Joe Biden disagrees with most of President Trump's foreign policy initiatives, but several of his advisers tell Axios that there is one he plans to keep: the Abraham Accords.
Why it matters: Continuing to push the Abraham Accords — the biblical branding the administration has given to the individual normalization agreements between Israel and Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates — could help Biden build positive relationships with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other leaders in the Persian Gulf.
While the U.S. continues to set records for new coronavirus cases, European countries have managed to turn their own terrifying spikes around.
The big picture: As some states in the U.S. crack down to head off the worst, the debate in countries like the U.K. and France has shifted to whether and how to lighten their own restrictions before the holidays.
United Kingdom and European Union negotiators were resuming talks Sunday on a post-Brexit trade deal, which remain deadlocked following "significant divergences."
Why it matters: The U.K. and EU hope to make a deal before the transition period ends on Dec. 31, but differences remain on "three critical issues," officials said Saturday.
A radio frequency energy of radiation that includes microwaves likely caused American diplomats in China and Cuba to fall ill with neurological symptoms over the past four years, a report published Saturday finds.
Why it matters: The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's report does not attribute blame for the suspected attacks, but it notes there "was significant research in Russia/USSR into the effects of pulsed, rather than continuous wave [radio frequency] exposures."
Why it matters via Axios' Miriam Kramer:It's only the second time pristine asteroid material has been brought back to Earth. Sample return missions like this one are incredibly valuable to scientists.
Violence erupted in Paris on Saturday as demonstrators clashed with law enforcement officers while protesting a proposed security bill that critics say would restrict civil liberties.
The state of play: Demonstratorswere seen destroying storefronts and burning cars, with police responding with tear gas, per Sky News.
Russia began distributing its coronavirus vaccine on Saturday, making Sputnik V available at 70 different locations around Moscow.
Driving the news: The immunization effort comes days after Russian President Vladimir Putin directed officials to begin large-scale vaccination against the virus, despite widespread criticism from scientists worldwide over the Sputnik V vaccine's safety and effectiveness.
The Trump administration on Friday ended five cultural-exchange programs with China that the U.S. says were used as "soft power propaganda tools" by the Chinese government.
Iran's coronavirus death toll has topped 50,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Why it matters: The grim milestone comes two weeks after the country imposed restrictions in its major cities, which aimed to slow the spread of the virus and daily death toll.
