What in the World? Weekly Quiz - November 18-25, 2019

This weekend, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced the US is taking THIS action as an “act of goodwill” toward North Korea, to “keep the door open” for diplomatic efforts aimed at eliminating North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Removing the Fifth Air Force from Japan’s Yokota Air Base

Lifting sanctions on agricultural imports to North Korea

Postponing military exercises with South Korea

Hosting Kim Jong-un at Camp David in January

The United States and many Western allies have been urging opposition to a Russian-led resolution at the United Nations that calls for the creation of a global cybercrime treaty, with opponents to the treaty arguing THIS. Russia framed its proposed treaty as an alternative to the 2001 Budapest Convention on cybercrime that Russia has criticized as infringing on state sovereignty.

The proposed treaty establishes global norms for how the Internet and information should be controlled

The proposed treaty does not include any plans to address threats of cyberterrorism

The proposed treaty would give states an unprecedented ability to block external media

The proposed treaty would give too much influence to private Internet firms in the creation of cybercrime policies within signatory states

In one of the most significant leaks of papers from the Communist Party of China in recent decades, the New York Times released over 400 pages of internal government documents revealing new details on the origins and execution of China’s mass detention of 1 million + Uighur, Kazakh, and other predominantly Muslim minorities in the country’s Xinjiang region. THIS is among the revelations arising from the documents, directly contradicting Communist Party officials’ public claims that the camps in Xinjiang are voluntary job-training centers.

Access to popular social media platforms Weibo and WeChat was monitored within the camps, with camp authorities directing camp residents how to communicate about their experiences

Local authorities were advised to tell students returning to Xinjiang that their relatives had been “infected [by the] virus” of extremism and needed to be ‘quarantined’ and ‘cured’

Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure projects previously planned for Xinjiang have been moved to neighboring Gansu province for fear that extremist attacks will render them unviable

The Communist Party has a ten-year plan to eliminate mosques and Islamic schools across the country, with Xinjiang simply being a pilot initiative

More than 100 people were arrested in Paris on the first anniversary of THIS anti-government movement. Rallies took place nationwide to send a message to French President Emmanuel Macron, whom many have accused of ignoring the needs of ordinary citizens.

Ensemble!

Bonnets Rouges (“Red Caps”)

Nuit Debout (“Rise Up at Night”)

Gilets Jaunes (“Yellow Vests”)

Former wartime defense chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa has won Sri Lanka’s presidential election, taking 52.25% of the vote. The clear victor in Sinhalese majority areas of the country, Mr. Rajapaksa is a highly controversial figure among some in Sri Lanka for his role in THIS, though Rajapaksa has already made a call for unity in his country.

The alleged commission of war crimes during the 1980s and 1990s that are currently under investigation by the Permanent People’s Tribunal

The alleged misuse of funds intended for helping cholera victims in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami

The defeat of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during the Sri Lankan Civil War

Outlawing Hindu Sri Lankans from participating in the Sri Lankan military during his tenure as Secretary of Defense and Urban Development

As Taiwan’s campaign season picks up pace in the lead up to 2020 elections, and mere hours after President Tsai Ing-wen announced her running mate, the People’s Republic of China took THIS action in the sensitive Taiwan Strait. Featuring prominently in the intimidation effort was China’s first-ever domestically-built aircraft carrier, which China has announced will enter service in 2020.

Sailed a carrier group in a southerly direction through the Strait

Unveiled plans for a new maritime base in Xiamen, facing out to Taiwan

Ordered the enforcement of a decades long no-fly zone provision over the Strait

Moved its aircraft carrier into Taiwan’s Magong Harbor

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed ongoing protests in the country on “hooligans” and counter-revolutionaries while offering his support for THIS, the original spark to the demonstrations that brought violence to cities across the country.

The planned opening of a US consulate in Tehran in 2021

The rationing of petroleum and reduction of petroleum subsidies

The closure of the beloved City Theater of Tehran

The elimination of the national government’s pension scheme for civil servants

At least eight people have been killed and dozens injured in Sacaba, Bolivia following clashes between security forces and supporters of THIS former leader, Bolivia’s first indigenous president. HE resigned under pressure from the military three weeks after declaring himself the winner of an election marred by widespread allegations of fraud. HE has since referred to his exit as a “coup” and been granted asylum in Mexico, claiming his life to be at risk.

Jeanine Añez

Jair Bolsonaro

Nicolas Maduro

Evo Morales

The US is cutting THIS West African country out of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade pact, alleging a failure to address US concerns about “persistent gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.” Anglophone residents of the country complain of marginalization by the largely Francophone government, and both security forces and separatists have been accused of killing and torturing civilians in the ongoing chaos.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Nigeria

Cameroon

Mauritania

The UN voted overwhelmingly last week to extend the mandate of THIS embattled agency until 2023, approving by 170-2 a resolution that made no mention of an ongoing ethical probe into its managerial conduct. The United States and Israel both voted against the resolution, following a long campaign by both countries against the agency on the grounds that it prevents a practical solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)

International Criminal Court (ICC)

UN Special Coordinator (UNSCO)

UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)

What in the World? Weekly Quiz - November 18-25, 2019

More Quizzes