Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to a "humanitarian ceasefire" in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh beginning on Monday, the U.S. State Department said in a joint statement with the two countries' foreign ministers on Sunday.
The big picture: Armenia and Azerbaijan have accused each other of violating previous ceasefires — one announced on Oct. 10 and another on Oct. 17 — almost immediately after they took effect.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced new coronavirus restrictions on Sunday that require face coverings be worn outdoors and mandate bars and restaurants close early.
Why it matters: Nearly 20,000 new cases were recorded in Italy on Saturday alone, per data from Johns Hopkins. COVID-19 infections began spiking dramatically in early October, after the country suppressed its first wave over the summer.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Sunday announced a new state of emergency that imposes a curfew in an effort to combat a rising number of coronavirus cases.
Driving the news: The mandate comes less than a week after Spain became the first nation in Western Europe to exceed 1 million COVID-19 cases.
Pope Francis said on Sunday he will elevate Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory to cardinal, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: The appointment makes Gregory, who has helped lead the Roman Catholic Church’s response to sexual abuse accusations, the first African American to hold such a high position.
As the 2020 presidential campaign draws to a close, President Trump and Joe Biden have focused little on some of the most sweeping trends that will outlive the fights of the moment.
Why it matters: Both have engaged on some issues, like climate change and China, on their own terms, and Biden has addressed themes like economic inequality that work to his advantage. But others have gone largely unmentioned — a missed opportunity to address big shifts that are changing the country.
France is recalling its ambassador to Turkey after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron "needs mental treatment," officials told AFP Saturday.
Why it matters: The action by France is highly unusual. It comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two NATO allies. Erdoğan's comments were in response to Macron's reaction to the killing of a teacher near Paris, who'd shown students cartoons of Islam's Prophet Mohammed during a classroom discussion.
Leopoldo López, a former political prisoner and prominent Venezuelan opposition leader, has left the country, his Popular Will party confirmed in a statement Saturday.
Why it matters: He's been highly influential in the push to oust President Nicolás Maduro's regime and a mentor to opposition leader Juan Guaidó. He'd been in the Spanish ambassador's Caracas residence since escaping house arrest in April 2019 following a failed military uprising.
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.
