1 October 2026
UN News reported on 30 September 2026 that fresh fighting erupted in Baidoa, South West State.
The clashes were between government forces and fighters loyal to a former regional president ousted in March.
Children were killed and injured, and a health facility was damaged.
Across Somalia 2 million children are acutely or severely malnourished, and 26,000 people in Baidoa face catastrophic food insecurity.
The World Food Programme, which once reached over 4 million people monthly, now supports only 670,000 people.
WFP Country Director Hameed Nuru said severe funding shortfalls mean it is reaching only a fraction of those in need.
Malnourished children in Somalia:
2 million
Catastrophic food insecurity in Baidoa:
26,000 people
People now supported by WFP:
670,000
Why it matters for exams: Famine, food insecurity and the UN's humanitarian agencies are recurring world-affairs themes.
Kerala PSCUPSC
1 October 2026
UN News reported on 29 September 2026 that UNHCR warns 8.3 million refugees and other forcibly displaced and stateless people risk losing vital assistance.
UNHCR funding fell from $5.178 billion in 2024 to $3.932 billion in 2025.
By July 2026 only 32% of the $8.5 billion needed had been received.
The agency cut its workforce by one-third in 2025 and closed 140 office locations.
Its report says: "Below a certain threshold the system doesn't shrink, it fails".
Refugees and other displaced people at risk:
8.3 million
Share of $8.5 billion received by July 2026:
32%
Offices closed:
140
Why it matters for exams: Humanitarian funding and the UN refugee system feature in world-affairs and UN-institution questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
2 October 2026
The UN General Assembly met on Thursday to examine the Security Council's latest veto, cast by China and Russia against a United States-backed panel of experts on Iran's nuclear facilities.
The veto initiative, established in 2022, requires the General Assembly to meet within 10 working days of any veto cast in the Security Council.
The five permanent members with the veto are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States; a single negative vote by any of them defeats a resolution.
Khalilur Rahman, President of the Assembly's 81st session, said the veto initiative "cannot substitute for effective Security Council action".
Sun Lei, Deputy Permanent Representative of China, said his delegation voted against the draft to uphold "a correct sense of right and wrong".
Hedda Samson, Deputy Head of the European Union delegation, said the need for a panel of experts is "even great today".
The Assembly President will send a summary of the discussion back to the Security Council.
Date of debate:
1 October 2026
Veto initiative established:
2022
Deadline for Assembly to meet:
Within 10 working days of a veto
Permanent members holding the veto:
5
Why it matters for exams: The veto initiative of 2022 is a standard question on how the General Assembly checks the Security Council.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Veto Negative vote by a permanent member of the UN Security Council — A single negative vote by China, France, Russia, the UK or the US defeats a draft resolution.
Panel of experts Group of specialists monitoring a UN sanctions regime — Such panels report to the Security Council on how far sanctions are being observed.
JCPOA Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — The 2015 agreement on Iran's nuclear programme.
2 October 2026
A new report by the UN refugee agency UNHCR says that of an estimated 13.1 million school-age refugee children worldwide in 2025, nearly half - 5.8 million - remain out of school.
Enrolment stood at 65 per cent at primary level but only 32 per cent at secondary level, making the transition to high school the biggest single gap.
Two in three refugee children arrive at primary school without the foundational learning that prepares them for the classroom.
Refugee enrolment in higher education reached a record 11 per cent in 2025, with more than 450,000 students in university or technical and vocational training, keeping the 15x30 pledge of 15 per cent by 2030 within reach.
Refugee enrolment remains below the national average in more than 80 per cent of reporting countries; in low-income and conflict-affected countries only 2 per cent of refugees were in higher education against 13 per cent of nationals.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih said cuts to education "risk reversing decades of collective investment".
School-age refugee children, 2025:
13.1 million
Out of school:
5.8 million
Primary enrolment:
65 per cent
Secondary enrolment:
32 per cent
Higher education enrolment, 2025:
11 per cent
Why it matters for exams: Refugee education figures recur in questions on the Sustainable Development Goals and on UNHCR's mandate.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees — The UN refugee agency, which protects and assists people forced to flee.
15x30 pledge Goal of 15 per cent refugee enrolment in higher education by 2030 — A UNHCR-led target for refugee access to universities and vocational training.
2 October 2026
Eurostat's flash estimate puts euro area annual inflation at 3.8 per cent in September 2026, up from 3.2 per cent in August.
Energy is expected to show the highest annual rate at 18.8 per cent, against 14.3 per cent in August.
Services are estimated at 3.2 per cent, food, alcohol and tobacco at 1.4 per cent and non-energy industrial goods at 1.1 per cent.
Inflation excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco is estimated at 2.5 per cent.
The monthly rate for September 2026 is estimated at 0.6 per cent.
The complete set of harmonised indices for September 2026 is scheduled for release on 16 October 2026.
The euro area has 21 members from 1 January 2026, when Bulgaria adopted the euro.
Annual inflation, September 2026:
3.8 per cent
Annual inflation, August 2026:
3.2 per cent
Energy:
18.8 per cent
Services:
3.2 per cent
Euro area members:
21
Why it matters for exams: Flash HICP estimates are the standard measure of euro area inflation and set the context for European Central Bank decisions.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
HICP Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices — The price index built on common rules so inflation can be compared across EU countries.
Flash estimate Early estimate released before full data — Eurostat issues it at the end of the reference month and revises it in mid-month.
Eurostat Statistical office of the European Union — It compiles and publishes official statistics for the EU.
2 October 2026
The European Space Agency has announced that Smile, the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, has begun its science operations.
Smile is a joint mission of ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
It was launched on 19 May 2026 and reached its target orbit on 20 June 2026.
Science operations were approved on 23 September 2026 after commissioning.
The spacecraft carries four instruments: a soft X-ray imager, an ultraviolet aurora imager, a magnetometer and a light ion analyser.
Smile studies how Earth's magnetic shield responds to the solar wind, including geomagnetic storms and auroras that can disturb power grids and satellites.
Launch date:
19 May 2026
Target orbit reached:
20 June 2026
Science operations approved:
23 September 2026
Instruments:
4
Why it matters for exams: Space weather missions and their instrument sets are frequent science and technology questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Smile Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer — A joint ESA and Chinese Academy of Sciences spacecraft studying Earth's response to the solar wind.
Magnetosphere Region of space controlled by Earth's magnetic field — It deflects most of the charged particles streaming from the Sun.
Solar wind Stream of charged particles flowing out from the Sun — Its gusts cause geomagnetic storms and auroras at Earth.
2 October 2026
Ethiopia announced that it would close its embassy in the Eritrean capital Asmara and declared 10 Eritrean diplomats in Addis Ababa persona non grata, requiring them to leave within 48 hours.
Eritrea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs then said it had "no option but to reciprocate in kind and sever all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia".
Ethiopia also declared an Egyptian diplomat persona non grata, and Egypt expelled an Ethiopian embassy counsellor in return.
Federal forces are fighting the Tigray People's Liberation Front and allied groups across Tigray, Amhara and Afar; government-aligned forces say they took the town of Alamata on 28 September 2026.
Seven Ethiopian armed and political groups announced an alliance on 20 September 2026 called the Ethiopian Peoples' Forces Alliance for Survival.
The rupture reverses the rapprochement of 2018, for which Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019.
Ethiopia lost its coastline when Eritrea became independent in 1993.
Eritrean diplomats expelled:
10
Time given to leave:
48 hours
Opposition alliance announced:
20 September 2026
Eritrean independence:
1993
Why it matters for exams: The Horn of Africa, Red Sea access and Ethiopia's landlocked status are standard map and current affairs topics.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Persona non grata A diplomat declared unacceptable by the host state — The host country may require such a diplomat to leave within a stated time.
TPLF Tigray People's Liberation Front — The dominant political and armed movement in Ethiopia's Tigray region.
Asmara Capital of Eritrea — Ethiopia's embassy there is being closed.
2 October 2026
Members of Algeria's National People's Assembly voted on Thursday to amend the penal code so that the death penalty can be imposed for arson.
The amendment covers anyone who attempts to undermine public security and order, national unity or economic and environmental stability.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune called for the amendment in September 2026, after at least 12 people died in wildfires in the country's northeast.
Algeria has kept a moratorium on carrying out executions since the last case in 1993.
Justice Minister Lotfi Boudjemaa said the adoption of the death penalty for these acts is the appropriate legal response to curb such crimes.
Amnesty International called the move "a deeply retrograde response" and urged a focus on prevention and emergency response.
The text now goes to the upper house, the Council of the Nation, before ratification by the President.
Date of vote:
1 October 2026
Deaths in the northeast wildfires:
At least 12
Last execution:
1993
Next stage:
Council of the Nation
Why it matters for exams: It shows how a climate-driven disaster is answered with criminal law, and names the two chambers of Algeria's parliament.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
National People's Assembly Lower house of Algeria's parliament — Known by its French initials APN.
Council of the Nation Upper house of Algeria's parliament — A bill must pass it before the President ratifies it.
Moratorium A suspension of a practice without repealing the law — Algeria has not carried out an execution since 1993, though sentences are still passed.
2 October 2026
The radioactive legacy of United States nuclear bomb testing in the Marshall Islands was taken up at the Human Rights Council on Thursday.
The Council addressed the impact of 67 known tests conducted between 1946 and 1958.
UN deputy rights chief Awa Dabo said the legacy lives on in the bodies of Marshallese people and in "lands poisoned and communities displaced".
She said justice must be served for people unable to return to the atolls contaminated by the detonations.
Virtually every Marshallese family has been touched by enduring health consequences, which include elevated rates of cancer, she said.
Ms Dabo called on United States authorities to declassify data on radiation exposure and testing records.
The issue was also raised this week at a high-level General Assembly meeting.
Known tests:
67
Years of testing:
1946 to 1958
UN official who spoke:
Awa Dabo, UN deputy rights chief
Why it matters for exams: Bikini Atoll and the Marshall Islands tests are standard examples in questions on nuclear disarmament and the Pacific.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Atoll A ring-shaped coral island enclosing a lagoon — Bikini and Enewetak in the Marshall Islands were used as test sites.
Human Rights Council UN body of 47 member states based in Geneva — It examines human rights situations and reports to the General Assembly.
2 October 2026
The United Nations observes the International Day of Non-Violence on 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.
The day was established by General Assembly resolution A/RES/61/271, adopted on 15 June 2007.
The UN page for the day carries Gandhi's words that non-violence "is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind" and is "mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man".
The observance defines non-violence as the rejection of physical force to achieve social or political change.
It groups non-violent action into three categories: protest and persuasion, non-cooperation, and non-violent intervention.
The page cites Professor Gene Sharp's definition of non-violent action as a technique by which people who reject passivity and submission can wage conflict without violence.
Date observed:
2 October
Resolution:
A/RES/61/271
Resolution adopted:
15 June 2007
Categories of non-violent action:
3
Why it matters for exams: The resolution number and the three categories of non-violent action are the exact details asked about this UN day.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
General Assembly resolution A decision adopted by the UN General Assembly — Resolutions numbered by session, as in 61/271 for the 61st session.
Non-cooperation Withholding of cooperation from an authority — One of the three categories of non-violent action named by the UN.
2 October 2026
From 1 October 2026 Japan charges 200,000 yen for a permanent residency permit, twenty times the earlier 10,000 yen.
From the same date applicants must also meet a new income condition: a stable annual income at or above the average for Japanese households, adjusted for household size, which the latest official survey puts at 5.75 million yen.
The pension and Japanese-language conditions take effect only from April 2027; the pension test asks for projected benefits equal to 30 years of enrolment in the employees' pension programme, and financial assets may cover any shortfall.
Before the change, non-permanent residents paid a flat 6,000 yen each time they changed residency status or extended a stay; the fee now ranges from 10,000 yen for three months or less to 75,000 yen for five years or more.
In July 2026 Japan had already raised visa fees five-fold, its first visa fee increase in 50 years.
Japan's foreign resident population passed 4.12 million at the end of 2025, a record increase of 9.5 per cent over the previous year.
The changes are part of the immigration policy of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
New permanent residency fee:
200,000 yen
Earlier permanent residency fee:
10,000 yen
Fee rise and income test effective from:
1 October 2026
Pension and language tests effective from:
April 2027
Earlier fee for status change or extension:
6,000 yen
Foreign residents, end 2025:
4.12 million
Why it matters for exams: Japan's ageing population and its migration rules are a recurring link between demography and economy questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Permanent residency Right to live in a country indefinitely without citizenship — It is usually granted after a set number of years of lawful residence.
Employee pension system Japan's earnings-related pension scheme for employees — Expected benefits from it are now part of the permanent residency test.
2 October 2026
Measurements by the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network GLAMOS and the Swiss Commission for Cryosphere Observation of the Swiss Academy of Sciences show that more than 5 per cent of Switzerland's glacier ice disappeared in 2026.
In the past five years the volume of ice in Switzerland has fallen by almost 20 per cent.
The mean thickness of individual glaciers fell by between 2.5 and 4 metres, and on glacier tongues by as much as 10 metres over the summer.
Winter 2025/26 was among the ten least snowy winters since measurements began, and the freezing level stood above 4,000 metres on 76 days, more than twice the average and a record.
Small glaciers such as the Bella Tola Glacier and the Griessfirn/Plattalvafirn have disappeared, while the Allalin, Clariden, Aletsch and Rhone glaciers saw their greatest melt on record.
Between July and September the glaciers released about 2,200 billion litres of water.
The 2026 measurement period ranks just behind the record year of 2022.
Ice lost in 2026:
More than 5 per cent
Ice lost in five years:
Almost 20 per cent
Fall in mean thickness:
2.5 to 4 metres
Days with freezing level above 4,000 m:
76
Water released July to September:
About 2,200 billion litres
Why it matters for exams: Alpine glacier loss is the standard illustration of warming for environment questions, and these are the latest measured figures.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
GLAMOS Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland — The network that measures long-term change in Swiss glaciers.
Freezing level Altitude at which the air temperature is 0 degrees Celsius — The higher it sits, the more of a glacier melts instead of gaining snow.
Glacier tongue Lower end of a glacier where it flows downhill — It is the first part of a glacier to thin in a hot summer.