Country Focus
Cricket record
Sports
29 October 2026
Afghanistan's leg-spinner Rashid Khan has become the first bowler in the history of men's Twenty20 International cricket to reach 200 wickets. He got there in his 120th T20 International, in the second match of Afghanistan's series against Zimbabwe. Adil Rashid of England is next on the all-time list with 171 wickets from 153 matches. Afghanistan won the match after recovering from a very poor start, with Azmatullah Omarzai making 116, his first century in the format. The International Cricket Council, which keeps the official records for international cricket, announced the milestone. Rashid Khan had gone past Tim Southee of New Zealand in 2025 to lead the T20I wicket list, and has now stretched that lead to a round two hundred.
Wickets:
200
Matches taken:
120th T20I
Second on the list:
Adil Rashid, 171 wickets
Why it matters for exams: A world first in a recognised international format, with the record holder, his country and the body that keeps the record.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ICC International Cricket Council — The world governing body for cricket, which keeps the official records and rankings.
23 October 2026
Afghanistan won the one-day international tri-series played in the United Arab Emirates, beating Zimbabwe in the final. Afghanistan were set 170 to win and finished the chase inside the 35th over, with Ibrahim Zadran unbeaten on 70. Rahmat Shah captained the Afghanistan side in the tournament. The three teams in the series were Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh; Bangladesh were knocked out in the league stage. Rashid Khan was the pick of the bowlers in the final with three wickets for 41 runs, and took eight wickets across the wins over Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. The International Cricket Council linked the result to Afghanistan's build-up to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027. Afghanistan and Zimbabwe were to follow the tri-series with Twenty20 International and Test matches in Sharjah.
Teams:
Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh
Afghanistan captain:
Rahmat Shah
Target chased:
170
Why it matters for exams: A tournament win with the host country, the three teams and the captain — all standard sports-current-affairs questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ODI One Day International — A limited-overs international match of fifty overs a side.
20 October 2026
The United Nations Children's Fund has warned that Afghanistan could lose as many as 20,000 women teachers and 5,400 female health workers by 2030 if the present restrictions on women's education and work continue. The warning came as the UN aid coordination office briefed reporters from Kabul on the country's deepening crisis. Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for that office, said nearly 16 million Afghans face crisis-level hunger, about 3.4 million of them in emergency conditions, and that the number is expected to rise to around 19 million once winter sets in. She also said United Nations agencies and their partners reached 8.3 million people with at least one form of assistance between January and July. Girls in Afghanistan are barred from formal education beyond grade six, which is what cuts off the supply of future women teachers and health workers.
Women teachers at risk:
up to 20,000 by 2030
Female health workers at risk:
5,400 by 2030
People reached with aid, January to July:
8.3 million
Why it matters for exams: UNICEF is the UN agency for children, and its projection of 20,000 women teachers lost by 2030 is the kind of figure-with-publisher an examiner asks about.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund — The UN agency for children's health, nutrition, education and protection; its headquarters is in New York.
15 October 2026
A new analysis under the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification has found 15.9 million people in Afghanistan facing acute food insecurity, with 3.4 million of them in Phase 4, the emergency level that comes just before famine. More than 32 per cent of the population is in Phase 3, the crisis level, or worse. The IPC says acute malnutrition and hunger are at the highest levels ever recorded in the country for an August to October period. For the winter lean season from November to April it projects nearly 19.2 million people in Phase 3 or above, including 5 million in Phase 4. About 4.04 million children under five are projected to need treatment for malnutrition during 2027. The World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization both called for urgent funding; WFP's country director in Afghanistan is John Aylieff and the FAO representative is Richard Trenchard. Better rainfall and farm output have helped food supply, but falling humanitarian aid is weakening families' ability to cope.
People in acute food insecurity:
15.9 million
In Phase 4 (emergency):
3.4 million
Projected for the winter lean season:
nearly 19.2 million in Phase 3 or above
Why it matters for exams: The IPC and its five-phase scale, and the two UN food bodies WFP and FAO, are standard questions on food security.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IPC Integrated Food Security Phase Classification — A common scale that sorts food insecurity into five phases, from minimal to famine.
WFP World Food Programme — The United Nations food assistance agency, based in Rome.
15 October 2026
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has recorded 512 civilians killed and 1,236 injured in cross-border incidents inside the country over a one-year period beginning October 2025. The figures appear in the mission's quarterly human rights report, which covers July to September 2026 and was released along with a food security analysis. For that quarter alone the mission documented 33 civilian casualties from cross-border attacks, made up of 13 deaths and 20 injuries, including women and children. The incidents recorded in the quarter were in Kunar, Paktika and Helmand provinces. UNAMA publishes these counts as part of the human rights reporting the Security Council has mandated it to carry out. Mediation efforts involving China, Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia had not produced an agreement when the report was issued.
Civilians killed:
512
Civilians injured:
1,236
Provinces named for the quarter:
Kunar, Paktika, Helmand
Why it matters for exams: UNAMA is the UN's political mission in Afghanistan and its quarterly human rights report is the official record of civilian casualties there.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UNAMA United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan — The UN special political mission for Afghanistan, with its headquarters in Kabul.
8 October 2026
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has said it verified at least 52 women and one girl being arrested or detained in Herat and Kabul between July and September 2026 over the enforcement of a dress code. Others were threatened with arrest. The mission said the detentions followed objections such as not wearing a chador, visible hair, a colourful scarf, make-up, or being in public without a male guardian known as a mahram, and that the women were released after some hours. UNAMA added that the real number is probably higher because fear and stigma stop many cases being reported, and that it also recorded verbal abuse, beatings and threats, including against women shopkeepers. It called on the de facto authorities to stop the discriminatory enforcement. The mission's statement forms part of the quarterly human rights reporting it does for Afghanistan.
Women and girls verified as detained:
at least 52 women and one girl
Cities:
Herat and Kabul
Why it matters for exams: UNAMA's human rights monitoring role in Afghanistan, and the two cities named, are the durable facts here.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
mahram male guardian — A male relative who, under the rules enforced in Afghanistan, must accompany a woman in public.
8 October 2026
The International Organization for Migration has published a study called the Returnee Resilience Overview on the nearly 6.5 million Afghans who have come back from Iran and Pakistan since 2023. The survey covered returnee households that had been in Afghanistan for at least eight months, including undocumented ones. Among returnees aged 14 and above, 53 per cent had completed no education, half had no specialised work experience, and 69 per cent had not been employed in the previous thirty days. Eighty-two per cent returned as whole households, averaging 6.1 members, and 58 per cent of returnees were under 18. Seventy-seven per cent were living in transitional shelters and 51 per cent did not have enough living space. Only 21 per cent of households said every member had documentation, and 43 per cent lacked the papers needed to use public services. Mihyung Park is IOM's chief of mission in Afghanistan.
Returnees since 2023:
nearly 6.5 million
Countries they returned from:
Iran and Pakistan
Returnees under 18:
58 per cent
Why it matters for exams: IOM is the UN migration agency, and the Returnee Resilience Overview with its 6.5 million figure is a named report with a named publisher.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IOM International Organization for Migration — The United Nations agency for migration, with its headquarters in Geneva.
2 October 2026
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has released $160 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund for twelve crises that receive very little attention and money. Afghanistan is one of the three biggest recipients in this round, getting $18 million, the same amount as the occupied Palestinian territory and Yemen. The allocation was announced by Tom Fletcher, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, who heads OCHA. CERF is the United Nations fund that lets relief work begin or continue when an appeal has not been funded, and OCHA manages it. The release came in the same month as a UNAMA human rights report and an IPC analysis that together showed hunger and rights restrictions in Afghanistan at record levels. Fletcher noted that money alone would not solve the problem.
Total released:
$160 million
Crises covered:
12
Afghanistan's share:
$18 million
Why it matters for exams: CERF, the fund OCHA manages, and the office of Emergency Relief Coordinator are standard questions on UN humanitarian machinery.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CERF Central Emergency Response Fund — A United Nations fund managed by OCHA that pays for relief work when appeals are not funded.
OCHA Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs — The UN office that coordinates relief and issues humanitarian appeals.
5 October 2026
Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court has unsealed four arrest warrants in what the court calls the Situation in Afghanistan. The warrants, issued between July and September 2025 and kept under seal until now, name Haibatullah Akhundzada, described as the Taliban supreme leader, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, described as chief justice, Habibullah Agha and Neda Mohammad Nadim. The judges found reasonable grounds to believe each of the four is criminally responsible for ordering or encouraging persecution, which article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute lists among crimes against humanity. The warrants treat the persecution as being on gender grounds against girls and women, and on political grounds against people seen as their allies. They cover conduct from 15 August 2021 to at least 20 January 2025. The judges held that persecution covers systemic and institutionalised harm, not only direct violence, and that gender is wider than a purely biological idea of sex. Afghanistan has been a State Party to the Rome Statute since February 2003.
Warrants unsealed:
4
Chamber:
Pre-Trial Chamber II
Charge:
persecution, article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute
Why it matters for exams: Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute, the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber and the court's seat are standing Polity and international law questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ICC International Criminal Court — The permanent court for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression, seated at The Hague.
Rome Statute Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court — The treaty of 1998 that created the ICC and defines the crimes it may try.
9 September 2026
Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has said an estimated 21.9 million people in Afghanistan, about 45 per cent of the population, need humanitarian assistance. He said more than two million Afghan girls and women have been shut out of secondary and higher education since 2021, and that those now in power inflicted corporal punishment on at least 449 men and women over the year's first six months. The UN refugee agency's figures show more than 400,000 Afghans forcibly returned, mainly from Iran and Pakistan but also from Turkiye, Tajikistan and member states of the European Union. He pointed to arrests by the authorities' body for the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice, and to the complete absence of women from public decision-making, which he described as gender apartheid. He also said foreign aid inflows are drying up. The High Commissioner leads the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.
People needing aid:
an estimated 21.9 million, about 45 per cent
Girls and women shut out of education since 2021:
over two million
Forcibly returned Afghans:
more than 400,000
Why it matters for exams: The office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, OHCHR and its seat in Geneva are standing international organisation questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
OHCHR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights — The UN human rights office, based in Geneva and headed by the High Commissioner.
Background
The four arrest warrants unsealed by Pre-Trial Chamber II in the Situation in Afghanistan rest on a jurisdiction question worth knowing in itself. The International Criminal Court is a permanent court created by the Rome Statute, a treaty adopted in 1998, and it sits at The Hague in the Netherlands. The court can try genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. It can act in a country either because that country is a State Party to the Rome Statute, or on a Security Council referral, or with the state's consent. Afghanistan deposited its instrument of accession to the Rome Statute on 10 February 2003, which is why conduct on its territory falls within the court's reach. A Pre-Trial Chamber is the stage that decides whether an investigation may open and whether to issue arrest warrants; a Trial Chamber hears the case and an Appeals Chamber reviews it. The court has no police force of its own and depends on states to carry out its warrants.
Afghanistan's accession:
10 February 2003
Seat of the court:
The Hague, the Netherlands
Founding treaty:
Rome Statute, 1998
Why it matters for exams: The Rome Statute of 1998, the ICC's seat at The Hague and the three types of chamber are regularly asked in international law questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ICC International Criminal Court — A permanent court for the gravest international crimes, separate from the International Court of Justice.
Background
The finding that 15.9 million Afghans face acute food insecurity, with 3.4 million of them a step from famine, was made using the IPC, so the scale itself is worth learning. IPC stands for the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. It is a global initiative that sorts a population's food security into five phases, so that figures from different countries and different years can be compared. In the Afghanistan analysis, Phase 3 is described as the crisis level and Phase 4 as the emergency level, the phase that comes immediately before famine. More than 32 per cent of Afghanistan's population was placed in Phase 3 or worse. Because the phases are defined the same way everywhere, an IPC number is what humanitarian agencies use to decide where food aid must go first. The World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization both work from IPC findings when they appeal for money.
Number of phases:
5
Phase 3:
crisis
Phase 4:
emergency, the phase before famine
Why it matters for exams: The IPC's full form and its five-phase structure, with Phase 4 as the emergency level before famine, is the standard way food crises are examined.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IPC Integrated Food Security Phase Classification — A common five-phase scale for comparing food insecurity across countries and years.