moment. These terms mean that over 4,000 to 6,000 families can get their life back. These terms mean that our brothers and sisters will no longer have a lifetime of debt.”

Click here to see our recent interview with Bhairavi Desai and with two people who joined the hunger strike.