International Current Affairs MCQs

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US President Donald Trump announced the ‘Golden Dome,’ a space-based missile defense system costing 175 billion dollars to protect the United States from global threats. General Michael Guetlein of the US Space Force will lead this program aimed at blocking missiles from China, Russia, and space. The Golden Dome will create a satellite network to detect, track, and intercept long-range missiles, integrating with existing defense systems. Inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome, it plans to deploy hundreds of satellites for missile detection and tracking. The project aims for completion by January 2029, but experts doubt this timeline and cost.

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Recently, Karol Nawrocki won Poland’s presidential election with 50.89% of the votes, narrowly defeating liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, who got 49.11%. Nawrocki is a right-wing conservative candidate, known both as a historian and a heavyweight boxing champion. He was supported by United States (US) President Donald Trump during the election. Nawrocki previously served as the head of the Institute of National Remembrance, an organisation known for promoting nationalist versions of Polish history.

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The Prime Minister recently discussed with Paraguay’s President expanding the Preferential Trade Agreement with MERCOSUR. MERCOSUR stands for the Southern Common Market in Spanish. It is a South American regional economic group formed in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción. Its goal is to allow free movement of goods, services, capital, and people among members.
Original members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Bolivia and Venezuela joined later, but Venezuela has been suspended since 2016. Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname are associate members. MERCOSUR’s headquarters is in Montevideo, Uruguay.

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Lee Jae-myung was sworn in as the 14th President of South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, in Seoul on June 4, 2025. He won the Presidential by-election held on June 3, 2025, after the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, defeated Kim Moon-soo of the ruling People Power Party. He secured 51.7% of the vote, while Kim got 39.3%.

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External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar announced that India has been elected to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the 2026–2028 term. India was elected from the Asia-Pacific States group, which has four seats, along with Lebanon, Turkmenistan, and China. ECOSOC was established in 1945 under the UN Charter and is one of the six main organs of the United Nations. It is headquartered in New York, United States.

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The World Bank has approved $250 million for the Inga 3 hydropower project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), despite global civil society concerns. The Inga 3 hydropower project is located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Inga 3 is part of a larger Inga hydropower series on the Congo River at Inga Falls, known for high energy potential. Inga 1 began in 1972 and Inga 2 in 1982, while Inga 3 and Grand Inga are future expansions. The Inga 3 project is planned as a run-of-the-river system with minimal reservoir impact.

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Recently, Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Latvia, and Liberia were elected as non-permanent members of the United Nations (UN) Security Council. Their two-year terms will start in January 2026 and last until the end of 2027. They will join existing non-permanent members Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama, and Somalia, serving through 2026. These new members will replace Algeria, Guyana, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, and Slovenia, whose terms end in December 2025. The Security Council has 15 members, including five permanent members with veto power: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

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Researchers in Japan have created a new plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours, helping fight ocean pollution. It was developed by the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and the University of Tokyo. A lab demo in Wako city showed a plastic piece dissolving in salt water after stirring for one hour. The plastic breaks into safe components that are processed by natural bacteria, leaving no microplastics behind. It is as strong as petroleum-based plastic but is non-toxic, non-flammable, and does not emit carbon dioxide (CO₂). In soil, it breaks down in about 200 hours.

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The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited, a state-run energy company in India, has signed an agreement with Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) to create an energy transition roadmap. Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) is a global initiative launched by the United Nations (UN) in 2011. It is a partnership involving governments, private companies, and civil society to promote clean and accessible energy. SEforALL is an independent organization hosted by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).

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The military conflict between Tel Aviv and Tehran intensified recently as Israel struck Iran’s South Pars gas field, the largest gas field in the world, located in Bushehr province. South Pars is a joint offshore gas field shared by Iran and Qatar. Iran is the world’s third-largest gas producer after the United States and Russia, with an annual output of about 275 billion cubic meters.