"What in the World?" Weekly Quiz -- September 2-8, 2018

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen on behalf of President Hadi in the third year of a civil war admitted an air attack last month that killed dozens including school children on a bus was unjustified. The coalition of Sunni Muslim states, supported by the United States, claim Iran is backing THIS militant group.

The Pentagon is considering closing military outposts in Tunisia, Cameroon, Libya and Kenya as well as standing down seven of eight counterterrorism units operating in Africa. The move is said to reflect DoD’s increased focus on threats from China and Russia but the review grew from last year’s deadly attack that left four American soldiers dead after an ambush in THIS country.  

Syrian government forces, under Bashar Assad and with Russian and Iranian backing, are poised to strike the final stronghold of about 30,000 rebels in THIS place where 3,000,000 civilians live.  Attacking THIS area would be a “singular catastrophe in a catastrophic war,” according to a US based security analysis firm with similar warnings coming from Turkey and the UN whose special envoy called it “a perfect storm.”

This part of the United Kingdom would vote for independence if Britain’s exit (Brexit) from the European Union, set for next March, is carried out. According to a poll last week THIS constituent state voted against independence from the UK in 2014 but also cast votes to remain in the EU during the 2016 Brexit referendum.

President Xi Jinping offered $60 billion in new aid to THESE countries while denying China was engaging in a “debt trap” at the opening of a major multinational summit in Beijing.  China has been criticized for over $125 billion in loans aimed at resource extraction, had poor environmental guidelines and used imported Chinese labor, not local people.

Secretary of State Pompeo will visit Pakistan this week following cancellation of a $300 million disbursement to its military. The funds were a portion of an $800 million aid package that was suspended earlier this year over failure to act against Taliban militants in their territory.  The latest development comes as relations are at their rockiest and THIS Pakistani leader is facing severe economic troubles in his first month in office.

Two reporters from THIS news outlet were sentenced to seven years in prison last week for violating the Official Secrets Act in Myanmar in connection with reporting on atrocities against the Rohingya minority population. The long-running case was seen as a bellwether on freedoms in the Southeast Asian nation.   

What country expressed “astonishment” at reports Iran had moved ballistic missiles onto its territory to intimidate regional rivals.  THIS country, while “astonished”, fell short of denying the reports.