International Current Affairs MCQs

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Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to a peace deal to end nearly 40 years of conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh, also called Artsakh by Armenians, is a landlocked, mountainous region in the South Caucasus. It has a diverse landscape with steppe, forests, and alpine meadows. The region was part of Azerbaijan but was governed by the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh, with a majority ethnic Armenian population. The conflict began in 1917 after the Russian Empire’s collapse, with both Armenia and Azerbaijan claiming the area.

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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director praised India’s growing nuclear sector, calling it one of the most dynamic in Asia and the world. IAEA is the world’s top intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field. It promotes safe, secure, and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology. IAEA is an autonomous body within the United Nations (UN) and is known as the “Atoms for Peace and Development” organization. It was established in 1957. Its headquarters is in Vienna, Austria, with 178 member states. It ensures nuclear safeguards through monitoring, inspection, and verification to prevent misuse.

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The Arctic region is a global flashpoint due to geopolitical tensions, climate change, and resource competition. The Arctic Council, formed in 1996 through the Ottawa Declaration, governs the Arctic. The Council has 8 member states: Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. These countries control land territories and have rights over resources within their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). Six Indigenous groups are permanent participants representing Arctic inhabitants. Thirteen countries, including India, and various organizations are observers. All decisions require consensus from the eight Arctic States and consultation with permanent participants.

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China launched new military drills named “Strait Thunder-2025A” in the middle and southern parts of the Taiwan Strait. A strait is a narrow body of water connecting two larger water bodies. The Taiwan Strait, also called the Black Ditch, was named Formosa (“Beautiful”) by Portuguese navigators in the late 16th century. It lies between China’s Fukien province and Taiwan, connecting the South China Sea and the East China Sea. This strait is a major global shipping route, with 44% of the world’s container fleet passing through. The Median Line, or Davis Line, runs through it but is not recognized by China.

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Daniel Noboa has been re-elected as the President of Ecuador for a second term. Ecuador is a country located in the northwestern part of South America. It shares its northern border with Colombia and its eastern and southern borders with Peru. The country has a western coastline along the Pacific Ocean. Daniel Noboa’s re-election reflects continued public support for his leadership. Ecuador is known for its diverse geography, including the Andes mountains, Amazon rainforest, and the Galápagos Islands. The country plays an important role in regional politics and environmental conservation efforts.

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BRICS nations launched the BRICS Land Restoration Partnership to tackle land degradation, desertification, and soil fertility loss across 11 member countries. The announcement was made during the 15th BRICS Agriculture Ministers’ meeting held in Brasilia, Brazil. This was the first agriculture meeting of the expanded BRICS, which now includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia. India was represented by Union Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan. BRICS countries together represent 47% of the global population and contribute 36% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The meeting supported fair agricultural trade, stable global prices, and better returns for small farmers.

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On May 2, 2025, Australian boatbuilder Incat launched the world’s largest electric-powered ship, named Hull 096. The ship is a 130-metre-long aluminium catamaran designed for South American ferry operator Buquebus. It can carry 2,100 passengers and up to 225 vehicles across the River Plate between Buenos Aires and Uruguay. Hull 096 is powered by over 250 tonnes of batteries with an Energy Storage System (ESS) providing more than 40 megawatt hours of capacity. It was initially planned to run on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) but was later converted to battery power. The launch highlights a major step towards reducing maritime carbon emissions, which account for about three percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. This comes after the International Maritime Organization (IMO) voted for a global carbon pricing system, with cleaner fuels required by 2028.

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Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was elected as the 10th Chancellor of Germany by the Bundestag on 6th May 2025. He succeeded Olaf Scholz after Scholz’s coalition lost the 2025 Bundestag general election. Merz leads a three-party coalition government including the CDU, Christian Social Union (CSU), and Social Democratic Party (SPD). For the first time since World War II, a German Chancellor was elected in the second round of voting in the Bundestag. The Chancellor is nominated by the President and must win an absolute majority in the Bundestag. Merz failed in the first round but secured victory in the second.

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Sanjay Seth, Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Government of India, represented India at the 80th Victory Day celebration in Moscow, Russia, on 9 May 2025. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was initially scheduled to attend but could not due to the Pahalgam terror incident and sent Sanjay Seth instead. During his visit, Sanjay Seth met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Deputy Defence Minister Colonel General Alexander Fomin. They discussed military and military-technical cooperation and agreed to strengthen ties through existing institutional frameworks. His visit reaffirmed the strong strategic partnership between India and Russia. Victory Day is celebrated every year on 9 May in Moscow’s Red Square to mark the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a U.S. government agency under the Department of Commerce, was established in 1970 to study oceans, atmosphere, and coastal regions. Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C. NOAA recently announced it will stop updating its main database that tracked the financial costs of climate change-related weather disasters such as floods, wildfires, hurricanes, and heatwaves. This database was widely used to understand economic impacts of extreme weather in the United States. NOAA also developed tools like the tsunami wave height model used for mapping major events like the 2011 Pacific tsunami after the Sendai earthquake in Japan.