The World Health Organization has published the 2025 WHO health and climate change global survey report, built on replies from 146 countries. This edition expands the scope of earlier surveys and measures how far countries have gone in building health systems that can stand up to a changing climate and that emit less. More than nine in ten countries have named a climate and health focal point, and more than half now have a national strategy or a health adaptation plan. Vulnerability and adaptation assessments have spread, but the report says turning plans into work on the ground is still limited. It names three obstacles: too little money, too few trained people and weak monitoring. The shift to low-carbon health systems is described as being at an early stage, and lower-income countries continue to lag. The report is meant as a baseline for tracking the WHO Global Action Plan on Climate Change and Health.
Countries that responded:146Countries with a climate and health focal point:Over 90%Countries with a national strategy or health adaptation plan:More than halfLength of report:60 pages
Why it matters for exams: The WHO health and climate change global survey is a named WHO report series, and the WHO Global Action Plan on Climate Change and Health is the plan it is designed to track.
The World Health Organization has released a guideline on the management of type 1 diabetes mellitus in children and adolescents, as part of its consolidated guidelines for the management of common childhood illness. It covers diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care for patients up to the age of 19. The guideline is written for primary and secondary care, and especially for places where resources are short, because outcomes and access differ sharply between rich and poor countries. It is addressed to health care providers who are not specialists, as well as to programme managers and policy makers. Where blood glucose cannot be measured, the guideline allows a first clinical assessment using point-of-care urine dipstick testing. It sets out insulin types, starting doses, regimens and delivery devices, and individualised glycaemic targets. It also covers diabetic ketoacidosis in young children, the handling of hypoglycaemia, and risk-based screening for diabetic retinopathy and nephropathy. The recommendations were drawn up through systematic evidence reviews using the GRADE approach.
Age group covered:Children and adolescents up to 19 yearsMethod used:Systematic evidence reviews using the GRADE approachLength:170 pages
Why it matters for exams: The WHO consolidated guidelines for the management of common childhood illness is a named WHO series, and the GRADE approach is the standard method WHO uses to grade evidence.
GRADEGrading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation — The system WHO uses to rate the certainty of evidence and the strength of a recommendation.
DKADiabetic ketoacidosis — A dangerous complication of diabetes that the guideline tells non-specialists how to recognise and treat.
The United Nations Security Council met on threats to regional and maritime security in the Gulf, a meeting called at the request of Bahrain. The fighting that began on 28 February, after strikes on Iran, has since drawn in six Gulf States and Jordan. In March the Council adopted resolution 2817, which condemned Iran's attacks and the threats to navigation; China and Russia abstained on that vote. A sixty-day ceasefire between the United States and Iran, mediated by Pakistan in June, lapsed in August without a peace agreement. The Strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of the world's oil before the conflict, has been all but closed. UK Maritime Trade Operations puts transits through the strait about 65 per cent below pre-conflict levels, and October saw the highest number of incidents since the war began. Traffic through the Bab al-Mandab Strait is down by roughly a quarter since July.
Security Council resolution on the conflict:Resolution 2817, adopted in March, with China and Russia abstainingStrait of Hormuz transits:About 65% below pre-conflict levelsShare of world oil carried through Hormuz before the conflict:About a fifthBab al-Mandab transits:Down by roughly a quarter since July
Why it matters for exams: Security Council resolution 2817 on threats to navigation, the abstentions of China and Russia, and the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab Strait are standard questions on the Council and on world chokepoints.
Julien Harneis, the United Nations Senior Ebola Response Coordinator, said attacks by armed groups are the main obstacle to containing the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The outbreak was declared in May 2026 and is now the largest ever recorded in that country, with more than 11,000 confirmed cases and more than 5,000 deaths. Between 400 and 500 new cases are being identified every week, and the spread has been faster than in any earlier Congolese outbreak. Transmission has fallen sharply in former hotspots in Ituri province, among them Bunia, Mongbwalu, Rampara and Nizi. Elsewhere the response has been disrupted: an attack at Cantine-Aloya in North Kivu killed 66 civilians, and a nurse was killed in Tshopo province while answering an Ebola alert. Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, who heads the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Programme, spoke alongside him, and the World Food Programme said hunger is deepening in the same provinces.
Confirmed cases:More than 11,000Deaths:More than 5,000New cases a week:About 400 to 500Former hotspots where transmission fell:Bunia, Mongbwalu, Rampara and Nizi in Ituri
Why it matters for exams: Julien Harneis holds the office of UN Senior Ebola Response Coordinator, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu heads the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, and Ituri, North Kivu and Tshopo are provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
WHO Health Emergencies ProgrammeWorld Health Organization Health Emergencies Programme — The WHO arm that leads outbreak and emergency response, headed by Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu.
NASA has reported that the team running the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has brought the observatory's instruments into precise alignment, a step that takes the mission closer to science operations. The optics and the instruments had been aligned on the ground before launch, but the shaking of lift-off, the change in temperature and the move to microgravity shifted them slightly, and those shifts were measured in test observations. The Wide Field Instrument, which carries eighteen detectors, is both the primary instrument and the guider that tracks stars so the telescope can point and hold steady. On the Coronagraph Instrument the team adjusted the secondary mirror and a smaller connecting mirror, and the next step is to exercise more than three thousand moving parts in its deformable mirrors. Roman has to be at least ten times more stable than Hubble or Webb. The Space Telescope Science Institute at Baltimore and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are among the teams on the work, with Dominic Benford as program scientist at NASA Headquarters.
Detectors on the Wide Field Instrument:18Moving parts to be exercised in the coronagraph's deformable mirrors:More than 3,000Stability requirement:At least ten times more stable than Hubble or Webb
Why it matters for exams: The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's two instruments are the Wide Field Instrument, with eighteen detectors, and the Coronagraph Instrument, and the stability requirement of ten times Hubble or Webb is the mission's defining specification.
Galileo is the Global Navigation Satellite System of the EU, and it provides navigation, positioning and timing information.
The system is a civilian system, not like other global satellite navigation systems, and secure service for end users was built into its design.
The Galileo Programme is owned by the EU, and the European Commission, as the Programme Manager, oversees all of its activities.
EUSPA carries the operational management of Galileo services and buys the launch services that the constellation needs.
The design of the system and its evolution are entrusted by EUSPA to ESA.
The system has three parts, a ground segment, a space segment and a user segment.
The ground segment is spread across several EU locations and includes the Galileo Security Monitoring Centre, the Galileo Service Centre, the Galileo Reference Centre and the Galileo Control Centres.
Owner of the Programme:EUProgramme Manager:European CommissionBody entrusted with system design:ESASegments of the system:a ground, space and user segment
Why it matters for exams: Which satellite navigation system belongs to which power, and whether it is civilian or military, is a common comparison question.
Frontex supports EU Member States and Schengen-associated countries in managing the external borders and in the fight against cross-border crime.
The Schengen Agreement was signed in 1985 in a small town in Luxembourg, and a Convention implementing it followed in 1990.
The Schengen Area entered into force in 1995; from that point checks at internal borders ended and one external border took their place.
The Treaty of Amsterdam in 1999 brought that intergovernmental cooperation inside the EU framework.
Council Regulation (EC) 2007/2004 of 26 October 2004 set up the agency that is now called Frontex.
Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 of 14 September 2016 repealed it and established Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.
The mandate was last amended by Regulation (EU) 2019/1896 of 13 November 2019, and the Standing Corps is the first uniformed law enforcement service of the European Union.
Founding regulation:Council Regulation (EC) 2007/2004Regulation establishing the Agency:Regulation (EU) 2016/1624Latest amendment to the mandate:Regulation (EU) 2019/1896Year the Schengen Area entered into force:1995
Why it matters for exams: Schengen dates and the regulation that created the European Border and Coast Guard Agency are standard polity questions.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, was born through the merger of three institutions.
The three are the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan and the National Space Development Agency of Japan.
The short names of the three are ISAS, NAL and NASDA.
JAXA was designated a core performance agency, there to support the overall aerospace development and utilization of the Japanese government.
JAXA can therefore run integrated operations from basic research and development through to utilization.
JAXA created the corporate slogan Explore to Realize in 2013, at the 10th anniversary of its founding.
In April 2015 JAXA took the status of a National Research and Development Agency.
Corporate slogan:Explore to RealizeYear the slogan was created:2013Status gained in April 2015:National Research and Development AgencyOne of the merged bodies:Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
Why it matters for exams: Which national bodies merged to form a space agency, and the agency's full name, are common science questions.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, or AIIB, is a multilateral development bank focused on developing Asia.
The stated mission is Financing Infrastructure for Tomorrow in Asia and beyond, with sustainability at its core.
The bank began operations in Beijing in 2016 with 57 founding Members.
The bank has since grown to 111 approved members worldwide, made up of 53 regional members and 58 nonregional members across six continents.
The bank is capitalized at USD100 billion and is AAA-rated by the major international credit rating agencies.
The Board of Governors is made up of one governor plus one alternate governor from each Member.
All its financings since July 2023 are aligned with the Paris Agreement.
Year operations began:2016Founding Members:57 founding MembersApproved members:111 approved membersCapital:USD100 billion
Why it matters for exams: Headquarters, founding year and membership of multilateral development banks are regular bank and UPSC questions.
The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, or OECS, is an International Inter-governmental Organisation working for regional integration in the Eastern Caribbean.
The treaty that created it was signed by seven Eastern Caribbean countries on June 18th 1981, to promote unity and solidarity among the Members.
The Treaty of Basseterre takes its name from the capital city of Saint Kitts and Nevis, where the signing took place.
A Revised Treaty of Basseterre replaced it in 2010 and created an economic union.
The signing took place in Saint Lucia on 18th June 2010, at the 51st Meeting of the Authority.
The newer treaty sets up a unified financial and economic space, with free movement of goods, people and capital.
The OECS is described as a Regional Grouping of 12 countries, with 7 Protocol Countries and associate members including the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Saint Martin.
Founded:June 18th 1981Founding treaty:Treaty of BasseterreRevised Treaty signed:18th June 2010Meeting at which it was signed:51st MeetingProtocol Countries:7 Protocol Countries
Why it matters for exams: Small regional blocs, their founding treaties and the capitals those treaties are named after are easy marks in international relations.
OECSOrganisation of Eastern Caribbean States — An inter-governmental organisation for regional integration in the Eastern Caribbean.
Treaty of BasseterreTreaty of Basseterre — The 1981 founding treaty, named after the capital of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Protocol CountriesOECS Protocol Countries — The member states whose citizens may travel and live in any member state with a valid form of identification.
Economic unionEconomic union — An arrangement removing trade barriers for a single market with a customs union.
The organisation now called the Pacific Community was founded in Australia in 1947 and was originally called the South Pacific Commission.
The founders were the six participating governments of the day: Australia, New Zealand, France, the Netherlands, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
They established it under the Canberra Agreement, to help restore stability after the Second World War and to benefit the people of the Pacific.
In 1962 Samoa became the first island nation to reach independence, and in 1965 it was the first to become a full member.
The 23rd South Pacific Conference in Saipan, in 1983, recognised all 22 Pacific Island member countries and territories as full voting and contributing members.
The 50th anniversary conference in 1997 changed the name from South Pacific Commission to the Pacific Community, so that it reflected a Pacific-wide membership.
The 27-strong membership now covers 22 Pacific Island countries and territories plus five of the original founders, the Netherlands having withdrawn in 1962.
Year founded:1947Founding agreement:Canberra AgreementOriginal name:South Pacific CommissionYear the name changed:1997Members:27-strong membership
Why it matters for exams: The old and new names of a regional body, its founding agreement and its member count are standard international questions.