The ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, known as PP-26, opened at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in Qatar and runs to 27 November 2026. The International Telecommunication Union calls the conference its highest policy-making body; it meets every four years. Delegates from the Union's 194 Member States are taking part and about 3,000 participants are expected. Qatar hosts the conference through its Communications Regulatory Authority, and Ahmad bin Abdulla AlMuslemani, the Authority's President, is Chair-Designate. From 12 November the conference elects the Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General and the directors of the three Bureaux, followed by 12 Radio Regulations Board members and 48 ITU Council members. It will also adopt strategic and financial plans for 2028-2031. The release notes that 2 billion people are still offline, and the agenda covers connectivity, infrastructure resilience, emergency communications, space-based connectivity and artificial intelligence.
Conference:ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, known as PP-26Venue:Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in QatarMember States:delegates from 194Council seats to fill:48
Why it matters for exams: The ITU is the United Nations agency for information and communication technologies, it has 194 Member States, and its Plenipotentiary Conference elects the Secretary-General and the Council - all standard international-organisation facts.
Both spacecraft of NASA's ESCAPADE mission have finished powered gravity-assist flybys of Earth and are now on their way to Mars. ESCAPADE stands for Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, and the mission flies two identical spacecraft. They lifted off on 13 November 2025 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, then waited in a loiter orbit near Lagrange point 2, about a million miles from Earth. The first spacecraft made its closest approach and trans-Mars injection burn on 7 November 2026 about 1,000 miles above the surface; the second did so on 9 November 2026 about 650 miles up. Each burn lasted about 9 minutes, and the cruise will take about 10 months, with orbit insertion planned for 7 and 9 September 2027. Science operations are expected to begin in June 2028. The two craft will fly in formation to study how the solar wind strips away the Martian atmosphere. The mission is led by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, with Rob Lillis as principal investigator, and is funded by NASA's Heliophysics Division under the SIMPLEx programme.
Mission:ESCAPADE, flying two identical spacecraftFlyby altitudes:about 1,000 miles and about 650 miles above the surfaceOrbit insertion planned:7 and 9 September 2027Lead institution:Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley
Why it matters for exams: ESCAPADE is the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers mission, run under NASA's SIMPLEx programme and led by the University of California, Berkeley - mission, abbreviation and lead institution are all askable.
NASA's Earth Observatory reports that this year's Antarctic ozone hole was the seventh largest in 48 years of monitoring, measured by its mean size between 7 September and 13 October. Its annual maximum area came on 18 September 2026. Even so, the hole was not as deep as other large holes on record. An unusually strong Antarctic polar vortex created conditions that favoured ozone loss over a wide area, since colder stratospheric air tends to make the hole both wider and thinner in its core. The 2026 measurements came from the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite carried on the NOAA-20 satellite, continuing a record that began with instruments on Nimbus-7 and later on Aura and Suomi NPP. Around 80 percent of the chlorine in the stratosphere now comes from human sources. Under the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which phases out the production and consumption of ozone-depleting chemicals, the ozone layer is expected to return to 1980 levels in the 2070s. British Antarctic Survey scientists first reported the hole in 1985.
Ranking:seventh largest in 48 years of monitoringInstrument:Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite on the NOAA-20 satelliteHuman share of stratospheric chlorine:about 80 percentExpected recovery:ozone layer back to 1980 levels in the 2070s
Why it matters for exams: The Antarctic ozone hole, the Montreal Protocol that controls ozone-depleting substances, and the British Antarctic Survey's discovery are a standard cluster of environment questions.
NASA says data from its Chandra X-ray Observatory have revealed a hidden companion behind the repeated outbursts of AT 2016blu, a luminous blue variable in the spiral galaxy NGC 4559 about 30 million light-years away. The star has at least 33 times the mass of the Sun and belongs to the class astronomers call supernova impostors, because their eruptions mimic a supernova without destroying the star. Between 2012 and 2026 observers logged at least 27 optical bursts, coming roughly every 113 days. The new work finds that a stellar-mass black hole or a neutron star swings close on an oval orbit every 113 days and pulls off material that heats up and shines in X-rays. NASA calls this the first X-ray detection of one of this class of erupting stars and the first found with such a companion. Chandra's observations showed the source at least 100 times brighter in X-rays than two decades earlier. The study, led by Mojgan Aghakhanloo of the University of Virginia, appeared in The Astrophysical Journal, and optical monitoring came partly from amateur observers of the American Association of Variable Star Observers.
Object:AT 2016blu in the galaxy NGC 4559Distance:about 30 million light-yearsBurst interval:roughly every 113 daysJournal:The Astrophysical Journal
Why it matters for exams: The Chandra X-ray Observatory, the term supernova impostor and The Astrophysical Journal as the publishing journal are the durable facts an examiner can use.
The World Meteorological Organization is the body of the United Nations system that speaks for the state and behaviour of the air above us, its working with the land and oceans, and the water resources that follow. Its mandate is drawn around meteorology, which covers weather and climate, together with operational hydrology and the geophysical sciences tied to them. It counts 194 Members in all, made up of 188 Member States and 6 Territories that maintain weather services of their own. The day-to-day work sits with each Member's National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, which the organisation knits together. A core task is to regulate a free and unrestricted exchange of data, products and services in real or near-real time. Since weather, climate and the water cycle recognise no frontier, the body treats cooperation at a global scale as the only workable route. Its standards and policies then feed into how governments frame policy nationally and regionally.
Members in all:194Member States:188Territories:6
Why it matters for exams: The World Meteorological Organization's membership split of 188 Member States and 6 Territories, its mandate over meteorology and operational hydrology, and the free and unrestricted data exchange it regulates are standing facts.
The Global Climate Observing System is not a single network of instruments but an arrangement that judges how well the planet is being observed. It is co-sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization, by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, by UN Environment and by the International Science Council. At regular intervals it assesses the standing of climate observations of the atmosphere, the land and the ocean, and then issues guidance on where they must improve. Its expert panels keep the agreed definitions of what are called Essential Climate Variables, the quantities that have to be watched systematically if a changing climate is to be tracked at all. That makes the ECV list a reference point: a country planning a monitoring network can check its own measurements against it. Observations supported in this way underpin climate research, the climate services built on it, and both adaptation and mitigation choices. Three Global Terrestrial Networks were accredited under the arrangement earlier this year, and a status report with a high-priority action plan is being prepared for 2027.
Co-sponsors:4Domains assessed:atmosphere, land and ocean
Why it matters for exams: The four co-sponsors of the Global Climate Observing System and the idea of Essential Climate Variables are the durable facts; they explain how climate data is standardised across countries.
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding treaty, and 195 Parties have joined it: 194 States along with the European Union. Its long-term aim is to hold the rise in world temperature well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels while pursuing means to keep it to 1.5°C. The machinery runs on a cycle of five years. Every five years each country is expected to hand in a refreshed national plan of climate action, named its Nationally Determined Contribution. In that plan a country sets out what it will do to cut greenhouse gas emissions and what it will do to build resilience against the effects of rising temperatures. Separately the treaty invites countries to frame long-term strategies, and unlike the national contributions those are not mandatory. The first worldwide reckoning of collective effort, the global stocktake, closed at COP28 with an outcome on quickening mitigation, adaptation and finance. The working rules for all this, the Paris Rulebook, were agreed at COP24 in Katowice and completed at COP26 in Glasgow.
Parties:195Review cycle:five years
Why it matters for exams: The five-year cycle, the name Nationally Determined Contribution, the non-mandatory long-term strategies and the global stocktake are the durable structure of the Paris Agreement that questions keep returning to.
The G7, or Group of 7, is an informal partnership of advanced economies rather than a body set up by treaty. Canada, France, Germany and Italy are members, and so are Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom. The European Union has taken a full part in its work since 1977. The idea goes back to 1975, when the first oil crisis showed the need for wider international economic cooperation and the G6, now the G7, was created. It has no legal existence, no standing secretariat and no ex officio members. Its one rule is that the presidency goes each year to one of the seven States. That member provides the resources the group's work needs and sets out its political priorities. The arrangement is known as a rotating presidency.
Member countries:7Presidency term:one year, by rotation
Why it matters for exams: That the Group of Seven has no treaty and no permanent secretariat, works by consensus, and passes its presidency through seven members in a fixed order with the European Union outside the rotation is the kind of structural fact examiners ask for.
ECDC is the short name of the European Union's public health agency for infectious disease, whose full style is European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control; it has been operational since 2005. The agency sets out to shield over 500 million people from infectious disease, mainly caused by parasites and germs such as viruses, bacteria and fungi. It is headquartered in Stockholm in Sweden and employs around 300 staff. Data is gathered, analysed and shared by it on more than 50 infectious disease topics, among them influenza, hepatitis, measles, tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance and vaccination, as well as COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS. Its experts assess risks to Europe and issue guidance to help countries prevent outbreaks and public health threats and respond to them. Its partners and networks run through disease and laboratory networks, support and services to the EU and EEA countries, other EU institutions and agencies, and international cooperation. Alongside its own site it carries the Eurosurveillance journal, a scientific conference called ESCAIDE, European Antibiotic Awareness Day and a vaccination portal. Among the ways of working with it are staff positions, traineeships, a Seconded National Expert route and its Fellowship Programme, which runs under the names EPIET and EUPHEM.
Headquarters:Stockholm, SwedenPeople it sets out to protect:over 500 millionInfectious disease topics tracked:more than 50
Why it matters for exams: The seat at Stockholm, the figure of over 500 million people, the more than 50 infectious disease topics and the Eurosurveillance journal are the durable facts about the European Union's disease agency.
A year in the chair of the G7 is mostly preparation, and the people who do it are called Sherpas. They are the representatives of heads of state and government, and they meet several times over the year to build the ground for the summit the host will hold. France holds the chair for 2026, and the summit the Sherpas were preparing for is the Évian Summit in the Haute-Savoie. Their first round was at Versailles, and the second ran over three days at Aix-en-Provence. The subjects are set by the host: renewing international partnerships for shared growth, a return to balanced and sustainable growth by trimming global macroeconomic imbalances, resilience in the value chains for critical minerals, and a safe digital space for minors. A presidency can also widen the table, and this one brought the Sherpas of the four partner countries for the summit - India, Brazil, Kenya and South Korea - fully into the working sessions. That mix is what lets the discussions run between developed countries and emerging powers from several continents.
Partner countries invited:4 - India, Brazil, Kenya and South KoreaHost region:Haute-Savoie
Why it matters for exams: The word Sherpa for the personal representative of a head of state or government, and the fact that a G7 presidency fixes the agenda and can invite partner countries, are durable facts about how such summits are made.
The Plenipotentiary Conference is described by the ITU as its highest policy-making body, and it is held every four years. At each conference the membership sets the Union's general policies and adopts strategic and financial plans for the following four-year period. The conference also elects the Union's senior management team, the Member States that will sit on the Council, and the members of the Radio Regulations Board. The ITU brings together 194 national governments together with more than 1,000 companies and organisations, which is unusual among United Nations bodies. The 2026 conference, PP-26, is being held at Doha. Its ministerial segment carries two high-level thematic discussions, one on resilience and one on emerging technologies. Because the conference meets only once in four years, the plans and appointments it makes shape the Union's work for the whole period.
Frequency:every four yearsGovernment members:194 national governmentsOther members:over 1,000 companies and organizationsBodies it elects:senior management, the Council and the Radio Regulations Board
Why it matters for exams: The ITU's 194 government members, its four-yearly Plenipotentiary Conference and the Radio Regulations Board are the kind of structure questions asked about United Nations agencies.
The agreement that governs the chemicals behind the Antarctic ozone hole is the Montreal Protocol, which was signed in 1987 and entered into force in 1989. Its central obligation is to phase out the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances. Since it was created the parties have adjusted or amended the Protocol six times, as scientific understanding and the list of controlled chemicals changed. The most recent of these is the Kigali Amendment, agreed in 2016, which called for a phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons. Hydrofluorocarbons replaced some ozone-depleting substances and do not deplete the ozone layer, but they are potent greenhouse gases, so controlling them serves the climate rather than the ozone layer. The Protocol sits under the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. Its ratification status is maintained by the Ozone Secretariat.
Signed:1987Entered into force:1989Times adjusted or amended:sixLatest amendment:the Kigali Amendment on hydrofluorocarbons
Why it matters for exams: The Montreal Protocol, the Kigali Amendment on hydrofluorocarbons and the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer form one of the most asked treaty families in environment papers.