North Korea

• North Korea suddenly expelled U.S. soldier Pvt. Travis King - who fled across the border from South Korea two months ago as he was being expelled from South Korea following a jail term for barroom brawling - and Sweden and China helped the U.S. fly him home.
• Analysts had speculated that North Korea would hold King as currency for a potential future prisoner swap, but Pyongyang likely realized his trading value was low: the U.S. mainly wanted him back to try him in a military court for his misbehavior on deployment.

• Taiwan unveiled its first domestically-produced submarine today, to great fanfare. Pres. Tsai Ing-wen - who kicked off the submarine program when she took office in 2016 - celebrated it as a step towards leveling Taiwan's "asymmetric warfare" with China.
• This is the first of eight subs that will enter service in two years. That will quintuple the size of Taiwan's naval fleet, which currently consists of two old Dutch-made ships.

• Russia released new videos of Adm. Sokolov - who Ukraine claimed to have killed in Crimea - alive and well. Ukraine is reviewing its intel.
• A Ukrainian soldier reported that Wagner Group fighters have returned to the eastern front lines in Ukraine. According to the report, they've returned to Bakhmut, where they fought a prolonged grinding battle before withdrawing.

• The ethnic Armenian president of Nagorno-Karabakh - which Armenia calls Artsakh - announced a full capitulation to Azerbaijan's demands: the unrecognized pro-Armenian government will dissolve itself by Jan. 1, 2024.
• Armenia said at least 65,000 ethnic Armenians - well over half the Armenian population that was living there last week - have fled the territory into Armenia in recent days.

• Burkina Faso's junta said it thwarted an attempted coup on Tuesday and arrested three soldiers accused of plotting it.
• France's ambassador to Niger left the country yesterday, three days after France said it would recall him - and long after the junta's demand for his departure expired. French troops will also withdraw soon, but the departures don't legitimize the junta: France still recognizes deposed Pres. Bazoum as Niger's rightful ruler.