promoearn: A target missed at COP26

Sunday, November 14

November 12, 2021: Climate activists demonstrate outside of the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.

Here's the biggest news you missed this weekend

COVID-19 infections are rising across the United States. Are we experiencing another surge? It's the weekend's news.

COP26 climate deal falls short on 1.5 degrees Celsius target

Negotiators at the United Nations climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, on Saturday struck a global climate deal aimed at reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and averting catastrophic global warming. But the pledges won't be enough to limit a planetary temperature rise to a key 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold. The COP26 text builds on targets established in Paris six years ago by requesting countries, by the end of 2022, revisit and strengthen goals for cutting carbon emissions in line with an ambition to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and ideally 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030. Experts and climate campaigners said the agreement leaves many issues unresolved. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said the deal did not go far enough and the world must "go into emergency mode."

•	President Joe Biden at climate summit: 'None of us can escape the worst that is yet to come.'

Queen Elizabeth II is injured, the palace says

Queen Elizabeth II has sprained her back , Buckingham Palace says, keeping her from attending "Remembrance Sunday" after several weeks of heightened concern over the state of the 95-year-old monarch's health. The queen's decision to miss the service was made with "great regret" and "disappointment," the palace told USA TODAY. Just days ago, the palace said the queen was determined not to miss Remembrance Sunday, a sacred ceremony in the royal diary that usually brings out most of the senior royals. The queen, Britain's longest-lived and longest-reigning monarch, recently returned to Windsor Castle after being hospitalized in London for "some preliminary investigations."

•	'An incredible honor': Elton John receives highest award bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II.

Queen Elizabeth II waves as she leaves after attending the ceremonial opening of the sixth Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, in Cardiff, Wales, on Oct. 14, 2021.

JACOB KING, POOL/AFP via Getty Images

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Aaron Rodgers reinstated for Packers game against the Seahawks

Aaron Rodgers has returned from his COVID-19 protocol exile. The Green Bay Packers quarterback was reinstated Saturday — just in time for the team's game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Lambeau Field. Rodgers was among the first of the Green Bay Packers to emerge from the tunnel for warmups and ahead of pregame introductions Sunday, and was greeted with cheers and applause. The quarterback was forced to miss the Packers' 13-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9 after testing positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 3. As an unvaccinated player, Rodgers faced a mandatory 10-day quarantine. The NFL fined Rodgers $14,650 and the Packers $300,000 for skirting the league's protocols.

•	Elsewhere in sports this weekend: Oklahoma tumbled out of the top 10 in this week's USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll after losing to Baylor in college football Week 11.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers

Associated Press photo; USA TODAY Sports graphic

COVID-19 infections are rising. Is a fifth surge upon us?

For the first time in two months, COVID-19 case counts and deaths are rising in most 33 states, especially in the northern tier and Rocky Mountains . Does this mean a fifth wave of the pandemic is cresting? With a virus this new to humanity, it's impossible to say, according to Dr. Susan Kline, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Experts say a combination of factors is driving the surge: the seasonality of the virus, waning immunity and many still-unvaccinated Americans. And it underscores the likelihood COVID-19 is here to stay. Hospitalizations also are up – 23 states reported a rise in likely COVID-19 patients, while hospitals in 19 states reported more patients in intensive care.

•	A type of coronavirus is spreading significantly in deer. Could it spread to humans?

Britney Spears is free. What now?

Britney Spears is free from her conservatorship. Now comes the hard part . Family law experts say Spears' newfound freedom after more than a decade of a constricting fiscal and personal conservatorship is likely to prove challenging in new ways. The next step is "assembling the team" to help Spears maneuver from dependence to independence, said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers in Los Angeles. The pitfalls, says Rahmani, are akin to what "college athletes deal with when they suddenly go pro, they're faced with all this money and all these decisions, and they can be taken advantage of."

•	'I think I'm gonna cry the rest of the day!': Britney Spears freed from conservatorship after 13 years.

Britney Spears supporters celebrate outside a hearing concerning the pop singer's conservatorship at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, Friday, Nov. 12, 2021, in Los Angeles.

Chris Pizzello, AP

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