Oct. 31, 2026 — About 28.8 million people in Congo, 23% of the population analyzed, are projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity through December, including more than 3.6 million in emergency conditions, according to the UN-backed IPC food security monitor, UN News reported. Conditions have worsened most in the east; North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri account for 10.4 million people in crisis or worse. The alert cites conflict, displacement, the Ebola outbreak and rising food and fuel prices. It projects 30.3 million people in crisis or worse from January to June.
Oct. 31, 2026 — More than 300,000 people displaced in Lebanon since early March remain displaced, the UN aid office OCHA said, calling the humanitarian crisis "far from over." Continued Israeli military activity and presence in the south make it very difficult for people to return, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Friday, Oct. 30. Close to 970,000 people have returned to communities in the south, often to damaged homes and disrupted services, the UN said; in Nabatieh Governorate, restrictions on access to farmland are disrupting the olive harvest.
Oct. 31, 2026 — The UN Security Council failed on Friday, Oct. 30, to renew the mandate of its mission in Western Sahara, MINURSO, which was set to expire Saturday, Oct. 31, the UN said. A U.S. draft that would have changed the mission's focus received 11 votes in favor but was vetoed by Russia, with three abstentions. A Russian draft to extend the mission for a year received three votes and was opposed by the United States. The mission was established in 1991 to prepare a referendum on the territory's future that has never been held.
Oct. 31, 2026 — On the lower Yuba River, inside the Yuba Goldfields, the Hallwood Side Channel and Floodplain Restoration Project has reconnected up to 157 acres of seasonal floodplain since 2020, according to the Yuba Water Agency. Crews moved what the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation called "mountains of dredger tailings" to cut about 1.7 miles of year-round and 6.1 miles of seasonal side channels for young salmon. Partners included Yuba Water, state and federal wildlife agencies and the aggregate company Teichert. Whether the project counts toward the Yuba commitment in the new Bay-Delta Plan is not stated.
Oct. 31, 2026 — Striped bass are not native to California. In 1879, 132 young striped bass from New Jersey were released at Carquinez Strait, and 300 more in 1882, according to the Department of Fish and Game. Whether native fish in the Delta declined mainly because of water flows and pumping or because of other stressors, such as predators, is a long-running dispute. In 2012 the Fish and Game Commission unanimously rejected a proposal to loosen striped bass limits that came from settling a lawsuit by a group of San Joaquin Valley water districts, Lake County News reported.
Oct. 31, 2026 — The State Water Board's updated Bay-Delta Plan lists, river by river, the water rights it expects in its voluntary pathway, including those of the Yuba Water Agency, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District and Solano County Water Agency. Participants have until July 1, 2027, to confirm. Restore the Delta and several tribes said in a joint statement that the plan is too weak. San Francisco Baykeeper and the Golden State Salmon Association also object, Westlands Water District plans to leave, and the Metropolitan Water District supports the plan, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Oct. 31, 2026 — Most of the more than 27,000 acres of habitat restoration in the State Water Board's updated Bay-Delta Plan would be floodplain in the Sacramento Valley's flood basins, according to the board's August staff report: 20,000 acres in the Sutter Bypass, Butte Sink and Colusa Basin. The North Delta Arc and Suisun Marsh would get 5,227.5 acres of tidal wetland and floodplain, and the Feather River about 1,675 acres. The Sacramento, Yuba, American and Mokelumne rivers and Putah Creek would get smaller amounts. The board adopted the plan Thursday, Oct. 29.