6 November 2026
Gadi Eisenkot has been recommended as Prime Minister by 67 of the 120 members of Israel's Knesset, against 46 for Benjamin Netanyahu, after the election of 27 October 2026. In Israel the President does not appoint the head of government directly: he consults the parties and then hands the mandate to form a government to the member he judges most likely to succeed. President Isaac Herzog said he would name that candidate on Sunday after weekend talks with party leaders. Netanyahu's Likud took 27 seats, the largest single haul, and his wider religious-nationalist bloc 53. Eisenkot's alliance of four parties, including Yashar and the Democrats, won 48, and two parties of Israel's Palestinian minority hold 19 between them. The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism, long a Netanyahu ally, recommended no one. Eisenkot's party said 67 was the highest number of recommendations any candidate had drawn since 2015.
Knesset strength:
120
Recommendations for Eisenkot:
67
Recommendations for Netanyahu:
46
Seats won by Likud:
27
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is that Israel's Knesset has 120 members and that the President of Israel gives the mandate to form a government to a member after consulting the parties.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Knesset Parliament of Israel — Israel's single-chamber legislature of 120 members, elected by nationwide proportional representation.
6 November 2026
Speaking at the University of Salamanca in Spain, where he received an honorary doctorate, the United Nations Secretary-General warned that the unlawful use of force is being normalised, that borders are being redrawn by force, and that some states apply international law only when it suits them. He named Ukraine, Sudan, the Sahel and Gaza as places where civilians bear the cost. He invoked Francisco de Vitoria, the sixteenth-century Salamanca theologian regarded as a forerunner of international law, to argue that the Charter binds every state equally. He called the absence of permanent seats on the Security Council for Africa and for Latin America and the Caribbean a historic injustice that must be rectified. He also set record military spending against aid budgets that are falling. The address came less than two months before his term ends.
Venue:
University of Salamanca, Spain
Conflicts named:
Ukraine, Sudan, the Sahel, Gaza
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is that the United Nations Security Council has no permanent seat for Africa or for Latin America and the Caribbean, which the Secretary-General has called a historic injustice.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UN Charter Charter of the United Nations — The founding treaty of the United Nations, which restricts the use of force between states.
6 November 2026
A study commissioned by the International Organization for Migration has found that nearly nine in ten displaced Ukrainians travelling home from Poland intend to stay no more than thirty days. Those surveyed had spent close to three years abroad on average, and more than three quarters had crossed the border at least three times. Eighty-five per cent said they would go to their region of origin, but only eight per cent planned to remain in Ukraine for longer than a month. Most trips were made to rejoin family. The study lists damaged housing, limited income, health care needs and insecurity as the barriers to a lasting return. Arthur Erken, the organisation's Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, said a visit is not the same as being able to stay, and that many people make repeated trips to keep their ties alive. The UN refugee agency counts about 5.9 million Ukrainians still displaced abroad as refugees.
Planning to stay 30 days or less:
nearly nine in ten
Returning to their region of origin:
85 per cent
Ukrainians displaced abroad as refugees:
about 5.9 million
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is that the International Organization for Migration is the UN migration agency, and that the UN refugee agency counts about 5.9 million Ukrainians still displaced abroad.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IOM International Organization for Migration — The United Nations agency that works on migration and assists displaced people.
UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees — The UN refugee agency, which keeps the count of refugees worldwide.
6 November 2026
The European Space Agency has released the first images from MTG-I2, the second imager of the Meteosat Third Generation family of weather satellites. The Meteosat Third Generation programme is built by the European Space Agency and operated by EUMETSAT, the European organisation that runs Europe's weather satellites from geostationary and polar orbits. The family pairs imaging satellites, which photograph cloud and land in many wavelengths, with sounding satellites that profile temperature and humidity through the depth of the atmosphere. First images are the point at which a new satellite's instruments are shown to be working as designed, before the data is released for operational forecasting. The series is intended to carry European geostationary weather observation through the coming decades, replacing the earlier Meteosat generations that have watched Europe, Africa and the Atlantic since the 1970s.
Satellite:
MTG-I2
Programme:
Meteosat Third Generation
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is that Meteosat Third Generation is built by the European Space Agency and operated by EUMETSAT, and that MTG-I2 is its second imaging satellite.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
EUMETSAT European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites — The intergovernmental body that operates Europe's weather satellites and supplies their data to forecasters.
6 November 2026
The European Space Agency has reported a fresh firing of Prometheus, its demonstrator for a low-cost reusable rocket engine, on an improved test bench. Prometheus burns liquid oxygen with liquid methane, a combination chosen because methane burns cleanly enough to allow an engine to be used again with less refurbishment, and because both propellants can be kept at similar temperatures. The engine is designed around heavy use of additive manufacturing and digital control so that the cost of a unit falls far below that of a conventional engine of the same class. It is meant to feed into Europe's next generation of launchers and reusable stage demonstrators. Test bench campaigns of this kind step the engine through ignition, throttling and restart so that each stage of its behaviour is measured before it is trusted with a flight.
Engine:
Prometheus
Propellants:
Liquid oxygen and liquid methane
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is that Prometheus is the European Space Agency's demonstrator for a low-cost reusable rocket engine burning liquid oxygen and liquid methane.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Additive manufacturing Three-dimensional printing of components — Building a part layer by layer, which cuts the number of joints and the cost of complex engine parts.
7 November 2026
New Zealand's general election has produced no clear winner on the preliminary count. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's centre-right National Party is the largest party with 42 seats but has no majority of its own. With its coalition partners ACT and New Zealand First, it holds a slim lead over the left-leaning bloc led by Labour's Chris Hipkins, who has not conceded. The centrist Opportunity Party, led by Qiulae Wong, crossed the 5% threshold and enters Parliament for the first time. Special votes, cast outside a voter's electorate or overseas, still have to be counted. The Electoral Commission will announce the official result on 27 November. Under the mixed-member proportional system each voter casts two votes, so most governments are coalitions.
National Party seats:
42
Threshold:
5%
Official result:
27 November
Why it matters for exams: Electoral systems such as New Zealand's MMP, its 5% threshold and the country's leaders and capital are standard World Affairs questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
MMP Mixed-member proportional — A system in which voters choose both a local member and a party, and party votes decide the share of seats.
Special votes — Votes cast outside the voter's own electorate, including from overseas, counted after election night.
7 November 2026
The China Manned Space Agency has picked a Pakistani astronaut as a payload specialist for its coming Shenzhou-24 mission, Chinese state media said. The astronaut will be the first foreign national to visit China's space station. The flight is part of cooperation under China's Belt and Road Initiative. China has not named which of the two candidates will fly. Pakistani pilots Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud have trained for months at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center in Beijing. After a short stay in orbit the astronaut is to return on the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft. China is also to carry Jinnah-1, Pakistan's first lunar rover, which weighs 35kg.
Mission:
Shenzhou-24
Candidates:
Zeeshan Ali, Khurram Daud
Lunar rover:
Jinnah-1, 35kg
Why it matters for exams: Space stations, crewed missions such as Shenzhou and firsts in human spaceflight are regular Science and Technology questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Payload specialist — A crew member who flies to run specific experiments rather than to pilot the spacecraft.
Shenzhou — China's crewed spacecraft series that carries astronauts to its space station.
SUPARCO Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission — Pakistan's national space agency.
7 November 2026
Russia struck Ukraine's energy system overnight with 36 missiles and 172 drones, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said; only four missiles were shot down. At least nine people were wounded. Kyiv was hit hardest, with power, water and heating cut, and a kindergarten and the Northern Bridge damaged. Networks carrying power from nuclear power plants to Kyiv were also hit. The strikes came days before Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators meet in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It will be the fourth round brokered by the Trump administration; the last was in Geneva in February. Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Missiles:
36
Drones:
172
Talks venue:
Abu Dhabi
Why it matters for exams: The Russia-Ukraine war, its peace talks and venues, and capitals such as Abu Dhabi and Kyiv are standard World Affairs questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Trilateral talks — Negotiations involving three parties, here Russia, Ukraine and the United States.
Substation — A facility that steps voltage up or down and links power plants to the grid.
7 November 2026
With 98% of voting districts declared in South Africa's Local Government Elections, the African National Congress (ANC) has lost support in all provinces compared with the 2021 municipal polls. Its heaviest losses are in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Mpumalanga. In KwaZulu-Natal, former president Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party, fighting its first local election, has taken the lead in four municipalities the ANC used to run. In Richmond, an old ANC stronghold, MK won an outright majority of 56%. Many councils are heading for coalitions because no party has a majority. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) is finishing the count before the final declaration.
Voting districts declared:
98%
MK in Richmond:
56%
Why it matters for exams: South Africa's parties, its Electoral Commission (IEC), its provinces and its three capitals are regular World Affairs questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ANC African National Congress — South Africa's governing party since the end of apartheid in 1994.
IEC Electoral Commission of South Africa — The independent body that runs elections in South Africa.
MK party uMkhonto weSizwe party — A party launched by former president Jacob Zuma, named after the ANC's old armed wing.