A report from the UN Environment Program found that countries’ updated climate pledges put the world on track for a temperature rise of 2.7°C by the end of the century, far above the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting warming to 1.5°C. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the gap amounted to a failure of leadership (UN News) and called for governments to make more ambitious pledges ahead of the latest round of UN climate talks, the twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties (COP26), that begin this weekend.
 
The report noted that although forty-nine countries plus the European Union (EU) have set net-zero emissions targets, plans for reaching them remain vague, and only eleven targets are enshrined in law. In addition, cutting methane emissions and setting clear rules for carbon markets, which will be discussed (Politico) at COP26, could help reduce warming.

John Kerry traveled to London, where he will meet (State Dept.) with Xie Zhenhua ahead of COP26. Xie will attend (Australian) the climate conference on behalf of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
 
Australia: Canberra said it will offer Southeast Asian countries $93 million in financial aid (Reuters) and an additional ten million COVID-19 vaccine doses.

The panel will investigate (Indian Express) whether the government improperly used the Pegasus spyware to surveil Indian citizens. 
 
Afghanistan: The U.S. Department of Defense’s top policy official told a Senate panel (CNN) that the Islamic State in Khorasan could be capable of attacking the United States in six to twelve months, while al-Qaeda could have that ability in a year or two.
 
For Foreign Affairs, Cole Bunzel looks at the jihadi power struggle in the Taliban’s Afghanistan.

Iran’s national security council said a cyberattack hit the computer system (AFP) responsible for distributing oil throughout the country. The attack is under investigation.
 
Turkey: Parliament extended the authorization (Anadolu) for troop deployments in Iraq and Syria for two years.

The office of deposed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said he was allowed to return home yesterday (France 24). The military detained him when it seized power on Monday.
 
For the Africa in Transition blog, CFR’s Michelle Gavin discusses the coup.
 
CAR/DRC: The United Nations has restarted (VOA) a voluntary repatriation process for refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR) to return from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after the program was paused nearly a year ago.

The EU’s competition police have begun investigating (Politico) whether high energy prices can be linked to illegal activity by the bloc’s gas suppliers. The chief suspect is Russia’s Gazprom, though investigators did not mention it by name.
 
Brussels/Iran: EU envoy Enrique Mora will meet (RFE/RL) with Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani in Brussels today in hopes of reviving stalled nuclear talks.

A Senate committee that investigated government mishandling of the response to COVID-19 voted to approve a report (AP) calling for criminal charges against President Jair Bolsonaro and dozens of other people.
 
Paraguay: The landlocked country is experiencing its most severe drought (WSJ) since the 1940s, which is harming its shipping and agriculture industries, officials said.
 
This Backgrounder examines how water stress is threatening the health and development of communities worldwide.

The proposal aims to fund (Bloomberg) the Biden administration’s flagship social spending package, which has been whittled down in recent weeks as some Democrats have not given it their full support.