– India’s extreme poverty rate plunged from 27.1% to 2.6% between 2011 and 2023, lifting an estimated 496 million people out of poverty, the World Bank said in its October 2026 Poverty and Equity Brief. The Bank called it “one
– At least three people were killed after Cyclone Arnab struck India’s eastern coast, making landfall in Andhra Pradesh early on Wednesday, Reuters reported. More than 180,000 people had been evacuated across Andhra Pradesh and Odisha as the very severe
– Kenya aims to raise its annual coffee output to 150,000 metric tonnes, with new climate-resilient varieties expected to play a central role. Production is projected at about 60,000 metric tonnes in the 2025/2026 season, well short of that target.
– Germany’s new electric vehicle registrations surged 58% to 604,000 in the first nine months of 2026, helping lift global battery-electric vehicle registrations to a record 11 million, according to PwC. Worldwide registrations rose 12% over the period, driven mainly
– Brent crude rose above $115 a barrel on Wednesday as traders reacted to reports of possible renewed US strikes on Iran. Brent futures climbed $1.48, or 1.3%, to $115.36 by 01:40 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose
– Microsoft is offering a voluntary exit package to about 27% of its workforce as it seeks to fund a costly AI infrastructure expansion while protecting capital efficiency. The offer, announced on Monday, applies to certain employees in the United
– South Korea’s current account surplus reached $116.63 billion in the second quarter, the second-largest among major economies after China, central bank data showed. The surplus was larger than those of Germany and Japan combined, Yonhap News Agency reported. China
– Bilateral trade between Russia and Oman reached $1.5 billion in the first seven months of 2026, its highest level in a decade, according to Sergei Shoigu. The Secretary of Russia’s Security Council said trade had increased 22-fold over the
Health
– Nearly 4,900 people have died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ebola outbreak as confirmed cases passed 10,000, official figures showed on Tuesday. Ministry of Health data put the number of confirmed cases at 10,060, with nearly half
– Malaria has killed 22 people in Namibia’s Zambezi Region this year, as cases since January reached 33,944, health authorities said. Three clinics, Muyako, Choi and Sesheke, have emerged as the main hotspots. They accounted for 49% of the 706
– The Democratic Republic of the Congo has recorded 9,765 Ebola cases and 4,727 deaths as new clusters emerge in remote parts of the country, the World Health Organization said. WHO called for stronger epidemiological surveillance to contain the spread
– More than one in five women diagnosed with breast cancer in five sub-Saharan African countries were younger than 40, according to a study highlighted by St. George’s University. The figure of 21.9% has prompted the university to call for