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Barack Obama speaks at Cop26.
Barack Obama speaks at Cop26. Photograph: Stuart Wallace/REX/Shutterstock
Barack Obama speaks at Cop26. Photograph: Stuart Wallace/REX/Shutterstock

First Thing: Obama implores world leaders to ‘step up now’ at Cop26

This article is more than 2 years old

Former president criticizes China and Russia for emissions failures. Plus, the optimal time for bed for heart health

Good morning.

Barack Obama has called on world leaders to “step up and step up now” to avert climate breakdown, singling out China and Russia for being foremost among countries that are failing to cut planet-heating emissions quickly enough.

Obama said that while progress had been made at the Glasgow climate talks – including significant pledges made by countries to reduce methane emissions and to end deforestation – “we are nowhere near where we need to be at” in cutting emissions and that “most nations have failed to be as ambitious as they need to be”.

“It was particularly discouraging to see the leaders of two of the world’s largest emitters, China and Russia, decline to even attend the proceedings,” the former US president said in a speech to delegates at Cop26, echoing the criticism levelled at Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin by Joe Biden at the summit last week.

  • What else did he say? He said that “there are times where I feel discouraged, there are times where the future seems somewhat bleak”, adding that “images of dystopia start creeping into my dreams”.

  • What did Obama say to young activists and indigenous people who are disappointed by the promises made at Cop26? He said “imperfect compromises” will be required to address the climate emergency. “Gird yourself for a marathon, not a sprint.”

Donald Trump takes the stage for a ‘Save America’ rally at York Family Farms on 21 August 2021 in Cullman, Alabama. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Donald Trump has suffered a series of legal setbacks and more loom, as he wages a court battle to thwart a House committee from obtaining White House records for its inquiry into the 6 January Capitol assault and a new grand jury begins hearing evidence about possible crimes by his real estate firm.

Former justice officials and legal scholars say Trump’s longstanding penchant for using lawsuits to fend off investigations and opponents is looking weaker now that he’s out of the White House and facing legal threats on multiple fronts.

The list of significant legal setbacks is lengthy for the former president and real estate mogul who has long had a reputation for threatening to sue his foes.

Meanwhile, the panel investigating the Capitol attack has issued subpoenas to six of Donald Trump’s associates involved in the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election from a “command center” at the Willard Hotel in Washington DC.

  • Who has been subpoenaed? The legal scholar John Eastman, Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien, Trump’s adviser Jason Miller, the former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Trump’s campaign aide Angela McCallum, and the former New York police department commissioner Bernard Kerik.

Astroworld disaster fuels wave of satanic conspiracy theories on TikTok

High schoolers at a makeshift memorial at the NRG Park grounds, where Astroworld was held. Photograph: Thomas Shea/AFP/Getty Images

Videos of the Astroworld crowd crush that killed eight people flooded TikTok over the weekend. But conspiracy theories have also flourished alongside the graphic footage, accusing the rapper Travis Scott, who founded and performed at the festival, of orchestrating a massive satanic ritual.

“This ain’t a festival, it’s a sacrifice,” reads one comment. “The music industry is demonic and collects souls,” reads another comment with 34,000 likes.

Despite its absurdity, the theory has steadily gained traction – with phrases such as “astroworld demonic”, “astroworld illuminati” and “astroworld upside down cross” trending among other AstroWorld content on the platform.

Experts say the viral misinformation illustrates how young social media users are increasingly susceptible to fringe conspiracy theories, despite their reputation as savvy “digital natives”.

  • Why do people believe the theories? Internet users have seized on several far-fetched “symbols” present at the concert, including imagery of flames and burning doves.

  • What else has happened since the disaster? Scott and Drake have both been sued for having “incited mayhem”, a law firm has confirmed.

In other news …

Daphna Cardinale, pictured with her husband, Alexander, said that all four parents have made an effort to ‘forge a larger family’ since the error was discovered. Photograph: AP
  • Two California couples gave birth to each other’s babies after a mix-up at a fertility clinic and spent months raising children that were not theirs before swapping the infants, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles.

  • A North Dakota Republican who organized a rally to oppose Covid-19 vaccine mandates said he would not attend the event – because he was infected with Covid-19. The state representative, Jeff Hoverson, posted on Facebook on Sunday that he was “quarantining and each day is getting better”.

  • The head of Canada’s largest airline is facing public outrage and calls for his resignation after giving a speech in English to business leaders in Quebec – a misstep that has inflamed longstanding grievances over linguistic rights where French is the only official language.

  • Singapore will no longer pay the Covid-19 medical bills for people “unvaccinated by choice”, the government said, as the country grapples with a surge in cases. It said unvaccinated people “disproportionately contribute to the strain on our healthcare resources”.

Stat of the day: people who go to sleep at midnight linked to 25% higher risk of heart disease

Early or late bedtimes may result in individuals missing cues that help reset body clock each day. Photograph: Luis Alvarez/Getty Images

When it comes to sleep, Goldilocks may have argued the trick is to find a bed that is “just right” but research suggests there may also be an optimal time to nod off – at least when it comes to heart health. Not too early and not too late, with the sweet spot being between 10pm and 11pm. The study, based on data from more than 88,000 participants of the UK Biobank, suggests going to sleep at 10pm or shortly after is associated with a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease compared with falling asleep earlier or later at night.

Don’t miss this: why don’t we dump toxic friends?

Is it time to let go of your toxic friend– or can these friendships be salvaged? Illustration: Calum Heath

A toxic friend may seem oxymoronic: unlike families or colleagues, where we might be obliged to maintain ties, most friendships we opt into. Yet nearly everyone has someone in their social network that they have mixed feelings about, says Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. “The distinction seems to be that there are some people who just have more than others,” she says. Holt-Lunstad launched a study into “ambivalent relationships” and found study participants’ interactions with these kinds of friends was associated with increased stress and cardiovascular reactivity.

Climate check: about 26,000 tonnes of plastic Covid waste pollutes world’s oceans – study

Almost all pandemic-associated plastics could end up on either the seabed or on beaches. Photograph: Seaphotoart/Alamy

Plastic waste from the Covid-19 pandemic weighing 25,900 tonnes, equivalent to more than 2,000 doubledecker buses, has leaked into the ocean, research has revealed. The mismanaged plastic waste, consisting of personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves, vastly exceeded the capability of countries to process it properly, researchers said. Since the beginning of the pandemic, an estimated 8.4m tonnes of plastic waste has been generated from 193 countries, according to the report, published on Monday.

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Last thing: collector puts world’s worst album art on show

Baffling: the cover of The Nimble Fingers of Jean Pierre Jumez. Photograph: handout

There’s the album cover with the band as rabbits, or the one with a harmony duo walking out of water dressed only in their underwear and ties, but surely the most baffling is the concert guitarist pictured in dinner jacket and no trousers. Why? “I’ve no idea, sorry,” says Steve Goldman, who owns about 300 records that can lay claim to having some of the world’s worst cover art. Goldman, 55, has been obsessively collecting the records for five years and this week shares them with the public in a display raising money for charity.

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