11 October 2026
Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge won the Melbourne Marathon in Australia on 11 October 2026 in 2 hours, 9 minutes and 10 seconds, a course record.
It was the 41-year-old's first marathon win in three years; his previous win came at the Berlin Marathon in 2023.
It was his 17th marathon win.
Australia's Thomas Do Canto was second in 2:10:35 and Reece Edwards third in 2:14:33.
Camille French of New Zealand won the women's race in 2:28:25.
Kipchoge, a two-time Olympic champion, is attempting to run a marathon on all seven continents over two years, starting in Cape Town in May.
Winning time:
2 hours, 9 minutes and 10 seconds (course record)
Kipchoge's age:
41
Previous marathon win:
Berlin, 2023
Women's winner:
Camille French (New Zealand), 2:28:25
Why it matters for exams: Kipchoge is the best-known marathoner of the era; his records, Olympic titles and nationality are common sports questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
10 October 2026
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te delivered the National Day address at the 115th Double Tenth National Day Celebration in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei on 10 October 2026.
The address was titled 'Taiwan's Future: A City upon a Hill, the Salt and Light of the World'.
He said: 'Our aim by increasing investment in national defense is not to provoke; rather, it is to deter war', and 'We are open to exchanges, but will not accept subordination.'
He said first-half growth was 14.15 percent and per capita GDP is projected to reach US$45,332 this year.
Al Jazeera reported a record NT$1.1 trillion (US$34.5 billion) set aside for defence for 2027, more than 3 percent of GDP.
King Mswati III of Eswatini was among the guests; China's Taiwan Affairs Office criticised the speech.
Occasion:
115th Double Tenth National Day, 10 October 2026
First-half 2026 growth:
14.15 percent
Projected per capita GDP:
US$45,332
2027 defence allocation (Al Jazeera):
NT$1.1 trillion
Why it matters for exams: Cross-strait relations, Taiwan's Double Tenth day and its few remaining diplomatic allies such as Eswatini are recurring world-affairs topics.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Double Tenth Double Tenth Day (10 October) — Taiwan's National Day, marking the Wuchang Uprising of 10 October 1911.
11 October 2026
Hurricane Simon, a Category 4 storm, approached Mexico's Pacific coast on 11 October 2026 after strengthening on 10 October.
President Claudia Sheinbaum urged coastal residents of Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Michoacán to stay sheltered until authorities declare the danger has passed.
Mexico's civil protection agency placed 28 municipalities in Jalisco and Colima under its highest cyclone alert and 93 under a high alert.
The storm's centre was off Colima and south-southeast of Cabo Corrientes in Jalisco.
The US National Hurricane Center warned that heavy rainfall through Monday could trigger life-threatening flooding and mudslides.
Classes were suspended in affected areas and evacuations were under way.
Strength:
Category 4
Municipalities on highest alert:
28 (Jalisco and Colima)
Municipalities on high alert:
93
Why it matters for exams: Tropical cyclone naming, the Saffir-Simpson categories and the Eastern Pacific hurricane basin are standard geography questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Saffir-Simpson scale Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale — A 1-to-5 rating of hurricanes by sustained wind speed; Category 3 and above are major hurricanes.
11 October 2026
UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned a Houthi missile attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that Saudi authorities say killed 12 people.
Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said on 11 October 2026 that 309 people were wounded, some critically.
In a statement issued late on 10 October, Guterres said attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international law: 'These attacks must cease immediately.'
The dead included at least four Saudis, two Bangladeshis and a US citizen, plus people from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan.
It was the third Houthi attack on the airport that week; the Houthis have fought Yemen's Saudi-backed government since 2014.
UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg had told the Security Council that Yemen had slid back into full-scale war.
Killed:
12
Wounded:
309
Airport:
King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh
Why it matters for exams: The Yemen conflict, the Houthis, the Bab al-Mandab strait and UN responses are recurring West Asia questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Houthis Ansar Allah (the Houthi movement) — The Iran-backed movement that controls Sana'a and much of northern Yemen.
11 October 2026
Red Bull's Max Verstappen of the Netherlands won the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on 11 October 2026.
It was his first Singapore Grand Prix win, after finishing second in the race three times before (he had won the sprint at Marina Bay the previous day); he led the race from start to finish after starting on pole.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was second and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, the championship leader, third.
It was Verstappen's second win of the 2026 season and his 73rd career victory, on his 250th Grand Prix weekend.
Antonelli leads the drivers' championship with 340 points; Verstappen is fourth with 221.
Verstappen is a four-time Formula 1 world champion.
Winner:
Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Circuit:
Marina Bay Street Circuit
Career wins:
73rd
Championship leader:
Kimi Antonelli, 340 points
Why it matters for exams: Formula One winners, circuits and champions appear regularly in sports current affairs.
Kerala PSCUPSC
11 October 2026
Raphaël Glucksmann won France's social-democratic primary in the first round on 11 October 2026 with 66.17% of the vote, so no second round was needed.
He becomes the centre-left candidate for France's 2027 presidential election.
Glucksmann, 46, leads the Place Publique movement and is a member of the European Parliament.
Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure was second with about 14%; Ségolène Royal came third.
120,787 people voted, far fewer than the 2.8 million who took part in the Socialists' 2011 primary won by François Hollande.
Glucksmann said he stands for 'a break with Macronism' and rejects an alliance with Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Glucksmann's vote share:
66.17%
Runner-up:
Olivier Faure, about 14%
Voters:
120,787
Why it matters for exams: Candidates and parties for France's 2027 presidential election are likely world-politics questions over the coming months.
Kerala PSCUPSC
11 October 2026
Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi won MotoGP's Indonesian Grand Prix at the Mandalika International Circuit on 11 October 2026.
He won by 4.260 seconds from fellow Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez, with Jorge Martin (Aprilia) third.
Marc Marquez of Ducati finished sixth.
Martin retook the championship lead with 355 points to Marquez's 353; Bezzecchi is third with 309.
Five race weekends remain in the season.
Winner:
Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia)
Winning margin:
4.260 seconds
Standings:
Martin 355, Marquez 353, Bezzecchi 309
Why it matters for exams: Motorsport winners and venues such as Mandalika in Lombok are occasional sports questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
11 October 2026
Russian technology company Yandex said on 11 October 2026 that its data centre in the Vladimir region, east of Moscow, had been shut down after a drone attack.
No one was injured, but some Yandex services were unavailable to users.
It was the third attack on Yandex data centres in about a week.
On 9 October a data centre in the Kaluga region was struck by Ukrainian drones and partly put out of action.
On 8 October an attack shut down the Sasovo hub, which houses two of the three supercomputers used to develop the company's AI model.
Yandex is heavily involved in Russia's artificial intelligence development.
Data centre shut:
Vladimir region
Earlier attacks:
Sasovo (8 October), Kaluga region (9 October)
Injuries:
None
Why it matters for exams: Attacks on digital infrastructure such as data centres show how the Russia–Ukraine war now targets technology and AI capacity.
Kerala PSCUPSC
11 October 2026
At least 11 people were killed and 27 injured on 11 October 2026 when a tour bus collided with a tow truck near the toll booths at Akhisar in Manisa province, western Türkiye.
The crash happened at around 11 a.m. on the Gebze-Orhangazi-Izmir highway, according to the Manisa governor's office.
The bus was travelling from Bursa towards İzmir; initial reports said the tow truck had crossed into the opposing lane.
Two of the injured were in serious condition.
Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said he was closely following the response, and the bus driver was detained after leaving hospital.
Killed:
11
Injured:
27
Place:
Akhisar, Manisa province
Why it matters for exams: Major accidents abroad are reported with place names that test map knowledge of regions such as Türkiye's Aegean provinces.
Kerala PSCUPSC
11 October 2026
Indonesia's forestry ministry and the wildlife group IAR Indonesia (YIARI) said on 11 October 2026 that eight orangutans rescued from fires had been released into the Batu Nyambu Protected Forest in West Kalimantan.
The eight were three mother-and-baby pairs and two male teenagers; the 23,000-hectare reserve has primary and secondary forest.
Authorities and the group rescued 46 orangutans from fire threats between August and 9 October.
Fires, linked this year to El Niño and to slash-and-burn land clearing, have caused tens of thousands of respiratory illness cases locally and haze in Singapore and Malaysia.
The IUCN has warned that fires are burning in habitats holding 52 percent of Borneo's orangutan population.
Orangutans are critically endangered; WWF puts their number at about 104,000, down from more than 230,000 a century ago.
Orangutans released:
8
Release site:
Batu Nyambu Protected Forest, 23,000 hectares
Rescued from fires, August–9 October:
46
Borneo population in fire-hit habitat (IUCN):
52 percent
Why it matters for exams: Orangutans, the IUCN Red List categories, Borneo's forests and El Niño-driven fires are common environment questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature — The body that keeps the Red List of Threatened Species, which classes species from Least Concern to Extinct.