"What in the World?" Weekly Quiz -- Dec 3-9, 2018

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto stirred up ire among his compatriots when he announced that he would award THIS U.S. government official the Order of the Aztec Eagle, Mexico's highest honor for foreigners:

 
President Donald Trump
Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions
White House Innovations Director Jared Kushner
Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen

A report from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control shows that rates of HIV infection are growing at an "alarming rate," in Eastern Europe, with the highest rates of contraction in THIS country:

Belarus
Russia
Ukraine
Slovenia

The U.S. Senate approved a resolution calling for the end of U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen, a move designed to punish Saudi Arabia for THIS action:

 

The murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Its role in the conflict in Yemen, which has led to the world's worst humanitarian disaster
Its role in yet another chemical attack in Aleppo, Syria
The persecution of women's rights activists

The annual G20 summit happened last week, and for the first time the group of global economic leaders met in Latin America.  Which of the following Latin American nations is NOT a member of the G20?

 
Brazil
Chile
Mexico
Argentina

Tensions are so high around the Azov and Black Seas that Ukraine declared martial law in areas along its border with Russia for the first time since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.   What event triggered this declaration?

 

Russia sent troops to the former Chernobyl—located in Ukraine—nuclear site to salvage enriched uranium
Russia seized three Ukrainian ships and detained their crews in the Kerch Strait, waters that are considered territory of both Ukraine and Russia
Russian fighter jets buzzed the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, violating Ukrainian airspace
Russian-backed Crimean separatists set off bombs in Kiev

THIS author announced an upcoming sequel to her 1985 global bestseller, The Handmaid's Tale:

Isabel Allende
Margaret Atwood
Arundhati Roy
Doris Lessing

Police in Paris used water cannons and tear gas to disperse crowds of protestors as up to 75,000 people turned out to demonstrate across France against new fuel taxes.  For the last three weeks crowds of protestors bearing THIS nickname have been expressing their opposition to Emmanuel Macron's new fuel tax:

"Yellow vests," for the safety vests all motorists are required to wear while stopped on the side of the road
"Gassers," for their opposition to the gas tax
"Anti-Marconistes," for their opposition to the French president's policies
"Stoppers," a play on the French term for hitchhiking that also denotes the protestors' practice of blocking roads

This new week brought more grim environmental news when the United Nations issued its annual environment report; the report says that countries will have to reduce carbon emissions by a quarter before 2030 in order to keep global warming under THIS critical target level:

 

2 degrees Celsius
8 degrees Celsius
5 degrees Celsius
10 degrees Celsius

Mexico celebrated THIS new president's inauguration this week.  The gentleman in question swept the presidential election with 56% of the vote, an unprecedented amount since the end of the Institutional Revolutionary Party's (PRI) 71-year hold on Mexican politics in 2000:

 

Vincente Fox
Felipe Calderón
Enrique Peña Nieto
Andrés Manuel López Obrador

UNESCO added THIS form of music to its "Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity":

Vietnamese xoan signing
Kentucky bluegrass
North African mezwed
Reggae
{"name":"\"What in the World?\" Weekly Quiz -- Dec 3-9, 2018", "url":"https://www.quiz-maker.com/QRA3Y5N","txt":"The Philippines President walked back comments made in Beijing about a “separation” from a historic partnership with the United States a day after his summit with Chinese leaders where he also called for closer Manila-Moscow ties. In his clarification he said, “It is not severance of ties. When you say severance of ties, you cut diplomatic relations. I cannot do that,\" adding, “It's in the best interest of my countrymen to maintain that relationship.\" WHO is the President of the Philippines?, Just as US-Philippines relations were becoming more strained Vietnam opened the door to a more vigorous American presence in the region when Hanoi announced, through the Defense Ministry, that the country would support U.S. “intervention” in the Asia-Pacific if it would help keep peace and stability. The statement was a milestone in the long road back for US-Vietnam relations from America’s war there that ended with the fall of Saigon ON THIS DATE:, The International Criminal Court (ICC), the world’s first permanent war crimes court, has been under pressure over charges it was pursuing a “neo-colonial” agenda based on 9 out of 10 of its prosecutions having been against African leaders. Last week THIS COUNTRY announced its intention to withdraw from the court after it was criticized for failing to arrest visiting Sudanese President Bashir, wanted by the court for genocide and war crimes.","img":"https://cdn.poll-maker.com/11-513922/middle-east-map-edited3.png?sz=1200-00000000001000005300"}
Quiz Maker Logo Make your own Quiz
Powered by: Quiz Maker