President Biden will celebrate his 80th birthday Sunday, becoming the oldest sitting U.S. president.
The big picture: If Biden runs for a second term, many believe his age would be a liability. Biden would be 82 years old on Inauguration Day 2025 if he wins and 86 at the end of a second term.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un unveiled his daughter to the world this week as he watched the launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile, according to multiple reports.
Why it matters: This is the first confirmed public sighting of the North Korean leader's daughter and shines a light on the potential next Kim family member to lead the country.
The Washington Post has joined human rights advocates in condemning the Biden administration's argument that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has immunity in a lawsuit filed against him over the 2018 killing of Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
The latest: Fred Ryan, the Post's publisher and CEO, said in a statement Friday that President Biden is "granting a license to kill to one of the world's most egregious human-rights abusers who is responsible for the cold-blooded murder of Jamal Khashoggi."
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry has tested positive for COVID-19 and is self-isolating, his spokesperson said Friday, as the UN climate talks entered overtime at the COP27 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
The big picture: Major issues remain in the negotiations, which were supposed to wrap up Friday. Kerry's positive COVID test significantly limits the normally hands-on diplomat's ability to maneuver in the fraught final talks.
The Pentagon’s top policy official warned America's partners in the Middle East on Friday that cooperating too closely with Beijing on security issues could damage their cooperation with Washington.
Why it matters: The remarks by Undersecretary of Defense Colin Kahl at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain signaled the administration's concerns about growing Chinese influence in the Gulf and the broader Middle East.
The Kremlin aims to secure the release of convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in any prisoner swap with the U.S., a senior Russian official told the news agency Interfax on Friday.
Why it matters: The Biden administration has said the two countries have been in talks about a potential deal to bring home two "wrongfully detained" American citizens in Russia: WBNA star Brittney Griner and Marine Paul Whelan.
Swedish investigators said Friday they found explosive residue at the site of mysterious blasts that hit the Nord Stream pipelines and concluded that the leaks were caused by "gross sabotage."
The big picture: Four ruptures were discovered in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines at the end of September, causing leaks in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark that created extensive environmental damage.
North Korea's military test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday morning local time that landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, Japanese officials said.
Why it matters: The missile that can carry nuclear warheads had a range that could hit the U.S. mainland, Japan's defense minister said, per the BBC. It was the North Korean military's second ICBM launch reported this month.
"Bae," "vax," "verbing" and "zonkey" are among some 500 new words added to the Scrabble dictionary.
Driving the news: TheMerriam-Webster Dictionary released its seventh edition of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary this week, adding new words to the game for the first time since 2018.
