"What in the World?" - Week of March 18-24, 2018

The U.S. Announced sanctions against 19 Russia individuals and entities for meddling in the 2016 presidential elections, as well as for launching a series of cyber attacks against nuclear, commercial, electrical, water, aviation and manufacturing facilities. An analysis by cybersecurity company Symantec shows that a group of hackers, known by THIS nickname, was successful in gaining access to energy companies’ core operating systems in the U.S. and Europe:

Dragonfly

Condor

Draconius

Hacker Group #5

Outrage over the killing of a journalist investigating government corruption has rocked Bratislava, the capital of THIS nation. Over 65,000 people have protested in Bratislava alone, with tens of thousands taking to the streets in other cities, leading to the resignation of the nation-in-question’s prime minister, Robert Fico:

Macedonia

Slovenia

Serbia

Slovakia

Migrants clashed with police officers over the death of a Senegalese street vendor in THIS Spanish city. Mame Mbaye Ndiaye, ran over a kilometer from police who were pursuing him on motorcycles; he reportedly collapsed from a heart attack.

Valencia

Seville

Madrid

Malaga

An estimated 50,000 people have fled two separate offensives in Syria, one by Syria’s government to retake Ghouta and supported by Russian air strikes, and the other by Turkish forces targeting a US-backed Kurdish militia. The refugees, attacks, and number of factions fighting all seem to keep multiplying as the war in Syria reaches the grim marker of THIS many years, and still raging:

The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network released its World Happiness Report, which polls residents of 156 different countries on variables such as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, and generosity. All of the Scandinavian nations ranked high, but THIS one edged out all of its neighbors for the title of “Happiest Country”:

Denmark

Iceland

Finland

Norway

Africa’s only female head of state, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, announced that she will resign as president of THIS nation, following accusations that she used a credit card belonging to an NGO to make personal purchases:

Liberia

Lesotho

Tunisia

Mauritius

Following the announcement that he would be investigated for crimes against humanity, Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte announced that he was withdrawing his nation from membership in the International Criminal Court by rescinding ratification of THIS treaty:

Rome Statute

Kumanovo Agreement

Ottawa Treaty

Treaty of Nice

As Russians head to the polls to elect a president for the next 6 years, THIS candidate is predicted to win, with 70% of the electorate’s support, or close to 10 times the support of the closest challenger. In fact, the only thing that could shake up the contest, whose outcome has been predicted for months, would be an exceptionally low voter turnout:

Vladimir Putin

Pavel Grudinin

Ksenia Sobchak

Grigory Yavlinsky

63 year-old Constantin Reliu appeared in court in his native Romania to have THIS official court ruling overturned, but his request was denied because, according the court, the time limit on the appeal had expired:

Divorce decree

Death certificate

Revocation of citizenship

Certification of origin

The White House nominated Gina Haspel to be the first woman to lead the CIA in the agency’s 70-year history. Ms. Haspel is expected to have difficulty gaining the Senate’s approval, however, due to her involvement in this agency-related scandal:

The Iran-Contra Affair

The U.S. Embassy security failure in Benghazi, Libya

Drug trafficking in Southeast Asia and racketeering

Overseeing the waterboarding of terrorism suspects held in a secret prison

"What in the World?" - Week of March 18-24, 2018

More Surveys