Monday, Oct. 25

· Special envoy to Iran Robert Malley said efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal are entering a “critical phase” following “shared impatience” between the United States and its allies over Iran’s growing nuclear program. “We will continue to pursue diplomacy even as we pursue other steps if we face a world in which we need to do that,” Malley said.

· The United States suspended $700 million in aid to Sudan after a military takeover occurred there and urged the country to restore its former civilian government.

· The Associated Press reported that U.S. military officials believe Iran was behind a drone attack the previous week at a military outpost in southern Syria where American troops were based. The attacks are alleged to have involved five drones laden with explosives.

· National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with two representatives of Myanmar’s “shadow government,” the National United Government, an administration set up by opponents of the Feb. 1 military coup. A White House statement said Sullivan stressed “continued U.S. support for the pro-democracy movement” and expressed concern over the military government’s “brutal violence.”

Tuesday, Oct. 26

· The Federal Communications Commission voted to revoke the authorization of U.S. subsidiary of China Telecom, China’s largest telecommunications company, to operate in the U.S. due to national security concerns, stating that it believes the company is “subject to exploitation, influence and control by the Chinese government.”

· A representative for President Joe Biden said Biden will seek a “united front” with Europe on Iran policy as he travels to Europe to attend major summits in Rome and Glasgow with the European signatories in the Iran nuclear deal.

· State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the Biden administration unambiguously rejects Israel’s push to build more settlements in the occupied West Bank and criticized efforts to retroactively legalize settlement outposts in Palestinian territory.

· The U.S. voiced support for Taiwan’s “meaningful participation” in the United Nations, which prompted China to say that the island nation has “no right” to join the organization.

Wednesday, Oct. 27

· The U.S. appealed a United Kingdom judge’s decision to block the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges here, due to the judge’s concerns about Assange’s mental state. “We maintain that the district judge was wrong to come to the conclusion she did,” a lawyer for the U.S. government said. The U.S. accuses Assange of 17 counts of espionage and one for computer misuse, all related to WikiLeaks’ release of confidential military records and diplomatic cables 10 years ago.

· The State Department issued its first passport with an “X” gender designation for non-binary, intersex and gender non-conforming citizens, and said the designation would be available next year for the general public.

· Former special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said the Biden administration should engage with the Taliban to ease the humanitarian crisis wracking Afghanistan. “We need to sit with them to agree to a roadmap that takes into account the issue of distrust, or mistrust of each other and their behavior [on human rights] that we expect to take place,” Khalilzad said.

· The Department of Homeland Security issued new guidelines limiting immigration-related arrests at a number of “protected areas” including schools, hospitals, playgrounds and COVID-19 vaccination centers “to the fullest extent possible.”

Thursday, Oct. 28

· Biden announced he had the support needed to pass his framework for a $1.75 trillion social spending and climate change program bill, significantly scaled down from the original $3.5 trillion version. Notably it removes 12 weeks of paid family leave and a proposal to allow the federal government to negotiate prescription drug prices.

· The Treasury Department sanctioned prominent Lebanese tycoons Jihad al-Arab and Dany Khoury and lawmaker Jamil Sayyed because allegedly “each personally profited from the pervasive corruption and cronyism in Lebanon, enriching themselves at the expense of the Lebanese people and state institutions.”

· The U.S. returned about 250 antiquities to India as part of a long-running investigation into stolen art and antiques.

Friday, Oct. 29

· The Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration is negotiating a plan to offer up to $450,000 per person to settle claims made by migrant families separated at the U.S. border with Mexico under former President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy.

· Majid Khan, a detainee held at Guantanamo Bay, testified before a war crimes tribunal, detailing being waterboarded, physically and sexually abused and suffering other forms of torture at a CIA “black site” in Poland. This is the first time a former “black site” detainee has publicly described the abuses committed at such places.

· Sandra Oudkirk, new director of the de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan known as the American Institute, said the U.S. is “committed to deepening our ties with Taiwan” and that it will work to counter China’s “malign” influence.

· Officials in the U.S. embassy in Belarus said Belarusian authorities are “forcing the closure” of its humanitarian and civil society programs. “Despite new limitations by the regime,” special envoy Julie Fisher said, “we will not be deterred from our commitment to bolster fundamental freedoms in Belarus.”

· Biden met with Pope Francis to engage in talks on climate change, poverty and the coronavirus. Biden, a Roman Catholic himself, said the session was “wonderful.”

· Biden met with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in an effort to mend relations, and acknowledged that the U.S. was “clumsy” in cutting France out of a deal selling nuclear-powered submarines to Australia earlier this year.

· The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to be given to children between the ages of five and 11 years old, the first coronavirus vaccine approved in the U.S. for that age group.

· Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a memo reporting that Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, officially called the Migration Protection Protocols, likely contributed to a decrease in the number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in 2019, but imposed “substantial and unjustifiable human costs” to those waiting in Mexico, prompting him to call for the policy’s termination.

· The Justice Department revived an effort, first developed under former President Barack Obama and shuttered under Trump, to make legal aid more accessible to citizens who cannot afford it.

Saturday, Oct. 30

· On the first day of the Group of 20 summit in Rome, Biden and other world leaders endorsed a global agreement seeking to block large corporations from shifting profits and jobs across borders to avoid taxes.

Sunday, Oct. 31

· G20 leaders, including the U.S., agreed to place new limits on coal-burning power plants by ending the public financing of coal power plants overseas, though they stopped short of specifics and of placing new curbs on the use of coal domestically.

· Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed that the U.S. will lift tariffs on steel and aluminum and that there will be a crackdown on “dirty steel” in an effort to promote cleaner steel and aluminum production. “By harnessing our diplomatic and economic power, we can reject the false idea that we can’t grow our economy and support American workers while tackling the climate crisis,” Biden said.

· Biden met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said the meeting was “held in a positive atmosphere” and addressed “bilateral relations and regional issues.” A White House statement said Biden “reaffirmed our defense partnership and Turkey’s importance as a NATO ally, but noted U.S. concerns over Turkey’s possession of the Russian S-400 missile system.”