Reuters World News Summary

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was scheduled to meet the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in a new attempt to end nearly a month of bloodshed in which Russian President Vladimir Putin said 5,000 people may have been killed.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Pompeo to meet Armenian, Azeri ministers over Nagorno-Karabakh fighting

Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces clashed in several areas of Nagorno-Karabakh on Friday, hours before talks were due to start in Washington to try to end the deadliest fighting in the mountain enclave for over a quarter of a century. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was scheduled to meet the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in a new attempt to end nearly a month of bloodshed in which Russian President Vladimir Putin said 5,000 people may have been killed. Analysis: Biden win would lift Mexico-U.S. ties but energy is 'canary in the mine'

A Joe Biden presidency would lower border tensions and raise pressure on Mexico to respect U.S. business interests as the two neighbors implement a trade deal designed to claw back jobs from China, officials and industry sources say. Biden on Nov. 3 aims to unseat President Donald Trump, who has stirred up tensions with Mexico over trade and border security ever since he referred to Mexican migrants as rapists and drug runners at the outset of his 2015-16 presidential bid. Free on bail, prominent Thai protest leader pledges to keep up campaign

One of the most prominent leaders of more than three months of anti-government protests in Thailand was freed on bail on Friday and pledged to keep up the campaign to remove Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha. Jatupat "Pai" Boonpattararaksa was arrested on Oct. 13, when a few hundred protesters scuffled with police a day before a major demonstration that also called for reforms to the monarchy of King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Trump's description of India as filthy sets off calls for cleaner air

U.S. President Donald Trump's description of India as a filthy place with polluted air has unleashed calls on social media for urgent clean-up action, particularly over New Delhi, the world's most polluted capital. Defending the clean air in the United States, Trump made the comment during his final debate on Thursday with Democratic rival Joe Biden ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election, saying "Look at India. It's filthy. The air is filthy." Holocaust survivor and Nazi sympathiser's son forge friendship in Belgium

More than seven decades ago, their families were divided by war and hatred - Koenraad Tinel, the son of a Nazi sympathiser, and Simon Gronowski, a Holocaust survivor who lost his mother and sister to Auschwitz. Now the two men, both in their 80s, have forged a close friendship that has become a symbol of reconciliation in their native Belgium. Back at the Brexit table, UK and EU try to land deal on fish

Britain and the European Union have made good progress in talks on a last-minute trade deal that would stave off a tumultuous finale to the five-year-old Brexit crisis, but fish is the biggest sticking point. The United Kingdom left the EU in January but the two sides are trying to clinch a deal that would govern nearly a trillion dollars in annual trade before informal membership - known as the transition period - ends on Dec. 31. Iran blacklists U.S. ambassador in Iraq, reciprocating U.S. move

Iran on Friday blacklisted the U.S. ambassador in Iraq and two other diplomats following a similar move by the United States against Iran's envoy to Baghdad, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said. "US Amb(assador) to Iraq, Matthew Tueller, has had a central role in coordinating terrorist acts in Iraq & beyond, in ... assassination of Gen. (Qassem) Soleimani... Today, Iran designated him & two other officials involved," ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Twitter. Mali says troops regain control of village besieged by jihadists

Malian troops have regained control of a village in the centre of the country where more than 2,000 residents have been besieged by Islamist militants for two weeks, the military said in a statement on Thursday. The air force dropped special forces troops into the village on Thursday, the military said. It said the operation was directed by Assimi Goïta, a special forces colonel who led a junta that overthrew the government two months ago and now holds the post of vice president. French PM to seek new law to better protect public servants against threats

French Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Friday his government would introduce legislation to better protect to public servants against threats. France has cracked down on Islamist militants after the Oct. 16 decapitation of schoolteacher Samuel Paty, who was killed by a student angered at Paty's use of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in a class on freedom of expression. Warring Libya rivals sign truce but tough political talks ahead

Libya's warring factions signed a permanent ceasefire agreement on Friday, but any lasting end to years of chaos and bloodshed will require wider agreement among myriad armed groups and the outside powers that support them. Acting United Nations envoy Stephanie Williams said the ceasefire would start immediately and all foreign fighters must quit Libya within three months. A new joint police force will secure areas cleared of fighters.