What in the World? Weekly Quiz –July 6-12, 2020

A fire destroyed machinery in a centrifuge assembly facility in THIS place in Iran, a key component of the country’s nuclear enrichment capability. The BBC reports some Iranian officials point to cyber-sabotage in the incident. Centrifuges are used to enrich uranium in the production of fissile material suitable for power reactors or nuclear weapons. Iran’s use of centrifuges was limited under the now fraying international nuclear deal.

After the recent border conflict with China, India has banned THIS social media outlet due to its ties with Beijing. The ban will result in a loss of six billion dollars for THIS company? What is THIS social media giant?

Admiral James Kirk, commander of one of the two U.S. Navy aircraft carriers operating in THIS region, said of Chinese military forces, “They have seen us and we have seen them.” The American exercises THERE are the largest in recent years and are a pushback to Beijing’s expansion and militarization of islands and atolls. Chinese media said the country was ready to counter America’s challenge there.

The imposition of the China’s new National Security Law in Hong Kong has prompted THIS country to offer eligible residents of Hong Kong the ability to relocate for five years, with the ability to live and work there.

President Trump last week approved a plan to remove 9,500 US military personnel from this country and redeploying forces elsewhere. Last month when he surprised allies with the reduction announcement he complained about THIS country’s defense spending, saying, “They owe NATO billions of dollars and they have to pay it.”

Much of the world is moving back to normal operations in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic but the United States is among the “outliers” in reducing the impact of the virus. These countries are among the United States that are experiencing the most rapid virus growth rates EXCEPT THIS ONE, according to the New York Times.

Voters in THIS country cast ballots in a national referendum framed as a return to old fashioned family values. The result is that its long serving president could remain in office until 2036, longer than Peter the Great.

The United States consul general to THIS place noted that, “Using the national security law to erode fundamental freedoms and to create an atmosphere of coercion and self-censorship is a tragedy…”

Twenty Saudi Arabian citizens were put on trial in absentia in Turkey July 3^rd charged in the murder of WHAT prominent reporter at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018?

A rocket struck inside THIS fortified section of Baghdad, home to the U.S. Embassy. It was the latest in a recent wave of rocket attacks on the zone and other U.S. military locations in Iraq.