1/ A federal appeals court ruled that only the federal government — not private citizens or civil rights groups — can sue to enforce the Voting Rights Act. In a 2-to-1 ruling, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that private entities cannot bring lawsuits under Section 2, a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that prohibits discriminatory voting practices. The ruling runs counter to decades of legal practice and the vast majority of Voting Rights Act claims are brought by private entities. The decision will almost certainly be appealed and is likely headed to the Supreme Court. (CNN / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / NPR / Politico / NBC News)

2/ Earth briefly exceeded more than 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial benchmark this weekend, preliminary data showed. When compared with the 1991-2020 average, the global mean on Friday was 2.07 degrees Celsius (2.1 degrees Fahrenheit) above average preindustrial levels, and 2.06C (3.7F) above preindustrial on Saturday. This year is on track to be the hottest on record globally, with temperature records set in July, August, September, and October. November is on track to be the hottest such month on record. (Washington Post / Axios)

3/ The world has a 14% chance of keeping global warming below 1.5C even if all net-zero pledges are met, according to the United Nations’ 2023 “Emissions Gap Report.” To keep warming to the 2015 Paris climate agreement limit of 1.5C, countries need to cut their emissions by 42% by the end of the decade. Carbon emissions from the burning of coal, oil, and gas, however, rose 1.2% last year. Meanwhile, if every single country were to follow through on its stated net-zero plans, Earth would still be on track to heat up roughly 2.5 to 2.9C over preindustrial level...