21 October 2026
The World Health Organization published a 30-page working paper titled Cupping therapy: descriptive synthesis of training on 21 October 2026, with ISBN 9789240125964. It was prepared by the Global Traditional Medicine Centre, the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine, and is released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO licence. The paper gives an evidence-informed overview of how cupping therapy training is reported and organised across traditional, complementary and integrative medicine settings, drawing mainly on a systematic scoping review. It describes training pathways and curriculum content, competency domains and learning outcomes, approaches to delivery and assessment, trainer qualifications and training facilities, and accreditation arrangements. It focuses mainly on cupping based on traditional Chinese medicine while acknowledging the wider diversity of cupping practices across medical systems. The World Health Organization describes it as a descriptive and non-normative reference for policy-makers, regulators, education and accreditation bodies, health professionals, researchers and practitioners.
Title:
Cupping therapy: descriptive synthesis of training
Publication date:
21 October 2026
Pages:
30
ISBN:
9789240125964
Prepared by:
Global Traditional Medicine Centre
Why it matters for exams: The WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine and its publications are examined in health and international organisation questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Scoping review Systematic scoping review — A structured survey of the range and nature of existing research on a topic.
21 October 2026
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) published the Emissions Gap Report 2026: The Point of Return on 21 October 2026.
It says the world will soon pass the 1.5°C warming limit and outlines a lowest overshoot scenario with peak warming of 1.7 to 1.8°C around mid-century.
That needs emissions cut by 18 per cent by the end of the decade, 45 per cent by 2035 and 69 per cent five years later, compared with 2025 levels.
Current policies could lead to 2.8°C of warming this century; full delivery of national pledges (NDCs) would limit it to 2.6°C.
The outlook is worse than last year's, partly because the United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement.
The second Global Stocktake begins at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye.
Report:
Emissions Gap Report 2026: The Point of Return
Warming under current policies:
2.8°C
Warming if NDCs delivered:
2.6°C
Lowest overshoot peak:
1.7 to 1.8°C
Why it matters for exams: The annual Emissions Gap Report, its subtitle and headline warming figures are standard environment questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
NDC Nationally Determined Contribution — A country's climate action plan submitted under the Paris Agreement.
21 October 2026
Two UN agencies appealed on 21 October 2026 for immediate help for communities hit by what may be the strongest El Niño on record.
WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures may rise to 3.8℃ above average between November 2026 and January 2027; an anomaly of 0.5℃ is enough for an El Niño alert.
UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said some 50 million people could face increased hunger and that Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya urgently need funding before heavy rains.
He released more than $50 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to help 11 countries, including Chad, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan.
An African Development Bank estimate puts the cost to African countries at $10 to $20 billion.
Possible Pacific anomaly:
3.8℃ above average
El Niño alert threshold:
0.5℃
CERF release:
More than $50 million, 11 countries
People at risk of hunger:
Some 50 million
Why it matters for exams: El Niño, its threshold and its global effects are core geography and disaster-management topics.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
CERF Central Emergency Response Fund — The UN's pooled fund for rapid humanitarian response, managed by the relief chief.
20 October 2026
Nigeria confirmed its first case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease on 20 October 2026, and WHO is assisting the response.
The patient, a woman who had travelled from Uganda, developed symptoms on 7 October and sought care at a private facility in Abuja on 11 October.
Nigerian authorities have identified 44 contacts who are being monitored.
Nigeria is the fifth country to detect the disease since an outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in mid-May.
As of 18 October the DRC had recorded more than 9,500 cases and more than 4,200 deaths; there is currently no vaccine.
WHO has not recommended any travel or trade restrictions.
Contacts monitored:
44
DRC cases (18 October):
More than 9,500
DRC deaths (18 October):
More than 4,200
Why it matters for exams: Outbreaks, their virus species and WHO's response are frequent health questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
21 October 2026
Nearly two dozen countries met at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 21 October 2026 for talks on a pathway to a ceasefire in Sudan.
The Consultative Meetings on Enhancing Coordination of Peace Initiatives and Efforts in Sudan are co-hosted by Switzerland and the UN; earlier rounds met in Cairo, Djibouti, Nouakchott and Brussels.
Pekka Haavisto, Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Sudan, opened the first session on de-escalation.
Swiss State Secretary Alexandre Fasel said the war has become a drone war and that almost 34 million people in Sudan need humanitarian support.
Neither the Sudanese Government nor the Rapid Support Forces is represented, as the mechanism is for mediators to coordinate.
The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF began in April 2023.
Venue:
Palais des Nations, Geneva
UN Personal Envoy:
Pekka Haavisto
People needing aid:
Almost 34 million
Why it matters for exams: The Sudan war, its parties and the UN's mediation track are recurring world-affairs questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
21 October 2026
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the UN migration agency IOM reported on 21 October 2026 that smuggling fees on sea routes to Europe reached between $388 and $509 million in 2025.
Around 190,000 to 209,000 people were smuggled along the four main sea routes in 2025.
The Central Mediterranean was the busiest route (84,000 to 100,400 people), followed by the Eastern Mediterranean (48,400 to 51,300).
The Northwest African Atlantic route to Spain's Canary Islands came third with 33,000, and the Western Mediterranean fourth with 24,500.
Smugglers received as little as $170 per person on the Atlantic route, while almost half of those heading to Italy or Malta paid over $7,500.
Among all departing on these routes in 2025, 3,404 lost their lives or were reported missing and 104,200 were intercepted at sea and returned.
Smuggling fees, 2025:
$388 to $509 million
People smuggled:
190,000 to 209,000
Busiest route:
Central Mediterranean
Dead or missing:
3,404
Why it matters for exams: Migration routes into Europe and the UN bodies that track them are common world-affairs questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
21 October 2026
A group of independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said on 21 October 2026 that there is no information on the whereabouts of North Koreans forcibly returned from China.
Their statement comes three years after large-scale forcible returns of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) nationals from China resumed.
They cited Kim Cheol-ok, detained by Chinese authorities in April 2023 and returned in October 2023, whose detention the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found arbitrary in 2024.
The experts called on China to respect the principle of non-refoulement and to stop repatriating North Koreans.
They called on Pyongyang to disclose the fate and whereabouts of returnees.
Special Rapporteurs and independent experts serve in their individual capacity and receive no salary.
Appointing body:
UN Human Rights Council
Principle invoked:
Non-refoulement
Returns resumed:
Three years earlier
Why it matters for exams: Non-refoulement and the UN Human Rights Council's special procedures are standard international law topics.
UPSC
In plain words
Non-refoulement Non-refoulement — The principle that no one should be returned to a country where they face a real risk of persecution, torture or inhuman treatment.
21 October 2026
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in a statement published late on 21 October 2026, strongly condemned deadly drone strikes in the disputed Abyei border region.
The strikes on Monday hit Amiet Market and the Todach area, killing dozens of civilians and setting structures ablaze.
The UN peacekeeping force in Abyei (UNISFA) deployed medical personnel, firefighting equipment and quick reaction forces.
Guterres urged the Governments of South Sudan and Sudan to help prevent further attacks and uphold Abyei's demilitarised status.
The strikes are among the latest developments in the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces that erupted in April 2023.
Places struck:
Amiet Market and Todach area
UN mission:
UNISFA
Status urged:
Demilitarised
Why it matters for exams: Abyei, a disputed area between Sudan and South Sudan with its own UN mission, is a classic map-and-peacekeeping question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
21 October 2026
WHO, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), UNICEF and the UN reproductive health agency UNFPA launched a new framework of priority indicators, reported by UN News on 21 October 2026.
It is the first set of priority indicators focused on the impact of extreme heat on pregnancy, newborns and young children.
Countries are advised to monitor pre-term births, stillbirths, low birthweight, pregnancy hypertension, child deaths and health-facility visits during extreme heat.
Monitoring school attendance can also show how heat disrupts children's lives.
An estimated 1.5 billion children worldwide are exposed to heatwaves that are becoming more frequent, longer or more severe.
Agencies:
WHO, WMO, UNICEF, UNFPA
Children exposed to heatwaves:
1.5 billion
Why it matters for exams: Climate-health links and the mandates of UN agencies such as UNFPA and WMO are common in health and environment papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
21 October 2026
A judge in the US state of New Mexico, Francis Mathew, on 21 October 2026 ordered Meta to pay $25bn.
A jury had found that the company misled the public about how it handled Facebook user data.
It is the largest fine ever against Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
New Mexico's lawsuit stemmed from Facebook's role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The state had sought up to $40bn; Meta intends to appeal.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said no corporation is too powerful to be held accountable.
Fine:
$25bn
Amount sought by the state:
Up to $40bn
Judge:
Francis Mathew
Why it matters for exams: Big-tech regulation, data privacy cases and the Cambridge Analytica episode are frequent current-affairs questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
21 October 2026
Federal prosecutors in Mexico on 21 October 2026 charged César Jáuregui Moreno, former attorney general of the northern border state of Chihuahua, with treason.
The charge is that he allowed US agents to join a raid on a suspected drugs lab in April without proper authorisation.
Their involvement came to light after two US agents died in a car crash in Chihuahua on 19 April along with two Mexican law enforcement officers.
Under Mexican law, the federal government must approve the activities of foreign forces on Mexican soil.
Attorney General Ernestina Godoy Ramos announced the case; Jáuregui has denied the charges.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has insisted that Mexico's sovereignty should not be breached.
Charge:
Treason
State:
Chihuahua
Crash date:
19 April
Why it matters for exams: Sovereignty, US-Mexico security cooperation and Mexico's leadership are recurring world-affairs topics.
UPSC
21 October 2026
US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Constantine Palace in St Petersburg on 21 October 2026; Jared Kushner attended virtually.
Putin agreed to resume US-mediated peace negotiations with Ukraine for the first time in months; the last such talks were in February.
A day earlier Witkoff had met Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of Norway and Finland in Oslo.
Hours after Russia said it was ready in principle to resume talks, missiles hit Kyiv, injuring six people, according to Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.
Meeting venue:
Constantine Palace, St Petersburg
Last US-mediated talks:
February
Territory held by Russia:
About 20%
Why it matters for exams: The Russia-Ukraine war, its mediators and the venues of talks are staple world-affairs questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC