16 October 2026
The World Health Organization said it continues to support Kenya's efforts to contain Ebola after a second person tested positive for the Bundibugyo virus.
The patient is a 39-year-old man and a relative of Kenya's first case, who died in hospital on 5 October.
He was among contacts placed in quarantine and developed symptoms on 13 October.
WHO Representative in Kenya Dr Neema Rusibamayila Kimambo said the government had listed and quarantined contacts, and that everyone has a role in stopping community spread.
Kenya's first patient was a man who had been living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the outbreak continues in the east; he arrived in Nairobi via Uganda on 3 October.
More than 40 contacts were traced, including airline passengers and crew, airport workers, baggage handlers, immigration officials and health personnel, and efforts continued to reach six passengers with foreign phone numbers.
Virus species:
Bundibugyo
Age of second patient:
39
Contacts traced:
More than 40
Why it matters for exams: Ebola virus species, the countries affected and the WHO response are recurring health questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Bundibugyo virus A species of Ebolavirus — One of the Ebolavirus species that causes Ebola disease in humans.
16 October 2026
A new United Nations report finds that fewer than half of the national targets set to protect the world's plants, animals and ecosystems are on track.
It was launched in Yerevan, Armenia, days before countries gather there for the COP17 biodiversity conference.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed in Montreal in 2022, set out a goal of protecting at least 30 per cent of land, inland waters, coasts and oceans by 2030.
Even if current commitments are met, only 26 per cent of land and 12 per cent of the ocean would be protected by that deadline, the report finds.
Nearly 90 per cent of parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity have set national targets and more than half have drawn up plans to deliver them, while more than 70 per cent have reported on results.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the launch that the war on nature has not yet ended, and that biodiversity must be part of every decision across policies, regulations and budgets.
Land protected by 2030 on current commitments:
26 per cent
Ocean protected by 2030 on current commitments:
12 per cent
COP17 venue:
Yerevan, Armenia
Why it matters for exams: The 30 by 2030 target, the Kunming-Montreal framework and the COP17 venue are examinable environment facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CBD Convention on Biological Diversity — The 1992 treaty on conserving biodiversity and sharing the benefits of genetic resources.
16 October 2026
A new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report finds acute malnutrition and hunger in Afghanistan at the highest levels ever recorded.
15.9 million people face acute food insecurity, with 3.4 million in emergency phase four conditions, which precedes famine.
More than 32 per cent of the population is in crisis-level phase three or above for the August to October period.
From November to April, during the winter lean season, nearly 19.2 million people are projected to be in phase three or above, including five million in emergency conditions.
4.04 million children under the age of five are projected to need treatment for acute malnutrition between January and December 2027.
The World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization called for urgent funding; WFP country director John Aylieff said there is still a window to act but it is closing fast.
People in acute food insecurity:
15.9 million
People in emergency phase four:
3.4 million
Projected phase three or above, November to April:
19.2 million
Why it matters for exams: The five IPC phases and the figures for the worst-hit countries are asked in reports and indices sections.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IPC Integrated Food Security Phase Classification — A five-phase scale used worldwide to classify the severity of food insecurity.
16 October 2026
The World Health Organization says more than $1.5 million worth of medicines and supplies were destroyed in four separate strikes on warehouses it uses in Ukraine since July.
Three of those four warehouses were destroyed, within a span of three months.
WHO says 21 warehouses have been targeted this year, out of a total of 400 incidents, almost all involving heavy weapons such as firearms, tanks, missiles, bombs and mortars.
The agency has verified more than 3,300 attacks on healthcare since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, in which 247 people were killed and more than 1,090 health workers and patients injured.
Dr Ihor Perehinets, WHO Regional Emergency and Health Security Director, said losses of medicines, equipment and laboratory reagents disrupt the support health facilities need to treat patients.
Strikes overnight into Wednesday killed at least three people in Kyiv and left hundreds of thousands without power.
Value of supplies destroyed since July:
More than $1.5 million
Warehouses targeted this year:
21
Verified attacks on healthcare since February 2022:
More than 3,300
Why it matters for exams: WHO's surveillance of attacks on healthcare and its verified figures are often quoted in current affairs.
Kerala PSCUPSC
16 October 2026
At least 33 pupils and a teacher were killed when a school roof collapsed in Peshawar in north-western Pakistan, according to hospital officials.
More than a dozen others were injured, some in a critical condition.
Emergency services were called to the private Al-Khair school in Dir Colony at 08:48 local time after lessons had begun.
Rescue official Bilal Faizi said the roof of an upper-floor classroom collapsed, causing ceilings below to cave in and trapping children under the debris.
Peshawar police chief Mian Saeed said classrooms on three floors were brought down, with about 30 pupils in the top class, 40 in the middle and 45 on the ground floor.
The police chief said the school's owner had been taken into custody and promised a thorough inquiry into whether there were any violations of building codes; emergency official Arif Khattak said the building had been constructed on a temporary basis.
Pupils killed:
At least 33
City:
Peshawar
Floors of classrooms brought down:
3
Why it matters for exams: Large disasters in neighbouring countries and the safety questions they raise appear in general awareness papers.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
16 October 2026
Five people were killed and 16 injured in a Houthi missile attack on the presidential palace in the port city of Aden, the seat of Yemen's internationally recognised government.
Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the prime minister and other ministers were unhurt when five ballistic missiles hit al-Maashiq Palace.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said they had struck what he called the Saudi enemy's military operations headquarters in Aden.
Health Minister Qasim Buhaibeh said the casualties included those working to guard the site and civilian employees.
Prime Minister Shaya Zindani condemned the attack and said the government would continue operations against the Houthis on Yemen's south-western Red Sea coast and other front lines.
A Saudi-led coalition backs the government and provides air support; a Houthi missile strike on Riyadh's international airport on Saturday killed 13 people.
Killed:
5
Injured:
16
Palace struck:
al-Maashiq Palace, Aden
Why it matters for exams: Aden, Sanaa and the parties to the Yemen conflict are frequently tested map and polity facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
16 October 2026
Brazil's Congress approved a constitutional amendment that cuts the working week from 44 hours to 40 and gives employees two days off a week without cutting their salary.
Senators passed the amendment by 75 votes to one; the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house, had passed it in May.
The change is described as the biggest overhaul of workers' rights since Brazil's return to democracy in 1988 and is estimated to benefit more than 30 million workers.
The vote came less than two weeks before the second round of the presidential election on 25 October.
In the first round, Flavio Bolsonaro took 47 per cent of the vote and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva 45.2 per cent, both short of the 50 per cent of valid votes needed to avoid a run-off.
None of the changes takes effect before the run-off: after the Senate president promulgates the amendment, a 60-day period follows before six-day working weeks are abolished and the maximum working week falls from 44 to 42 hours, then to 40 hours after a further 14 months.
Working week:
Cut from 44 hours to 40, phased via 42 hours
Senate vote:
75 to 1
Workers expected to benefit:
More than 30 million
Why it matters for exams: Constitutional amendments abroad and the structure of Brazil's two-round presidential election are useful comparative polity facts.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
Chamber of Deputies Lower house of Brazil's National Congress — The directly elected lower chamber of Brazil's legislature.
16 October 2026
A minibus hit a stationary freight train near the French entrance to the Channel Tunnel, injuring the driver and 18 passengers, French authorities said.
The collision happened at the loading platform at Coquelles, near Calais, at 19:27 local time.
The bus driver and one passenger were severely injured and evacuated by helicopter, but none of the injuries were life threatening, a local official said.
The minibus was carrying lorry drivers who were about to board the shuttle rail service; all were men of different nationalities.
Local sub-prefect Agathe Cury said two trains were on either side of the platform, one being loaded with heavy goods vehicles and another departing, and that the minibus collided with the departing train.
Cury said freight and Eurostar passenger traffic were not disrupted after a brief stoppage to evacuate the injured, that an investigation had begun, and that it was the first time an incident of this type had occurred on a Eurotunnel loading platform.
Injured:
19
Location:
Coquelles, near Calais
Time:
19:27 local time
Why it matters for exams: The Channel Tunnel, its terminals and the Eurostar and shuttle services are standard geography questions.
UPSCSSC
16 October 2026
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama said he would not resign after three days of clashes in the capital Tirana, where demonstrators have demanded that he step down.
Thousands of students took to the streets and attacked several government buildings on the second day of the protests.
The demonstrations began outside the Ministry of Education, with students calling for better university conditions and job prospects.
Part of the education ministry building was set on fire, while the prime minister's office and the finance and interior ministries and surrounding businesses were also attacked.
Riot police clashed with protesters and used tear gas and water cannons to disperse them.
Deputy Prime Minister Albana Kociu called for calmness, self-restraint and maturity and said Albania does not need to burn to change, while Education Minister Mirela Kumbaro said civic student protest and violence against public buildings are two different things.
Prime Minister:
Edi Rama
Capital:
Tirana
Days of clashes:
3
Why it matters for exams: Albania, its capital and its head of government are map and polity facts, and student movements abroad recur in current affairs.
Kerala PSCUPSC
16 October 2026
The number of ships reporting attacks in and around the Strait of Hormuz has reached a record high, according to BBC Verify analysis of data from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency.
Twelve vessels were attacked between 5 and 11 October, the largest weekly number reported to UKMTO since the US-Israeli war with Iran began; the previous week saw 10 ships report attacks.
Six of the vessels were struck on a single day, a one-day high, and four attacks had been reported so far in the following week.
As the number of strikes has risen, the recovery in oil shipments through the strait seen the previous month has slowed, industry data suggests.
The Nicaragua-flagged tanker Petro Dolphin was struck by a drone close to the Sohar Anchorage in Oman, more than 250 km from the strait.
US Central Command said commercial traffic continues to flow through the Strait of Hormuz with coordinated protection from US forces and regional partners.
Vessels attacked, 5 to 11 October:
12
Previous week:
10
Tanker struck off Oman:
Petro Dolphin
Why it matters for exams: The Strait of Hormuz, its chokepoint role in oil trade and the agencies that track shipping incidents are key economy and geography topics.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
UKMTO United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations — A UK naval body that receives and publishes reports of attacks on merchant shipping.
16 October 2026
Venezuela's former leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores appeared in a federal court in New York to plead not guilty to new charges of conspiracy to commit torture.
The United States had first charged Maduro with narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and weapons-related offences before bringing the new charges against him and Flores the previous week.
The couple were captured in January during a United States military raid and taken to New York, where they remain in jail.
Maduro told the court through a translator that he rejected the document entirely and denied the testimony against him; Judge Alvin Hellerstein entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.
Flores said through a translator that she was completely innocent.
Both have argued that the case should be thrown out on the grounds that they qualify for sovereign immunity, and their trial is scheduled for June 2027.
Court:
Federal court, New York
Judge:
Alvin Hellerstein
Trial scheduled for:
June 2027
Why it matters for exams: Sovereign immunity and the reach of United States domestic courts over foreign leaders are useful international law points.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Sovereign immunity Immunity of a State and its officials from foreign jurisdiction — A doctrine under which a State or its serving officials may not be sued in another country's courts.