At least 10 people have been killed and 20 wounded in a suicide bombing outside an education center in western Kabul, the Afghan interior ministry said on Saturday.
Driving the news: Tariq Arian, the interior ministry spokesperson, tweeted that the attacker was stopped by security guards before entering the Kawsar-e Danish education center. The attacker then detonated explosives in a nearby alley.
Polish President Andrzej Duda has tested positive for the coronavirus, a spokesperson announced on Saturday.
The big picture: Duda is reportedly feeling well and in isolation. His positive test comes amid a massive uptick in COVID-19 throughout the country and elsewhere across Europe.
Poland had previously warded off the virus with relative success, but is now facing a massive influx of cases that threatens to overwhelm its medical system.
The nation on Saturday tracked "13,628 new cases and 179 new deaths — a record number of deaths in one day since the start of pandemic," AP reports.
Thousands of protesters turned out on Friday in cities across Poland following a Thursday court ruling banning almost all abortions, the BBC reports.
Why it matters: Opinion polls show a "clear majority" against further restricting abortions in the country, per BBC. Poland, a Roman Catholic country, was already said to have one of the strictest abortion laws in Europe.
Retired Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, President Trump's former national security adviser, said Russian President Vladimir Putin is "determined to drag us all down like the KGB operator he is" through political subversion and disinformation.
What he's saying: "He's quite adept at it. He's one of the best liars in the world, deceivers in the world. ... Let's just stop being chumps about this. Right?"
Why it matters: This is another blow to the Palestinian leadership — the third such announcement from an Arab country in two months despite Palestinian objections.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli defense minister Benny Gantz announced in a joint statement on Friday that Israel will not object to the sale of F-35 fighter jets by the U.S. to the United Arab Emirates.
Why it matters: The Trump administration was planning to notify Congress in the next few days about the upcoming deal, which has been a top priority for the UAE, Israeli officials said. The statement will likely convince Congress not to intervene against the deal over concerns for the Israel’s security.
Sudan and Israel announced today that they will “end the state of belligerence” between them and start the process of normalizing ties.
Driving the news: The announcement came after a phone call hosted by President Trump with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, and the head of Sudan's governing council, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
President Trump signed Friday an order to remove Sudan from the State Department’s state sponsors of terrorism list, senior U.S. officials tell me.
Why it matters: Trump’s signature paves the way for the U.S. and Sudan to move forward on a larger deal — which will also include a Sudanese announcement on normalizing its relations with Israel.
Japan's newly elected Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is slated to announce a target next week of making the nation carbon-neutral by 2050, per reports in Nikkei, Reuters and elsewhere.
Why it matters: Japan is one of the world's largest carbon emitters, per International Energy Agency data, though far smaller than China, the U.S. and India.
The value of the Turkish lira against the dollar fell more than 2% immediately following the central bank's decision not to adjust its benchmark one-week repo rate, sending the currency plummeting to its lowest level on record.
Why it matters: Turkey is becoming a cautionary tale of what can happen when a central bank loses its independence and credibility and is effectively controlled by the president.
A "new generation of curators" is driving change in museums across Europe as nations confront their violent colonial pasts, University of Oxford contemporary archaeology professor Dan Hicks told Axios.
Why it matters: This year's global anti-racism protests that've seen monuments of colonial figures toppled are helping drive the conversation on returning looted colonial-era relics. Hicks said progress has been too slow for many audiences and stakeholders "who want to see endless dialogue give way to action."
A surprise offer from Vladimir Putin has the U.S. and Russia once again circling a potential pre-election nuclear deal.
The big picture: The last treaty constraining the U.S. and Russia, New START, is due to expire on Feb. 5, 2021, two weeks after the next U.S. presidential inauguration. For the first time since the height of the Cold War, the nuclear guardrails could come off.
