18 October 2026
Representatives of three successive UN climate summit presidencies met at United Nations Headquarters less than a month before COP31 opens in Antalya, Turkiye.
The high-level meeting was opened by the President of the General Assembly, Khalilur Rahman.
He said scientists had long warned that disasters such as the devastation in Nepal were becoming a reality.
He told delegates that this year's strengthening El Nino could be among the strongest since at least 1950.
Under current climate policies the world is on its way to warming by 2.8 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, far beyond the goals of the Paris Agreement.
The meeting was framed around restoring trust in climate action.
Warming under current policies:
2.8°C above pre-industrial levels
COP31 venue:
Antalya, Turkiye
El Nino:
could be among the strongest since at least 1950
Why it matters for exams: The COP31 venue, the current warming trajectory figure and the name of the General Assembly President are all standard objective questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
COP Conference of the Parties — The annual meeting of the parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, where climate decisions are negotiated.
18 October 2026
A drone attack on St Petersburg in Russia killed at least one person and injured five others, the city's governor Alexander Beglov said on Sunday.
Firefighters were tackling blazes at the St Petersburg oil terminal, the Ruchi oil depot and industrial warehouses in the Kolpino district south of the city.
Several residential buildings and two houses were also damaged, and operations at the city's main airport were restricted.
The e-commerce company Ozon reported a fire at its logistics hub and the internet company VK said its data centre in the Leningrad region had been hit.
The governor of the surrounding Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, said 145 drones had been shot down and about 20,000 people were left without electricity.
Russia's defence ministry said 1,015 Ukrainian drones were neutralised overnight.
Killed:
at least one
Injured:
five
Drones neutralised overnight:
1,015
Without electricity:
about 20,000
Why it matters for exams: St Petersburg, the Leningrad region and the targeting of oil infrastructure are the map-and-economy details examiners draw on from this war.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Leningrad region Leningrad Oblast — The Russian federal subject surrounding St Petersburg; the city itself is a separate federal subject.
18 October 2026
Kenya's Ministry of Health confirmed a second person testing positive for the Bundibugyo virus, the strain behind the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The patient is a 39-year-old man and a relative of Kenya's first case, who died in hospital on 5 October 2026 after arriving in Nairobi via Uganda on 3 October. He was among contacts already placed in quarantine and developed symptoms on 13 October 2026. More than 40 contacts of the first patient were traced, including airline passengers and crew, airport workers, baggage handlers, immigration officials and health personnel. WHO has donated some 70,000 dollars worth of supplies and more than 4,000 health workers have been trained, including for screening at ports of entry. The WHO Representative in Kenya, Dr Neema Rusibamayila Kimambo, said there is no need to impose travel restrictions or close national borders.
Virus strain:
Bundibugyo
WHO supplies donated:
about $70,000
Health workers trained:
more than 4,000
Why it matters for exams: A named Ebola strain crossing a border, with the dates and the response, is a standard public health question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IPC Infection prevention and control — The hospital practices that stop a disease spreading from patients to staff and other patients.
18 October 2026
The World Health Organization recorded more than 125,000 suspected cholera cases and 3,644 suspected deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo between January 2025 and the end of September 2026. Since the beginning of 2026 alone, more than 51,412 suspected cases including 1,487 deaths have been reported in 21 provinces. Health authorities recorded 2,932 suspected cases and 86 deaths from 21 to 28 September 2026, against 2,506 cases and 62 deaths the previous week. The provinces of South Kivu, North Kivu and Haut-Katanga account for nearly 60 per cent of reported suspected cases. Response teams are preparing four water chlorination sites in the worst affected areas of North Kivu, and plans are under way in Tanganyika to disinfect nearly 4,000 households and 5,900 latrines. The Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo are developing a joint cross-border oral vaccination plan.
Suspected cases since January 2025:
more than 125,000
Suspected deaths:
3,644
Provinces affected in 2026:
21
Why it matters for exams: Cholera as a water and sanitation disease, with the provinces and the figures, is asked on both health and development papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
18 October 2026
WHO data published in October 2026 record 9,066 Ebola cases and 4,381 deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The cases are spread across seven provinces and 65 health zones. The case fatality rate is 48.3 per cent, and 2,389 recoveries have been recorded. The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. In Haut-Uele province the Ebola treatment centre at Isiro has been expanded to take more patients while essential services continue at the city's main general referral hospital. Uganda was declared Ebola-free in August 2026 after reporting 20 cases and two deaths.
Cases:
9,066
Deaths:
4,381
Case fatality rate:
48.3 per cent
Recoveries:
2,389
Why it matters for exams: Case fatality rate is a term examiners test with a worked figure, and this outbreak supplies one.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CFR Case fatality rate — The share of people with a confirmed disease who die of it.
18 October 2026
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification issued a new alert on 12 October 2026 on Greater Darfur and Greater Kordofan in Sudan. In two camps for displaced people in Eastern Jebel Marra, South Darfur, acute malnutrition among children stood at 38 and 30.8 per cent, above the threshold for famine. Across Greater Darfur, 13 of the 17 nutrition surveys carried out since January 2026 found critical levels of acute malnutrition. Drought now covers more than half of Sudan, and in North Darfur 64 per cent of cropland shows poor plant growth, with rains arriving in late September too late to save most cereal crops. Greater Kordofan has seen more than 300,000 people forced from their homes since October 2025, and its markets have been hit by more than 170 airstrikes, looting incidents or armed clashes during the year. As of 8 October 2026 less than half of the humanitarian appeal for Sudan had been funded.
Acute malnutrition, Eastern Jebel Marra camps:
38 and 30.8 per cent
Nutrition surveys at critical levels:
13 of 17 in Greater Darfur
North Darfur cropland with poor growth:
64 per cent
Why it matters for exams: The IPC alert is the standard evidence base for a famine question, and the malnutrition thresholds are the examinable part.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IPC Integrated Food Security Phase Classification — A global partnership, including WFP and FAO, that grades how severe hunger is in a place.
18 October 2026
Trial Chamber VI of the International Criminal Court announced that it would deliver its judgment on conviction or acquittal in The Prosecutor v. Mahamat Said Abdel Kani on 23 September 2026 at 11:00 The Hague local time. The Court said the judgment would be read out in public in ICC Courtroom I and transmitted live through its website in English, French and Sango. The judgment was read out in public in ICC Courtroom I and transmitted live through the Court's website in English, French and Sango. Under article 74 of the Rome Statute the judges either acquit or convict, and either party may appeal to the ICC Appeals Chamber. The charges in the case concern crimes against humanity and war crimes at the Office Central de Repression du Banditisme in Bangui, Central African Republic, in 2013. The trial opened on 26 September 2022 and ran for 130 hearings, in which the Chamber heard 58 witnesses called by the Prosecution and 3 by the Defence. Thirty-two victims were granted the right to participate in the proceedings, and the Chamber was presided over by Judge Miatta Maria Samba.
Trial hearings:
130
Witnesses heard:
58 Prosecution, 3 Defence
Victims participating:
32
Presiding Judge:
Judge Miatta Maria Samba
Why it matters for exams: ICC procedure under the Rome Statute, with a named chamber and situation country, is a standard law and international organisations question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Rome Statute Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court — The treaty that created the ICC and sets out the crimes it may try and how.
Background
The United Nations Security Council has renewed the sanctions measures aimed at people responsible for or involved in activities threatening Haiti's peace, security and stability. The Haiti sanctions regime was created by the Security Council in 2022 and has three enforcement tools: an arms embargo, a travel ban and an asset freeze. Nine individuals and two groups are currently sanctioned. Armed gangs control large parts of the capital Port-au-Prince and are pushing into rural areas; about 1.5 million people, roughly 12 per cent of the population, have been forced from their homes. More than 3,000 people were killed and over 1,500 injured between October last year and April this year. Haiti manufactures no firearms or ammunition, yet an estimated 270,000 to 500,000 illegal weapons are in circulation. The Panel of Experts on Haiti, an independent fact-finding body established by the Council, reports that the arms embargo is violated on a regular basis.
Regime created:
2022
Those sanctioned:
Nine individuals and two groups
People displaced:
About 1.5 million, roughly 12 per cent of the population
Why it matters for exams: Explains the standard three-tool design of a United Nations sanctions regime through a live case.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the IPC, is the global partnership that grades how severe food insecurity is in a given place. It includes the UN emergency food agency, the World Food Programme, and the Food and Agriculture Organization. It issues food insecurity alerts based on nutrition surveys, death rates and crop and market evidence. Within the IPC, a Famine Review Committee assesses whether the evidence supports a famine classification, and it can state that there is not enough survey data for a full analysis. This is the body behind every reputable statement that a region faces famine, which is why its alerts rather than any single government's word are cited. Understanding the IPC is what lets a reader judge a hunger headline rather than simply repeat it.
Partner agencies named:
WFP and FAO
Body that reviews a famine finding:
Famine Review Committee
Why it matters for exams: Examiners ask which agencies make up the IPC and which body reviews a famine classification.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization — The UN agency for food, agriculture and rural development.