International Current Affairs

International Firefighters’ Day (IFFD) is observed on May 4. It was instituted after a proposal was emailed out across the world on January 4, 1999, due to the deaths of five firefighters in tragic circumstances in a bushfire in Australia.

Every year, Coal Miners Day is observed on May 4 for the toughest professionals and the miners working in coal fields. This day is observed as an appreciation for the workers who sacrificed their lives, honor their accomplishments, and remember the tragedies that these hardworking individuals experience.

The first Sunday of May is celebrated as World Laughter Day and this year, it is being observed on May 2. Celebrated since 1998, World Laughter Day is an annual event celebrated to raise awareness about laughter and its many healing benefits. The first celebration was on May 10, 1998, in Mumbai, India, and was arranged by Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of the worldwide Laughter Yoga movement.

Yanbu is a port city on the Red Sea coast of the western part of Saudi Arabia. Recently, a remotely piloted boat packed with explosives has been found by the kingdom near the port of Yanbu in the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia claimed to have intercepted and destroyed the attack boat, which caused a blast. There have been a series of attacks on shipping in the Mideast region amid a shadow war and negotiations between Iran and Israel.

An Indonesian cave painting that depicts a hunting scene could be the world’s oldest figurative artwork, dating back nearly 44,000 years, pointing to an advanced artistic culture, according to new research.Discovered two years ago in the cave Bulu Sipong 4 on the island of Sulawesi, the 4.5-meter-wide (13-foot) painting features wild animals being chased by half-human hunters wielding what appear to be spears and ropes, said the study, published in Nature on Wednesday.Using dating technology, the team at Australia’s Griffith University said it had confirmed that the painting in the limestone cave originated at least 43,900 years ago during the Upper Paleolithic period.

Thwaites Glacier – also called the “Doomsday Glacier” is present in Antarctica and has been melting fast over the years. Due to its large size of 1.9 lakh square km, it contains enough water to raise the world sea level by more than half a meter. Recently, Researchers at the Sweden’s University of Gothenburg have found that the glacier is melting at a higher rate than it was originally thought.

Every year, World Meteorological Day is observed on March 23rd. It commemorates the formation of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which is an intergovernmental body, on March 23, 1950. This day also highlights the role played by humans and organizations in protecting Earth’s atmosphere.