30 October 2026
The United Nations Security Council has unanimously renewed the mandate of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia until 31 October 2027. The mission verifies the implementation of the Final Peace Agreement signed between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP in 2016. In the same week the mission supported a forum at the University of Los Llanos in Villavicencio, in the department of Meta, marking ten years since the agreement was signed. About 400 people took part under the theme From Signing to Implementation. The verification mission is a special political mission, not a peacekeeping force, and reports to the Security Council on reintegration of former combatants and on security guarantees.
Mandate extended to:
31 October 2027
Vote:
Unanimous
Anniversary forum participants:
About 400
Why it matters for exams: The 2016 Final Peace Agreement between Colombia and the FARC-EP, and the Security Council's power to renew mission mandates, are standard international questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
FARC-EP Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army — The armed group that signed the 2016 Final Peace Agreement with the Colombian government.
1 November 2026
Latvia has taken over the presidency of the United Nations Security Council for November 2026, succeeding Greece, which held the chair in October. The presidency of the Council rotates every month among its fifteen members in the English alphabetical order of their names. The president sets the Council's monthly programme of work, chairs its meetings and represents the Council in its dealings with other organs. In 2026 the presidency has run from Somalia in January through the United Kingdom, the United States, Bahrain, China, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, France and Greece, with Liberia due to take the chair in December.
President for November 2026:
Latvia
Previous month's president:
Greece
President for December 2026:
Liberia
Why it matters for exams: The monthly rotation of the Security Council presidency in English alphabetical order among its fifteen members is a repeat Polity and international question.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Programme of work The Security Council's monthly agenda — The schedule of meetings and issues the president of the Council draws up for the month.
30 October 2026
The United States Department of State has approved a possible foreign military sale to Ukraine of 500 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement missiles, with spare parts, related equipment and programme support. The estimated value is $2.1 billion and the notification carries transmittal number 26-113. The State Department says no United States funds are involved: Canada, Germany and Norway are to give donations through a programme called JUMPSTART, while Ukraine is to use national funds financed by the European Union's Ukraine Support Loan. The principal contractor is Lockheed Martin. The stated purpose is to improve Ukraine's integrated air and missile defence and to sustain its existing Patriot operations. Patriot is a surface-to-air missile system used against aircraft and ballistic missiles.
Estimated value:
$2.1 billion
Quantity:
500 PAC-3 MSE missiles
Transmittal number:
26-113
Principal contractor:
Lockheed Martin
Why it matters for exams: The Patriot PAC-3 air defence system and the United States foreign military sales route through the State Department are repeat defence questions.
UPSC
In plain words
PAC-3 MSE Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement — An upgraded interceptor of the Patriot air and missile defence system.
30 October 2026
The foreign ministers of the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea met on the margins of the Group of Twenty meeting in Atlanta and signed a Memorandum of Cooperation setting up a Trilateral Arctic Pacific Partnership to explore maritime cooperation and economic partnership in the Pacific Arctic. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun took part. They reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearisation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and to full implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, including the ban on supporting revenue generation for the country's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. They also commended the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team and reviewed an earlier trilateral memorandum on small modular reactor deployments signed at Ankara.
New partnership:
Trilateral Arctic Pacific Partnership (TAPP)
Venue:
Margins of the G20 in Atlanta
Participants:
United States, Japan, Republic of Korea
Why it matters for exams: The new Trilateral Arctic Pacific Partnership and the names of the three foreign ministers are fresh appointments-and-agreements material.
UPSC
In plain words
MSMT Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team — A group of states that reports on violations of sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
31 October 2026
A rare local truce around Oleshky in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine allowed bus convoys to leave the town, and hundreds of evacuees were then flown in four aircraft to Gomel in south-eastern Belarus. Belarusian rescue workers, medical teams and Red Cross volunteers received the group at Gomel, and Ukrainian officials said they would be moved on to Ukrainian-held territory. Residents were given a choice of going to Ukrainian-held or Russian-held areas or staying in Oleshky with replenished food and medical supplies. The United Nations said it had no role in the evacuation itself and was providing humanitarian aid to the evacuees once they reached the Ukrainian side, while its humanitarian office reported continuing attacks on aid vehicles. Russia's ombudswoman Yana Lantratova led the mission on the Russian side, and Ukrainian parliament member David Arakhamia confirmed the arrival of the aircraft.
Town evacuated:
Oleshky, southern Ukraine
Destination of flights:
Gomel, Belarus
Estimated population of the town:
About 2,000 residents
Why it matters for exams: Gomel in Belarus and the role of the Red Cross in evacuation corridors are the durable geography and institutions facts here.
UPSC
In plain words
Humanitarian truce A short local ceasefire for relief and evacuation — A pause in fighting agreed only to let civilians leave or aid come in.
31 October 2026
Government figures show that deaths in the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have passed 5,000. The outbreak was declared in May and has infected more than 10,000 people. The virus has reached eight of the country's 26 provinces. It is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, unlike the Zaire strain against which licensed vaccines exist. Ebola spreads through contact with the body fluids of an infected person or animal, and outbreaks are fought through case finding, contact tracing, isolation and safe burials. The United Nations has warned that conflict, Ebola and climate shocks together are deepening hunger in the country.
Deaths:
More than 5,000
Infections:
More than 10,000
Provinces affected:
Eight of 26
Strain:
Bundibugyo
Why it matters for exams: The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has no licensed vaccine, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's 26 provinces are the durable facts here.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Bundibugyo virus A species of Ebola virus — An Ebola species first identified in Uganda, for which no vaccine has been licensed.
30 October 2026
The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO has set the dates for NEAMWave26, a regional tsunami warning exercise in the North-Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas. The exercise will run from 5 to 19 November, timed to World Tsunami Awareness Day, and will bring together scientific institutions, national authorities and civil protection partners to test end-to-end tsunami procedures. It will also test the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism through the European Commission's Emergency Response Coordination Centre. Five scenarios are based on historical earthquakes, including the 1755 Lisbon earthquake for the North-East Atlantic and the 1867 Peloponnesus earthquake for the Ionian Sea. Candidate and recognised Tsunami Ready communities can use the exercise to meet UNESCO-IOC Tsunami Ready Indicator 8, which asks for a community preparedness drill at least once in two years.
Exercise:
NEAMWave26
Dates:
5 to 19 November 2026
Scenarios:
Five, based on historical earthquakes
Previous edition:
NEAMWave23, 6-7 November 2023
Why it matters for exams: The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, World Tsunami Awareness Day and the Tsunami Ready programme are repeat disaster management questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IOC Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission — The UNESCO body that coordinates ocean science and regional tsunami warning systems.
Tsunami Ready UNESCO-IOC community recognition programme — A programme that certifies coastal communities as prepared for tsunamis against set indicators.
31 October 2026
The African Union has marked twenty years of its Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development Policy, adopted at Banjul in 2006, and will observe PCRD Month from 1 to 30 November. African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf called for stronger political support and more predictable, sustained financing, managed transparently and with clear accountability. He stressed national leadership, community participation and the involvement of women and young people, and tied the effort to Agenda 2063 and the Silencing the Guns initiative. Over the two decades the Union has set up the AU PCRD Centre, which is hosted by Egypt at Cairo, revised the policy and run Quick Impact Projects and capacity-building work. Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is the African Union Champion for PCRD.
Policy adopted:
Banjul, 2006
PCRD Month:
1 to 30 November 2026
AU PCRD Centre:
Cairo, Egypt
Why it matters for exams: The African Union's PCRD Policy adopted at Banjul in 2006, its Centre at Cairo and Agenda 2063 are named-framework questions.
UPSC
In plain words
PCRD Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development — The African Union's framework for rebuilding states and societies after armed conflict.
Agenda 2063 The African Union's long-term development blueprint — A fifty-year plan for the continent's social and economic transformation.
30 October 2026
INTERPOL Secretary-General Valdecy Urquiza paid a courtesy call on African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf. They exchanged views on strengthening cooperation under the Memorandum of Understanding between the African Union Commission and INTERPOL. The Chairperson thanked INTERPOL for its support to member states and to the African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation, known as AFRIPOL, particularly in capacity-building and programme development. Both sides committed to deepening institutional cooperation and joint work to prevent and combat transnational organised crime in all its forms. INTERPOL is the international police organisation with its General Secretariat at Lyon in France and a National Central Bureau in each member country.
INTERPOL Secretary-General:
Valdecy Urquiza
African Union Commission Chairperson:
Mahmoud Ali Youssouf
Framework:
Memorandum of Understanding between the AU Commission and INTERPOL
Why it matters for exams: AFRIPOL as the African Union's police cooperation mechanism and INTERPOL's General Secretariat at Lyon are named-body questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
AFRIPOL African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation — The African Union body that coordinates police cooperation among member states.
30 October 2026
María Ángela Holguín, Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on Cyprus, met Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides, and is due to meet Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman early the following week. Earlier the same week both leaders met the Technical Committees on Cultural Heritage and on Youth and the Steering Committee of the Civil Society Consultative Body. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, and the United Nations keeps a buffer zone across the island through its peacekeeping force UNFICYP, which is one of the organisation's longest-running missions. A Personal Envoy is appointed by the Secretary-General to explore common ground between the two sides outside formal negotiations.
Personal Envoy on Cyprus:
Maria Angela Holguin
Greek Cypriot leader:
Nikos Christodoulides
Turkish Cypriot leader:
Tufan Erhurman
Why it matters for exams: The UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus, UNFICYP, and the island's division since 1974 are repeat international questions.
UPSC
In plain words
UNFICYP United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus — The peacekeeping force that patrols the buffer zone dividing the island.
30 October 2026
The African Union's Specialised Technical Committee on Communication and ICT held its sixth ordinary session at Libreville in Gabon, where Ghana took over the two-year chair from Lesotho. Ministers responsible for communication, information, ICT and postal services took part along with African Union Commission officials and development partners. AUC Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Lerato D. Mataboge gave the main policy address and put six priorities to the committee. She asked for rules and physical networks that let digital growth happen; for digital systems people can trust and that work with one another across borders; for serious work on artificial intelligence; for training and fresh ideas; for sharper public messaging; and for Africa to help write the world's digital rules rather than wait to be handed them. The session cited the Digital Transformation Strategy, the Continental AI Strategy, the Data Policy Framework, the Malabo Convention and the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade, which is the basis for a Single African Digital Market of nearly 1.5 billion people. Ministers advanced the Libreville Declaration ahead of the 2026 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference at Doha.
Session:
Sixth Ordinary Session of the STC on Communication and ICT
Venue:
Libreville, Gabon
Incoming chair:
Ghana, for two years, taking over from Lesotho
Single African Digital Market:
Nearly 1.5 billion people
Why it matters for exams: The AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade, the Malabo Convention and the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference are named-instrument questions.
UPSC
In plain words
AfCFTA African Continental Free Trade Area — The continent-wide free trade agreement whose Protocol on Digital Trade underpins a single digital market.
ITU International Telecommunication Union — The United Nations specialised agency for information and communication technologies.