"What in the World?" Weekly Quiz -- March 25-31, 2019

THIS country became the first G7 state to join the controversial Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) frequently labeled “the New Silk Road,”an ambitious plan to connect Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe through a ‘belt’ of overland corridors and a ‘road’ of maritime routes.

 
Japan
France
Canada
Italy

Since being flushed out of THIS village in Syria, the Islamic State has lost the last remnants of territory it once held spanning two countries. This victory inspired officials to cautiously warn, they are finished on the ground as a standing army, but the ISIS threat remains around the globe.

Baghuz
Aleppo
Homs
Damascus

Protests took place this week against the regime of President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan following announcements that the Sudanese government had secured $300 million in loans to address an ongoing economic crisis in the country. Al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for charges related to THIS humanitarian crisis.

 

The Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency
Inciting election violence in Harar
Accusations of genocide in the conflict in Darfur
Worsening famine crisis in the Horn of Africa

After leading Kazakhstan for thirty years, including when it was still a part of the Soviet Union and then as the first president of an independent Kazakhstan, THIS Central Asian leader announced his resignation this week. In response, the nation’s capital, formerly called Astana, is being renamed in his honor.

 
Kanat Zaudabayev
Orazak Ismagulov
Nursultan Nazarbayev
Nurbakyt Tengizbayev

President Trump indicated via Twitter that the U.S. would recognize the annexation of THIS occupied territory held by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war despite international norms that prohibit annexation of land by force of arms.

 

Sinai
West Bank
Gaza
Golan Heights

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh criticized US President Trump’s frequent tweets about the rise of oil prices including last month and ahead of OPEC’s meeting in December as having a detrimental impact on the oil market. OPEC is short for THIS, the intergovernmental organization whose member countries account for 81.5% of the world’s proven oil reserves.

Oil and Petroleum Exporting Consortium
Overseas Petroleum Economic Confederation
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
Oil and Petroleum Engineering Conglomerate

Reports indicate that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia has been involved in over a dozen clandestine operations aimed at silencing the Kingdom’s dissenters for over a year before the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October. Crown Prince Salman has been frequently described as the power behind the throne of his father, THIS King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

After Emmanuel Macron released a manifesto to the “citizens of Europe,” calling for France and Germany to reclaim the initiative on Europe, the German response came from THIS successor leader of the Christian Democrats and presumptive heir to Angela Merkel’s chancellorship.

 

Frank Walter-Steinmeier
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
Elisabeth Jeggle
Dieter-Lebrecht Koch

In a tweet on Friday, President Trump announced that he would be lifting sanctions against North Korea, sparking confusion as to which sanctions he was referring to. Though officials later clarified President Trump was referring to future sanctions, there was speculation he may have been thinking of THIS action taken by the US Treasury Department to strengthen the impact of existing sanctions.

 

Scheduling a follow-up summit in Hanoi
Withdrawing US representation from the inter-Korean liaison office
Blacklisting two China-based shipping companies suspected of illegal trading with North Korea
Reneging on plans to invest in a resort development on North Korea’s eastern coast

The death toll has risen to over 750 in three southern African countries since THIS cyclone hit two weeks ago. With over 110,000 people in shelter camps, workers are struggling to stave off disease outbreaks and restore electricity and water access in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi.

Cyclone Yasi
Cyclone Hary
Cyclone Idai
Cyclone Nilofar
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