"What in the World?" - Week of October 10, 2016

Two anti-ship missiles were launched against a U.S. Navy destroyer off the coast of Yemen, a country embroiled in conflict with Houthi rebels aligned with former President Salih against a Saudi-led coalition. At the time the ship, the USS Mason, was sailing in a key international maritime chokepoint called:

Tensions increased in northern Myanmar after nine police officers were killed. The attack, near the Muslim majority Rakhine State near the Bangladesh border, led to a large deployment of troops. A stateless Muslim ethnic group living in the region has been in conflict with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and as many as 125,000 members of THIS group remain displaced:

EU leaders have shown a united front against what UK Foreign Minister calls “having cake and eating it” with regard to the BREXIT process. They were referring to:

The Russian Defense Ministry announced plans to establish a permanent naval base in Syria a week after Moscow said it was considering opening Soviet-era bases in these countries:

Pro-government forces are close to expelling Islamic State fighters from the city of Sirte which has been in the grips of extremists since the 2011 fall of leader Muammar Gaddafi in this country:

Moscow moved nuclear capable surface to surface missiles into THIS enclave of the Russian Federation wedged between Poland and Lithuania. Lithuania’s foreign minister said, "The deployment not only increases tensions in the region, but also possibly violates international treaties which limit deployment of ballistic missiles of range of over 500 kilometers.” The Russian enclave is:

The US Ambassador to the United Nations was in Japan and South Korea for talks on the missile and nuclear weapons threat posed by North Korea and the prospects for tougher sanctions on the Pyongyang regime. The American envoy to the UN is:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov complained the US was showing increased hostility toward his country through aggressive steps on numerous fronts including NATO in Europe and threats in Syria. An offshoot of the Russian position was last week’s withdrawal from an agreement that called for:

Last week saw the 15th anniversary of U.S. Military operations in Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks. The campaign was dubbed:

Last week saw an agreement to reduce carbon pollution and set the world on a low-carbon emissions course come into effect ten months after it was signed by world leaders. The U.S. and China formally joined the agreement last month. The agreement is known for the city where it was signed.