Axios

President Biden and Felix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, met Saturday to discuss a deal that would sell up to 110 million COVID vaccine doses to African countries.

Driving the news: The agreement between Moderna and the African Union is intended to help countries that are behind on vaccination targets set by the World Health Organization due to access and availability of vaccines.

President Biden received Communion on Saturday while visiting St. Patrick's Church in Rome.

Why it matters: The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this year sparked debate over whether politicians who support abortion rights should be denied Communion. But after spending time with the pope on Friday, Biden told reporters that Francis believes he should continue to receive Communion, adding that the pope "was happy that I was a good Catholic."

President Biden and the leaders of Germany, France and the United Kingdom met on Saturday and called on Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to return to nuclear negotiations soon in order to avoid “a dangerous escalation.”

Why it matters: The joint statement, released after the four met on the sidelines of the G20 summit, was intended to demonstrate that the United States and its European allies are united in their approach going into renewed talks with Iran.

President Biden is about to have his first big opportunity to rally global climate action as he visits Rome for the G20 meeting and Glasgow for the crucial COP26 climate summit.

The big picture: Biden will arrive in Glasgow on Monday with a significant new goal: $555 billion in climate-related spending. But tensions with China, lingering mistrust of the U.S. on climate and the inherent difficulties of corralling 197 countries are all working against him.

The U.S. government's Afghanistan watchdog on Friday slammed the State Department and Pentagon for withholding what he said was crucial information about U.S. operations during the 20-year war.

Why it matters: The details "almost certainly would have benefited Congress and the public in assessing whether progress was being made," special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction John Sopko said at an annual conference for military reporters and editors in Arlington, Virginia.

For the first time, a detainee at the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay has testified about the brutal treatment he experienced as part of the U.S. government's interrogation program at CIA black sites.

Driving the news: A panel of military officers, selected by a Pentagon legal official, sentenced Majid Khan, a Pakistani citizen and former Baltimore resident who joined al-Qaeda as a courier, to 26 years in prison on Friday, AP reports.

When the Biden administration was organizing high-level summits with Russia in June and China in October, it turned to the same country: Switzerland.

Why it matters: The neutral state at the heart of Europe has long played a larger role in U.S. diplomacy than many Americans realize.

President Biden on Friday told French President Emmanuel Macron that his administration's handling of the U.S.-U.K. submarine deal with Australia was "clumsy."

Why it matters: The U.S. has been attempting to repair its relationship with France since the country declared a "crisis of trust" over the new Indo-Pacific security partnership known as AUKUS, which caused Australia to scrap a multibillion-dollar submarine contract with France.

President Biden told reporters on Friday that Pope Francis believes he should continue to receive communion, adding that the pope "was happy that I was a good Catholic."

Why it matters: The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this year sparked debate over whether politicians who support abortion rights should be denied communion. Francis has previously said that Catholic bishops should not let politics influence pastoral decisions.

Hopes for a breakthrough with Chinese leaders are hanging by a thread just two days before the UN climate summit, but the story's not over yet.

Catch up fast: China, in a long-awaited new submission to the UN Thursday, declined to speed up its existing pledge to reach peak carbon emissions before 2030.

Factory talk hasn’t been this hot since the height of the U.S.-China trade war.

• Then: Some companies shifted production out of China to dodge tariffs and moved factories to places like Vietnam.
• Now: They’re scrambling to push production to China — and other countries.

With paid family leave out of the Build Back Better framework released by the White House yesterday, the U.S. remains one of seven countries without paid leave for new moms, Bloomberg reports.

The others: Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea and Tonga, per UCLA's World Policy Analysis Center.

Biden's meeting in Rome with French President Macron is expected to produce fresh U.S. commitments to European security initiatives, including more investment for counterterrorism forces in Africa, French officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: This will be the first time the two leaders have met in-person since the French declared a "crisis of trust" over the U.S. and U.K.'s secret submarine deal with Australia, which triggered the recall of France's ambassador to Washington for the first time in history.

Mexico announced Thursday it will give temporary humanitarian visas to children and pregnant women who are traveling with a migrant caravan currently moving north through the country.

Driving the news: A recent caravan of Central American and Caribbean migrants is traveling towards Mexico City and the U.S. and comprised largely of families with children, per Reuters.

The U.S. Treasury announced Thursday it has sanctioned two Lebanese businessmen and a member of the nation's Parliament for undermining the rule of law in Lebanon and contributing to the "breakdown of good governance."

Why it matters: Lebanon was without a government for more than a year after a deadly explosion in 2020 killed over 200 people and displaced roughly 250,000. President Biden has urged Lebanon's leaders to reform the country's economy and crack down on corruption amid continued turmoil.