On November 2, 2022, North Korea fired 25 missiles off its east and west coasts. One of the short-range ballistic missiles was launched in the direction of South Korea’s Ulleung Island, triggering an air raid alert.

SOURCE: "North Korea’s Missile Crossed the Northern Limit Line" by CSIS's Ellen Kim.

As of November 3, 2022, over 10 million metric tons of grains, oilseeds, and other foodstuffs had been exported under the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The deal has allowed Ukraine to more than double its exports, significantly easing pressure on regional markets.

SOURCE: "Russia’s UN Grain Deal Boomerang: Implications for the Deal and Global Food Prices" by CSIS's Joseph Glauber and Caitlin Welsh, and David Laborde.

Last year, at COP26, coal-dependent South Africa, together with Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union signed a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), to provide South Africa with $8.5 billion to kick-start its just energy transition efforts. Although the actual funds have not flowed, the South African cabinet recently approved a JETP investment plan to be released at COP27.

SOURCE: "Themes to Watch For at COP27" by CSIS's Tani Salma, Sandeep Pai, and Joseph Majkut.

The Air Force has stated its intention to retire 1,468 aircraft over the next five years and buy about 467, for a net loss of 1,001. This represents approximately 18 percent of the Air Force’s aviation structure.

SOURCE: "Force Structure in the National Defense Strategy: Highly Capable but Smaller and Less Global" by CSIS's Mark F. Cancian.