"What in the World?" Weekly Quiz -- Dec 24-30, 2018

Stating that, "We've taken back the land and now it's time for our troops to come home," President Trump announced an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from THIS conflict, stunning many of his senior advisors, and much of the world:

 
Yemen
Afghanistan
Syria
Iraq

U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis resigned this week, citing THIS reason for leaving his post:

The desire to "spend more time with his family"
Health concerns
The President deserves a Defense secretary whose views are "better aligned with his own"
None of the above

Two years after President Joseph Kabila delayed presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo by refusing to step down, authorities have postponed them yet again, this time because of a fire that destroyed over 80% of the country's polling machines.  If the elections do take place on December 30, it will be the African nation's first democratic transition of power since gaining independence from THIS European colonial power in 1960 :

 

Belgium
England
France
Spain

Traffic at London's Gatwick Airport came to a standstill last week and stranded thousands of passengers for almost two days because of THIS:

 
Anonymous bomb threats
A large flock of wild geese that would not leave the runways
Drone sightings over the airport
Striking British Airways ground crew

THIS nation is considering withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in order to resume commercial whaling.  The IWC banned commercial whaling in 1986, but this year the nation in question petitioned the international organization to drop the ban; the proposal was defeated, so the ban on commercial whaling stands:

 

Norway
Russia
Japan
United States

Authorities in THIS country have arrested 13 people in relation to the murder of two Scandinavian hikers whose bodies were found in the Atlas Mountains.  Four of the suspects had made a video in which they pledge allegiance to ISIS:

Tunisia
Morocco
Egypt
Turkey

One year to the day after his predecessor called snap elections to quell separatist tensions, current Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez decided to hold a cabinet meeting in THIS city, the regional capital of Catalonia. Citing provocation over the choice of date and venue by the government in Madrid, protestors in Catalonia have blocked roads and clashed with police over what they see as Spanish overreach:

Barcelona
Malaga
Seville
Grenada

Clergy, government officials, and relatives of victims gathered in the small town of Lockerbie, Scotland to mark the 30th anniversary of THIS terrorist attack, which killed 270 people:

 

The downing of Pan Am Flight 103 by Libyan terrorists
The bombing of the U.S. Embassy by the rebel group Tupac Amaru
A fuel truck carrying a bomb exploded outside of the Khobar Towers military housing facility
The hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise liner by the Palestine Liberation Front

Major League Baseball announced an agreement this week that will allow players from Cuba to sign with U.S. teams, without having to do THIS:

 

Pass the U.S. citizenship test
Establish residency in another country before applying
Sign 15-year contracts to cover immigration delays
Officially defect from Cuba in order to be able to play

Astronomers have spotted the most distant object ever discovered in our solar system.  Officially named 2018 VG18, the apparent dwarf planet, located at a distance that is three-and-a-half times further from us than Pluto, has been given THIS nickname:

Planet X
Mini-mars
Plutito
Farout
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