Today’s Headlines: Biden aims for climate action in ‘decisive decade’

Here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

President urges action on climate despite lack of legislative victory at home

Calling this “the decisive decade,” President Biden assured world leaders at the United Nations climate summit that the U.S. would pass legislation to cut emissions and make unprecedented investments in clean energy, despite political tension within his own party that has made progress difficult. He also apologized for predecessor Trump’s decision to abandon the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

More politics

— What to know about the paid family and sick leave axed from Democrats’ spending bill

— What the Virginia governor’s race could tell us about the battle for control of Congress in 2022

— Garcetti aide who disparaged others in private Facebook group returns to City Hall

Sign up for our California Politics newsletter to get the best of The Times’ state politics reporting and the latest action in Sacramento.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

With climate change center stage at the U.N. summit, The Times looks back at images of the destruction of Brazilian rainforest, documented by staff photographer Luis Sinco:

A villager burns brush on a hillside to clear space for tourist cabins in Tumbira, Brazil, on Sept. 22.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Climate change is the main driver of wildfire weather

A new study adds to a growing body of evidence that climate change is fueling more frequent and intense wildfires in the western U.S. The study’s researchers report that, based on the rate that dry air sucks up moisture, climate change is essentially two-thirds to 88% responsible for the conditions driving the region’s wildfire woes. And that estimate is a conservative one, study authors say.

Breastfeeding for longer to pass on COVID-19 antibodies

Lactating parents in California who are vaccinated for COVID-19 have kept nursing beyond the six-months-to-one-year recommendation out of determination — and fear — that human milk is the best protection they can offer their smallest children until a vaccine is available for them.

More top coronavirus headlines

— Unvaccinated teens in L.A. are more likely to test positive for coronavirus than adults

— Indonesia is first to greenlight Novavax COVID-19 vaccine

— Military weighs penalties for those who refuse COVID vaccine

Stay up-to-date on pandemic developments, coronavirus case counts and vaccine news with Coronavirus Today.

Robert Durst indicted in the death of first wife

A New York grand jury returned an indictment against real estate heir Robert Durst in the death of his first wife, Kathie, prosecutors said.

Durst — who was sentenced to life in prison last month for the 2000 murder of his close friend Susan Berman in Los Angeles — could now face a second trial in the same place where his bizarre legal odyssey began when Kathie McCormack vanished in 1982.

CALIFORNIA

— Public school arts programs would get a huge boost under a proposed statewide ballot initiative that has the support of entertainment and music industry A-listers including Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine, will.i.am and Issa Rae. The initiative would raise $800 million annually to benefit K-12 public school students with often limited access to music, drama and visual arts education.

— An encampment of homeless veterans outside the historic Veterans Affairs campus near Brentwood was cleared as its residents were being moved into a temporary tent village on the VA campus itself.

— Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer announced he would speed up his timetable for doubling the size of the City Council, saying he wants a vote on a ballot measure next year instead of 2024.

— PG&E is facing a federal investigation in the Dixie fire. In a regulatory filing, the utility also said it expected to take a loss of at least $1.15 billion from the blaze.

— Vanessa Bryant will not have to undergo a psychiatric examination as part of her lawsuit against Los Angeles County over the helicopter crash scene photos taken by sheriff’s deputies and shown to others, a federal magistrate ruled Monday.

NATION-WORLD

— Why are most Afghan evacuees still housed at U.S. military camps? A Biden administration official attributes the pace of resettlement to staff shortages, logistics issues and medical problems, including a measles outbreak.

— Meta Platforms, the company that runs Facebook, said it had canceled 937 accounts linked to the government of Nicaragua and the Sandinista party of President Daniel Ortega.

— The quest by a civil rights pioneer to have her arrest record wiped clean nearly 70 years after she protested against racial segregation has raised the possibility of similar bids to clear the names of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., whose convictions remain on the books in Alabama.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— “Rust” assistant director Dave Halls called for the industry to “reevaluate its values.” Meanwhile, his attorney disputed an account that Halls had grabbed a gun from a prop cart and handed it to Alec Baldwin, which he then discharged, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

— Before COVID-19, Cody Rigsby was rarely recognized. The unusually approachable Peloton instructor has become one of the pandemic’s biggest stars, capping off a life-changing year with a stint on “Dancing With the Stars.”

— Halloween is over, and you know what that means: Mariah Carey and “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”

— Netflix’s animated series “Ridley Jones” features the bison Fred, the first nonbinary series regular on a preschool TV program. At the same time, the streamer remains embroiled in controversy over Dave Chappelle’s comedy special “The Closer,” which features transphobic language that has sparked outrage.

— Jennifer Tilly has spent her nearly 40-year career on screen portraying funny, ditzy, killer bombshells who ooze glamour. Now, she’s returning to one of her vampiest characters: Tiffany Valentine, psychotic ex-girlfriend of Chucky. If that doesn’t keep her busy, her career as a professional poker player will.

BUSINESS

— With 2021 winding down, it’s time for millions of Americans to sign up for health insurance for 2022. And for Californians who can’t get coverage through Medicare, Medi-Cal or an employer’s health plan, the good news is that expanded federal subsidies will make next year’s policies more affordable for more people than they were a year ago.

— Zillow is looking to sell about 7,000 homes as it tries to recover from an operational stumble that saw it buy too many houses, with many now being listed for less than it paid.

— The Biden administration is calling on Congress to pass legislation that would strengthen government regulation of stablecoins, a form of cryptocurrency that has soared in popularity in the last year.

— Rivian Automotive, the electric truck maker backed by Amazon.com, is seeking to raise as much as $8.4 billion in an IPO that could give it a market value of as much as $53 billion.

SPORTS

— The Rams, never hesitant about going all in when a Super Bowl run is possible, made another big move by trading for eight-time Pro Bowl linebacker Von Miller, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

— A wrinkle in MLB’s domestic violence policy may complicate the suspension of Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer.

OPINION

— Living in the massive dorm with windowless bedrooms being developed by UC Santa Barbara would be like living in a janitor’s closet buried in the center of an Ikea warehouse, with the closest window somewhere back at the entrance, writes Dennis McFadden, an architect on the university’s design review committee who resigned in protest over the project.

— The Texas abortion law may have gone too far, even for conservative Supreme Court justices, writes Erwin Chemerinsky.

— A Supreme Court case on who may carry a gun in public could mean the difference between a few hundred guns and hundreds of thousands of guns on the streets of L.A., New York or Washington. Some of the court’s conservative justices may have tipped their hand with a fact-sensitive approach to the case that should give gun safety proponents reason for cautious optimism, writes Aaron Tang.

ONLY IN L.A.

Moroccan leather slippers, clothing by local designers, Swedish clogs, framed preserved squid, Iggy Pop action figures. Those are some of the gifts you can find at nearly 40 only-in-L.A. stores we’re featuring. This may be the year to do your shopping early and in person. And it’s a way to support small businesses in Los Angeles.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Harry Tucker and pilot C.B.D. Collyer stand alongside the Yankee Doodle.

(Los Angeles Times)

An L.A. Times article from Oct. 26, 1928, told of Harry Tucker and pilot C.B.D. Collyer, who broke a transcontinental flight record in their monoplane Yankee Doodle. Less than two weeks later, the pair were killed in a crash in an Arizona canyon in the same plane while on their way to a business engagement. Collyer was a well-known aviation figure at the time. He’d previously broken a flight record with a globe-circling expedition in a small plane that clocked in at 23 days, 15 hours, 21 minutes and 3 seconds.

Today’s newsletter was curated by Amy Hubbard and Laura Blasey. Comments or ideas? Email us at headlines@latimes.com.