Jordan's air force bombed what it called "dens of terrorist organizations in southern Syria" on Oct. 26, in an attack Syrian state media said killed five. Jordan said it was retaliation for an Oct. 23 mass shooting at a Greek Orthodox Christian funeral in Hamoud, Karak governorate, that left nine dead and was claimed by the so-called Islamic State. Amman said that it had coordinated the strike with the Syrian government; Syrian officials said they had not been notified and closed a border crossing with Jordan. (TNH)

A new conflict erupted in Ethiopia's south, compounding a nationwide crisis that has already seen federal forces capture and occupy the northern Tigrayan capital of Mekelle last month. Sparked by an internal border dispute, the fighting in the south has forced up to 50,000 people to flee across the border into Kenya. The clashes were triggered on Oct. 20 when a Somali regional flag was raised in Moyale, a town on the Kenyan border that is jointly administered by Somali and Oromia regions.

El Salvador has sent at least 1,000 soldiers to Haiti as part of a mission to rescue four Salvadoran members of the UN-authorized Gang Suppression Force (GSF) who went missing on Oct. 18 after being ambushed by gunmen. Days after the attack, El Salvador's strongman President Nayib Bukele posted a message to social media in Haitian Creole, demanding their release and announcing a military operation; he also threatened the gangs with further escalation, vowing that "today's attack is nothing compared to what is coming" if the hostages are not released alive.

Argentina on Oct. 13 submitted a request to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, seeking an order for provisional measures against the United Kingdom to halt British exploitation of hydrocarbon resources on the continental shelf to the north of the disputed archipelago known to the UK as the Falkland Islands and to Argentina as the Malvinas. 

UN experts on Oct. 14 welcomed a recent ruling by Colombia's Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) relating to Macro-Case 08, recognizing the responsibility of a director of parastatal oil company Ecopetrol and several state agents for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and serious human rights violations. The ruling concerns abuses committed during the armed conflict in and around the refinery city of Barrancabermeja in the late 1990s that saw several people abducted and presumably killed by right-wing paramilitaries. 

More than 300 US troops arrived in Colombia Oct. 27 to take part in a series of joint military operations known as "Southern Vanguard." The exercises, which are set to last through Nov. 11, will focus on tackling drug trafficking and illegal mining, as well as training in medical aid. The operations, which will in large part be carried out at the Tolemaida airbase, have stirred controversy in the country given the possibility that US troops could conduct joint strikes on Colombian soil, after the new right-wing government of President Abelardo de la Espriella agreed to such an arrangement. The left opposition argues that the presence of foreign troops needs congressional approval. Senator and former presidential candidate Iván Cepeda sued the government in September after a US military helicopter flew over the southern port of Tumaco.

A new report from the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territories finds that Israel has continued to commit "genocidal acts" in the Gaza Strip since the signing of a ceasefire with Hamas last October, and continues to carry out war crimes and crimes against humanity throughout the occupied territories.

The UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned Oct. 27 that atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases reached record highs in 2025—another portent of global warming, which increases the frequency of extreme weather events and associated risks to societies and economies.