On November 3, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a series of sanctions against dozens of individuals, companies, and oil tankers for their role in the export of Iranian oil to global markets, violating American sanctions against the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and Hezbollah on antiterrorism grounds (E.O. 13224).

The Arab League held its first summit in three years in Algeria, on Nov. 2, where economic concerns sparked by the war in Ukraine, and tensions between Israel and Palestine remained at the heart of discussions.

The 27th annual United Nations meeting on global climate policy, more commonly called COP27 (Conference of the Parties), will commence in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on Nov. 6.

Earlier this week, a landmark deal to allow for the export of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports collapsed, magnifying a crisis of food instability in the Middle East and Africa that predated Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (and subsequent mining of the Black Sea) and has only expanded since then.

Tensions in the West Bank have risen again after Israeli security forces killed five Palestinian militants in the city of Nablus on Oct. 25. According to Palestinian health officials, over 20 Palestinians were also injured in subsequent clashes.

Less than a decade after the Kremlin had denied the fledgling Wagner Group's existence, a close associate of the Russian president admitted to founding and managing the group.