"What in the World? Weekly Quiz" - Nov 23-29, 2020

Stating that they don’t “negotiate with criminals,” the government of Ethiopia refused to meet with representatives of the northern Tigray region in talks organized by THIS international organization, headed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa:

United Nations
U.S. Institute of Peace
Arab League
African Union

Despite the threat of anti-election violence from jihadist militias that kept 400,000 people from voting in the north and east, citizens in other parts of THIS country were going to the polls Sunday to elect a president. Among the 13 candidates are the incumbent, Roch Kaboré, seeking a second term, and the former president, Blaise Compaoré, whose 27-year hold on power ended in 2014 after wide-spread protests started in the capital, Ouagadougou, and swept the nation:

Ivory Coast
Burkina Faso
Ghana
Sierra Leone

A spike in COVID-19 cases delayed the launch of a travel bubble between Hong Kong and THIS Asian city-state, known as a center of international finance. The travel bubble would allow up to 200 people to travel freely between the two destinations, with no need to self-isolate upon arrival:

Seoul
Tokyo
Singapore
Kuala Lumpur

The Trump administration announced this week that it would begin significant troop reductions in Iraq and Afghanistan, cutting its forces in the former by 20%, and in the latter by almost half. Which of the following has been a reaction to the news [Daily Chatter Question of the Week, Thu, Nov 19]:

Rockets were fired into Baghdad’s Green Zone, landing near the US embassy, in the first such attack since “Iraqi militias tied to Iran agreed to stop targeting the embassy last month”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated that the pullout could threaten Afghanistan’s fragile security situation and make it a haven for international militias
Analysts argue that a troop reduction could weaken the Afghan government’s ability to fight the Taliban
All of the above

The most likely sources of violent conflict in the post-Soviet nations of Central Asia -- ethno-nationalism and nativism, Islam and secularism, water resources and climate change, and labor migration and economic conflict – were discussed in a recent USIP report by Dr. Gavin Helf, Ph.D. The Central Asia region is considered to include these states EXCEPT which one? [USIP Question of the Week]

Kyrgyzstan
Turkmenistan
Kazakhstan
Afghanistan

Anger over a budget passed that includes heavy cuts to education and healthcare spending boiled over in Guatemala City this week, as protesters covered Guatemala’s congress building in graffiti, and then set it on fire. The protesters accused legislators of passing the cuts to vital programs in secret, while most of the nation was distracted by THIS devastating event:

Hurricane Eta, which brought category-4 winds and heavy flooding
Hurricane Iota, which hit just 2 weeks after Hurricane Eta, further damaging parts of Guatemala
The COVID-19 pandemic, the effects of which have been exacerbated by back-to-back hurricanes
All of the above

In a historic first for France, the trial of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy on THESE charges will begin on Monday. Mr. Sarkozy is the first French president ever to face trial for criminal offenses:

The attempted murder of the late French rock start Johnny Hallyday
Conspiracy to remove valuable items from the Louvre
“Wine Gate,” a criminal plot to pawn off sparkling wine as region-certified champagne
Corruption and influence peddling: Mr. Sarkozy allegedly secured a posting on the French Riviera for a high-ranking judge in exchange for insider information related to another corruption charge Mr. Sarkozy was facing

After a multi-year investigation conducted by the US government, former Mexican defense minister former Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda was arrested in Los Angeles on drug-trafficking charges in October. This week, US Attorney General William Barr asked a federal judge to dismiss all charges against the accused. WHICH of the following prompted Mr. Barr’s request:

Overcrowding in New York City jails prompted officials to release Mr. Cienfuegos Zepeda
The Mexican government threatened to expel all US drug agents working in Mexico if Mr. Cienfuegos Zepeda was not released
Mr. Cienfuegos Zepeda tested positive for COVID-19
President Trump pardoned Mr. Cienfuegos Zepeda

Jonathan Pollard, a former Navy intelligence analyst and one of the most prolific spies in U.S. history, completed his parole this week. In 1987, Mr. Pollard was convicted of delivering hundreds of classified documents to THIS country, making him the only American spy ever convicted of giving secrets to a US ally:

Russia
Spain
Vietnam
Israel

Skeletal remains of what appear to be a wealthy man and his slave trying to escape the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius 2,000 years ago were discovered this week in THIS famous Italian archaeological site:

Tuscany’s Lake of the Idols
Rome’s Pantheon
The ruins of Pompeii
Sardinia’s city of Sulci
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