What in the World? Weekly Quiz –July 13-19, 2020

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan officially declared that THIS 1,500-year-old monument is a mosque and announced that the first Muslim prayers will begin there in two weeks. The monument was converted to a museum by founding statesman Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, but a top Turkish court ruled last week that the museum conversion was illegal.

Hagia Sophia

Topkapi Palace

Blue Mosque

Basilica Cistern

China has expressed that it would be “happy” to join trilateral nuclear arms control talks with the United States and Russia but on the condition that the US does THIS.

Allows Chinese company Huawei to expand its 5G technology across the US

Publicly condemns Hong Kong pro-democracy protestors

Ends “inflammatory rhetoric” about Chinese policies in Xinjiang

Reduces its nuclear arsenal to match China’s

President Andrzej Duda, an ally of President Trump, won reelection in a tough contest over the weekend in THIS country. An ally of the conservative “Law and Justice” (PiS) government, Mr. Duda’s win is expected to bring controversial changes to the country’s judiciary as well as continued opposition to abortion and gay rights and more friction with the country’s media and the EU.

Hungary

Germany

Poland

Serbia

Among new measures put in place by South Africa to help contain the spread of coronavirus, THIS restriction is aimed at taking pressure off the national healthcare system. This comes weeks after the lifting of a similar three-month restriction that had been put into place to prevent fighting, curb domestic violence, and reduce emergency admissions to hospitals in the country.

A mandatory 14-day quarantine for all non-citizens living in or traveling to South Africa

A stay-at-home mandate applying to all citizens except non-essential workers

A ban on the sale of alcohol

An expansion of police presence in high-crime areas

After months of downplaying the seriousness of the COVID-19 virus, THIS South American leader tested positive for the disease last week. His country is second only to the United States in numbers of coronavirus infections and deaths, but he has regularly appeared in public and at rallies without a face mask or physical distancing protocols.

Ivan Duque Marquez of Colombia

Juan Guaido of Venezuela

Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela

Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil

Over 600,000 Hong Kong citizens took part in THIS “symbolic protest” gesture over the weekend, following the imposition of tough national security laws on the Chinese-ruled city by the government in Beijing.

An opposition primary election to choose the strongest pro-democracy candidates for September’s Hong Kong Legislative Council elections

A masked ‘die-in’ demonstration set in the luxury shopping and office district, Times Square

A choreographed flash mob set to the pro-democracy “Glory to Hong Kong” march anthem

A 29+ hour period of silence, each minute representing the number of pro-democracy protestors charged since March 2019

The UN Security Council voted to do THIS, scoring a victory for Russia on behalf of their ally Syria, but threatening to cut off a crucial lifeline for 1.3 million people in northwest Syria. The vote comes as the rebel-held territory has recently reported its first case of COVID-19 in the region.

Limit humanitarian aid deliveries the region to a single border crossing point from Turkey

Prohibit World Health Organization officials from working with rebel leadership in the region to access communities

Implement a no-fly zone over the region to limit military exercises, that would also eliminate humanitarian supply drops

Formally recognize several of the dominant rebel groups in the region as “foreign terrorist organizations”

In a report released by Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, Iranian investigators blamed THIS for the downing of a Ukrainian jetliner in January that killed 176 people.

International sanctions and a reliance on malfunctioning Russian technology

A rebel group of Zaydi Shiites whose actions were blamed on Iran due to Israeli propaganda

The American drone strike that killed Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad

Misaligned missile technology and miscommunication within the military

In response to allegations of human rights violations against Muslim minorities in Western China, the US has announced new sanctions that target THIS. Sanctions have also been placed on the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau.

Private security contractors helping to administer forced labor camps in the region

Prominent American firms that subcontract labor to factories in Xinjiang

The US-connected financial interests of regional Chinese officials

Members of the Chinese military named in leaked documents as participants in program for the forced sterilization of Uighur people

Amidst the fight against coronavirus, Southeast Asia has seen “exploding numbers” of cases of THIS tropical disease. Public health officials suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic could be facilitating the disease’s spread, with more people staying at home in countries like Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia who therefore have more contact with the mosquitos that are spreading the disease.

Cholera

Dengue fever

Yellow fever

Chagas disease

What in the World? Weekly Quiz –July 13-19, 2020

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