"What in the World?" - Week of Oct 22-28, 2017

THIS country accounted for 40% of global electric vehicle sales last year, overtaking the United States on total electric vehicles in use, with its 2016 sales of 507,000 electric cars up 53 percent from the previous year. Its government aims to boost production to two million a year by 2020 and seven million by 2025 accounting for about 20% of total vehicles built.

THIS, the largest oil company in the world, is expected to launch an IPO to sell off about 5 percent of its holdings in 2018.

Following a vote for independence in Catalonia the Spanish government’s response is to:

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to push for reform of Japan’s pacifist restrictions on the military after a decisive victory of 80 percent of seats in the lower house on Sunday. The limitations were put in place by the United States following World War II and are embodied as:

President Trump’s increased pressure on Iran – the decision not to certify compliance with the nuclear deal and an uptick in anti-regime rhetoric – may prove a positive development for THIS hardline organization which controls significant pieces of the Iranian economy.

The commander of the armed forces of THIS majority Muslim country – the largest Muslim country in the world -- was stopped from boarding an aircraft bound to the United States despite having a visa and official invitation to a conference hosted by the U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman resulting in a diplomatic incident that has yet to be explained by Washington.

Ocean acidification can have a significant impact on “a wide range of marine organisms from microbes to fish,” according to the eight-year BIOACID study. A BBC report said the cause of the acidification was:

Bangladesh told a UN meeting that about one million refugees from Myanmar had entered its territory and posed an “untenable” situation in the country. The refugees fleeing Myanmar represent THIS Muslim ethnic minority.

President Trump and President Putin are expected to attend a meeting next month in Vietnam of THIS organization which focuses on economic issues among nations that border the Pacific Ocean.

On Sunday US Secretary of State Tillerson called for Iranian militias and advisers who helped defeat ISIS to leave Iraq sparking a response from Iraq’s Prime Minister who labeled the statement as interference in Iraqi internal affairs. Who is the Prime Minister of Iraq?