Financial Times – Roman Olearchyk, Ayla Jean Yackley and Max Seddon / Ukraine Black Sea grain deal extended

• Ukraine says negotiators from Kyiv and Moscow have agreed to prolong a UN and Turkish-brokered Black Sea grain export agreement, a crucial step to alleviating a global food crisis triggered by the conflict. 
• “The initiative for safe transportation of agricultural products across the Black Sea has been extended for another 120 days,” Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, said on Thursday. “This decision was just taken in Istanbul. The UN and Turkey remained guarantors of the initiative,” he added. 
• The agreement was initially brokered in July by the UN and Ankara to end Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s ports following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February. 
• Ukraine is a leading exporter of grain and other agricultural products. Food security experts have warned that shortages triggered by the war will lead to further price rises, with serious consequences for poorer countries already hit hard by the impact of climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.
• European Council on Foreign Relations – Marie Dumoulin and Tefta Kelmendi / Grain of truth: why Russia rejoined the Ukraine food export deal

The Guardian – Fiona Harvey and Adam Morton / COP27: EU agrees to loss and damage fund to help poor countries recover from climate disasters

• A breakthrough looked possible in the deadlocked global climate talks on Friday as the European Union made a dramatic intervention to agree to key developing world demands on financial help for poor countries.
• In the early hours of Friday at the Cop27 UN climate summit in Egypt, the European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans launched a proposal on behalf of the EU that would see it agree to establishing a loss and damage fund.
• Rich countries had been holding out against this key demand, arguing it would take time to establish whether such a fund was needed, and how it would operate.
• Timmermans said on Friday morning the EU had listened to the G7 group of developing countries, for whom the establishment of a fund at this summit is a core demand.
• The Washington Post – Sarah Kaplan, Timothy Puko and Brady Dennis / Biden allies push for ambitious climate action at 2 global gatherings

NBC News – Jonathan Allen and Scott Wong / Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House, says she’ll step down as Democratic leader

• Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House, who helped shape many of the most consequential laws of the early 21st century, said Thursday that she will step down after two decades as the Democratic Party’s leader in the chamber.
• “With great confidence in our caucus I will not seek re-election to Democratic leadership in the next Congress," Pelosi said in a speech on the House floor.
• Pelosi was speaker from 2007 to 2011 and returned to the top job in 2019. She announced her decision just a day after NBC News and other news outlets projected that Republicans had flipped control of the House in last week’s midterm election, sending Pelosi and the Democrats back to the minority.
• More personally, just weeks ago, her husband of nearly 60 years, Paul Pelosi, survived an assault by a hammer-wielding intruder at the family’s home in San Francisco.
• Financial Times – Edward Luce / Nancy Pelosi’s tenure as House Speaker is unlikely to be surpassed

Financial Times – Kana Inagaki and Yuan Yang / Fumio Kishida and Xi Jinping agree to improve strained ties

• Fumio Kishida and Xi Jinping agreed to try to improve relations between their nations, even as Japan’s prime minister expressed “grave concerns” about China’s military activities in the region. 
• In their first in-person meeting, a 45-minute encounter late on Thursday in Bangkok, the leaders of Asia’s two largest economies agreed to strengthen communication on security issues. Ties between Tokyo and Beijing have been strained by rising tensions over Taiwan and by their territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu in China. 
• “I expressed my grave concerns about the situation in the East China Sea, including the Senkaku Islands, as well as China’s military activities including the launch of ballistic missiles,” Kishida said after the meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. “I also reiterated the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Kishida added.
• In opening remarks at the meeting, Xi signalled his intention to work with Japan to build “a stable and constructive relationship”.
• The Diplomat – Jio Kamata / The paradox of China-Japan relations

Today’s longer reads:

• Financial Times – Roman Olearchyk / ‘We hit them with slingshots’: Ukraine’s ‘iron general’ shows his mettle
• Foreign Affairs – Tatiana Stanovaya / Russia’s missing peacemakers
• Foreign Policy – Adam Tooze / The G-20 proved it’s our world government
• The Economist / Is this the end of crypto?