What in the World?

Test yourself on the week of Oct. 29: Brazilians, Danes, and Israelis vote; Ethiopia negotiates; and Lebanon’s crisis spirals.

By , a deputy copy editor at Foreign Policy.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks to journalists.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks to journalists.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks to journalists during a rally in Koge, Denmark, on Oct. 5. MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images

Have you been paying attention to the world this week? See what you can remember with our weekly international news quiz!

Have feedback? Email whatintheworld@foreignpolicy.com to let me know your thoughts.

Have you been paying attention to the world this week? See what you can remember with our weekly international news quiz!


1. In under a week, Russia suspended and then rejoined which United Nations-brokered agreement with Ukraine?

The deal, also brokered by Turkey, took effect in July to lift Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian grain exports, FP’s Robbie Gramer reported at the time.


2. On Sunday, in Brazil’s tightest presidential runoff since 1985, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva beat incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro by how many percentage points?

Foreign leaders rushed to offer Lula their congratulations, with many happy to see the end of the Bolsonaro era, FP’s Catherine Osborn writes in this week’s Latin America Brief.


3. Lebanon is scrambling to fill a power vacuum after its president left office on Sunday without a successor in place. Who is the country’s now-former head of state?

Rebecca Collard profiled the unpopular Aoun in 2019.


4. Israelis went to the polls on Tuesday to elect a new government. How many national elections has Israel held in the past four years?

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc won a majority with support from the ultranationalist Religious Zionism alliance, which seeks to overhaul Israel’s judicial system and deport Palestinian citizens of Israel considered “disloyal” to the state, Shalom Lipner writes.


5. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s center-left coalition won a parliamentary majority in snap elections on Tuesday. What is her party’s name?

In 2019, when Frederiksen first took office, Sune Haugbolle wrote that Frederiksen was elected for her climate change and welfare platforms as well as her anti-immigration stance.


6. Almost 100,000 people have fled a cholera outbreak, inflation, and gang violence in Port-au-Prince since June. Violent gangs now control how much of Haiti’s capital?

Haiti’s unelected prime minister, Ariel Henry, has called on international military support to quell the crisis. But the United States must not intervene, Jonathan M. Katz argues.


7. The Ethiopian federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front signed a truce on Wednesday after two years of war. Which country helped mediate the negotiations?

Ethiopia’s civil war is one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. More than 5 million people in the Tigray region face starvation, Ilya Gridneff wrote last month.


8. Which former world leader survived a reported assassination attempt on Thursday?

The attack will only make Khan more popular, FP’s Michael Kugelman writes in this week’s South Asia Brief.


9. Four Peruvian police officers donned costumes to conduct a cocaine drug bust in Lima, Peru, over the weekend. Who were their alter egos?

The suspects, in possession of 3,250 packages of basic cocaine paste, at first believed their arrest was a Halloween joke, France 24 reported.


10. On Sunday, a Twitter user in Europe created a fake country to poke fun at U.S. media outlets’ global ignorance. It has since become a viral meme on TikTok. What is the imaginary nation called?

Listenbourg now has a national anthem, satellite map, and flag, Euronews reported.

You scored

It’s a big world out there! Brush up on global goings-on by subscribing to Morning Brief, Foreign Policy’s flagship daily newsletter.

You scored

Great job! Now, dig deeper by subscribing to Foreign Policy’s one-stop regional newsletters: Africa Brief, China Brief, Latin America Brief, and South Asia Brief.

You scored

Perfection! You’re a pro who needs the in-depth insights offered in Situation Report, our newsletter on national security and defense.


Have feedback? Email whatintheworld@foreignpolicy.com to let me know your thoughts.

Alexandra Sharp is a deputy copy editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @AlexandraSSharp

Join the Conversation

Commenting on this and other recent articles is just one benefit of a Foreign Policy subscription.

Already a subscriber? .

Join the Conversation

Join the conversation on this and other recent Foreign Policy articles when you subscribe now.

Not your account?

Join the Conversation

Please follow our comment guidelines, stay on topic, and be civil, courteous, and respectful of others’ beliefs.

You are commenting as .

More from Foreign Policy

Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.
Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.

Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America

The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.

Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.
Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense

If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.

Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War

Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.

An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.
An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.

How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests

And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.