Children’s Wellbeing
Representatives from across the international community are meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to ensure that children everywhere can thrive in a world marred by war, climate chaos and other fundamental challenges. The UN-backed World Summit Investing in Children’s Wellbeing opened on Wednesday, bringing together more than 600 participants from over 100 countries. A child’s wellbeing depends on many factors, including health, access to education, protection from violence, family support and access to help when they need it. – UN News Summit in Samarkand, a boon for child wellbeing and health
Climate Action
Two UN agencies issued a powerful appeal on Wednesday for immediate assistance to help communities already being impacted by the strongest El Niño weather pattern on record. “The current El Niño event could be unprecedented in strength – literally, off the monitoring charts that we have used for the past four decades – and will peak towards the end of 2026, but its impacts will be felt long after that,” said Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). According to the latest Global Seasonal Climate Update from WMO, sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific – the epicentre of the extreme El Niño weather phenomenon – may rise to 3.8℃ above average between November 2026 and January 2027. While a Pacific Ocean surface temperature anomaly of 0.5℃ above normal is enough to trigger an El Niño alert by WMO, Ms. Saulo highlighted concerns that the impact of an El Niño fuelled by a 3.8℃ gap has no precedent. – UN News UN agencies appeal for help to protect weakest from unprecedented El Niño
Migrants and Refugees
The price tag for smuggling on European sea routes reached up to half a billion dollars last year, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the UN migration office, IOM, reported on Wednesday. Key points: total fees paid to smugglers on sea routes to Europe reached between $388 and $509 million in 2025: UNODC estimates; the busiest smuggling corridor was the Central Mediterranean route, where 84,000 to 100,400 people attempted a crossing; almost half of migrants trying to get smuggled into Italy or Malta from North Africa or Türkiye reported paying fees of over $7,500 each, an IOM survey found. Other routes are cheaper than this busy Central Mediterranean corridor. Smugglers received as little as $170 per person for transport across the Northwest African Atlantic route, a dangerous maritime path where people travel in open boats from the coasts of Northwest Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands. – UN News Migrants paid up to $500 million in smuggling fees on European sea routes
New Mexico – Meta
A judge in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay the state $25 billion for misleading users about privacy practices and sharing personal data with a firm connected to President Donald Trump’s successful 2016 campaign. The landmark ruling brings one of the largest penalties against a tech giant and comes five years after the state sued the Facebook and Instagram owner following revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a data firm, improperly obtained data on tens of millions of Facebook users that it used to target voters and assist Trump’s candidacy. – Politico New Mexico judge orders Meta to pay state $25B over privacy practices
Nigeria
The World Health Organization (WHO) is assisting Nigeria following confirmation of the first case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease in the country. The patient is a woman who recently travelled from Uganda and began showing symptoms on 7 October, four days after her arrival. The woman sought care at a private health facility in the capital, Abuja, on 11 October; laboratory testing confirmed the diagnosis on 20 October. She remains in isolation and is receiving medical care as investigations continue to determine the likely source of her infection and reconstruct her full travel and exposure – UN News WHO supports Nigeria after first Ebola case confirmed
North Korea – China
Three years on from the reported resumption of large-scale forcible returns of nationals of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) from China, serious concerns persist about their fate, according to a group of Human Rights Council-appointed independent experts. There is no information on the whereabouts and treatment of those repatriated – or those who remain at risk of return – the experts said in a press release on Wednesday. “These events form part of a longstanding pattern of serious human rights violations against individuals forcibly returned to the DPRK. In the absence of independent monitoring in either country, many returnees remain unaccounted for,” they said. “For as long as their fate and whereabouts remain unknown, returnees are deprived of essential safeguards against enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, execution, torture, forced labour, sexual and gender-based violence and other serious human rights violations,” the experts added. – UN News Fate unknown of many returned to DPR Korea from China: UN independent experts
Occupied West Bank
The use of live ammunition, arson and the destruction of centuries-old olive trees have marked the opening weeks of this year’s harvest in the occupied West Bank. At least 160 Israeli settler attacks linked to the olive harvest were recorded in the first two weeks of October, according to the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) – often under the protection of, or with the participation of, Israeli forces. Settlers have also damaged Palestinian property and stolen harvested olives and farm equipment. Last Friday, they assaulted a Washington Post photojournalist covering the harvest and the following day attacked European diplomats visiting a Palestinian community. On Thursday, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory urged states and donors to go beyond condemnation and take urgent action to protect Palestinian communities as the season gets off to an “ominous start”. – UN News ‘Ominous start’ to West Bank olive harvest amid settler attacks
Russia – Ukraine (and beyond)
Alice Weidel, co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, told European lawmakers on Wednesday that Russia and Ukraine need to negotiate a peace deal, while insisting that German businesses require access to cheap Russian energy to remain competitive. “It isn’t about capitulating to Russia, far from it, absolutely not, but we want people to sit down around the table. It’s high time they did, and went into it with a sensible diplomatic approach, making sure we pay due regard to the interests of both Ukraine and Russia,” she told a press conference. Four and a half years since Russia launched its war on Ukraine, President Donald Trump is pressing Kyiv to negotiate with Moscow, while Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Wednesday to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine. – Politico AfD’s Alice Weidel urges quick Ukraine talks and a return to cheap Russian energy
Sudan
Talks to halt the fighting in Sudan and alleviate the humanitarian crisis there continued in Geneva on Wednesday, where nearly two dozen countries convened to discuss a pathway to a ceasefire and transition to peaceful governance that represents all Sudanese people. “Our first session, devoted to de-escalation, will offer an opportunity to explore practical ways forward,” said Pekka Haavisto, Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Sudan, in a call to delegates to identify measures and use their “respective channels of engagement [to] build confidence and help create conditions conducive to a comprehensive ceasefire”. Now in its fourth year, the conflict began in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – former allies who had jointly seized power in a 2021 coup. Deadly drone attacks against civilians and public infrastructure have been a feature of the war and frequently condemned by humanitarian and human rights officials. “The war in Sudan has become a drone war; it kills mostly civilians,” said Alexandre Fasel, State Secretary of Switzerland, which is co-hosting the meeting with the UN. “Famine-like conditions persist in Darfur, the Kordofan state and elsewhere in the country; it is the war that drives this hunger”. Highlighting the protections offered to non-combatants by international law, Mr. Fasel insisted that the Geneva Conventions “are very clear: the protection of civilians and humanitarian access must not wait for a ceasefire and a political solution. Civilians are suffering and dying today.” – UN News Sudan conflict: Peace efforts resume to end ‘drone war’ fuelling humanitarian crisis
US
Millions of Americans are expected to receive a settlement check from Amazon credited to “President Trump’s Federal Trade Commission” in an unprecedented move coming weeks before the midterm elections. The checks, part of a $2.5 billion settlement Amazon agreed to in 2025 for allegedly deceiving customers into signing up for Prime subscriptions, mark the first time an FTC refund has attributed the payments to a specific president, two former FTC officials told POLITICO. A notice with the checks in question uses the phrase “President Trump’s Federal Trade Commission” three times. “The enclosed check is the result of a settlement reached by President Trump’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with Amazon.com […],” reads the notice for the check, which is issued by Amazon. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment. Settlement checks have gone out since last November with the attribution, and a new batch of checks is going out after a federal judge signed an order expanding who’s eligible for a payment, which can be as much as to $200. At least 24.9 million checks have been sent while 7 million were cashed as of September, according to a court filing. – Politico ‘Unseemly and unfortunate’: Trump’s name brands millions of Amazon refund checks
US – Saudi Arabia
The US State Department ordered the departure of non-essential staff and family members at its embassy in Riyadh, a move that comes amid intensifying strikes on Saudi Arabia by the Iran allied Houthi rebels in Yemen. “The U.S. Department of State issued an ordered departure for non-emergency U.S. government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott wrote on X. “Iranian-supported Houthis have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions”. While the State Department is drawing down its footprint in Saudi Arabia amid escalating risks, a few other US diplomatic posts in the region are also adjusting their staffing in response to the Houthi threat, a source told CNN. “This is about the Houthis,” said a State Department official. – CNN US orders departure of some embassy staff and families from Saudi Arabia amid Houthi threat
