What in the World?
Test yourself on the week of Dec. 3: Iran disbands its morality police, China backtracks on zero-COVID, and Peru gets a new president.
It’s been a hectic week around the globe. See what you can remember with our international news quiz!
Have feedback? Email whatintheworld@foreignpolicy.com to let me know your thoughts.
It’s been a hectic week around the globe. See what you can remember with our international news quiz!
1. Following months of outrage against Iran’s morality police, the country’s attorney general suggested last weekend that the force had been disbanded. What was its primary function?
Assuming the government’s announcement is anything more than an incremental change to placate the public would be a mistake, Sina Toossi argues.
2. Also this weekend, Indonesia announced its parliament will likely approve a new criminal code on Dec. 15. What is one thing it would not ban?
The new law also targets Indonesia’s LGBTQ community by strengthening measures prohibiting same-sex marriage, adding onto 2016 legislation that criminalized same-sex emojis, as Siobhán O’Grady reported at the time.
3. The G-7, European Union, and Australia on Monday imposed a cap on the price of seaborne Russian crude oil following months of high-stakes negotiations. What is the price limit?
Such foreign price caps aim to deprive the Kremlin of critical revenue streams, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian explained in September.
4. China and Saudi Arabia also planned to discuss global oil supplies during their three-day summit, which began on Wednesday in Riyadh. When was the last time Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to the kingdom?
Xi’s trip occurs at a time when U.S.-Saudi relations are at an all-time low. FP’s Keith Johnson and Robbie Gramer chronicled the two countries’ tense relationship in 2020.
5. Jamaica declared a state of emergency on Tuesday to combat gang violence. Which Latin American country also established a partial state of emergency this month to crack down on crime?
Many Hondurans hoped Xiomara Castro’s presidential inauguration in January would curb violence and corruption in their country, Nili Blanck wrote at the time. Almost a year later, that doesn’t seem to have happened.
6. Whom did Dina Boluarte succeed as president of Peru on Wednesday after he was impeached for attempting to dissolve Congress?
Castillo was “incapable of handling even mundane government tasks, never mind passing the grand reforms he had promised,” Simeon Tegel argued in June.
7. After months of strict COVID-19 measures, Beijing has relaxed its zero-COVID policy by downgrading the severity of the disease in official rankings from what is known as “Class A” to “Class B.” Which disease does not also fall under the latter category?
Beijing seems to have given up on its zero-COVID goals after mass protests erupted across the country last week, FP’s James Palmer reports in China Brief.
8. On Thursday, Washington and Moscow announced a deal to exchange American basketball player Brittney Griner, who had been jailed in Russia, for which Russian prisoner held on U.S. soil?
FP podcast The Long Game spoke with WNBA President Nneka Ogwumike in October to discuss efforts the league made to push for Griner’s release.
9. Oxford Languages announced “goblin mode” as the 2022 Word of the Year this week. Which is not a past winner of the annual contest?
“People are embracing their inner goblin” to the tune of 318,956 votes, Oxford Languages President Casper Grathwohl said.
10. Which country is set to make its residents one year younger as it abandons its traditional age-counting measure, which starts all newborn babies at 1 year old?
And they said it’s impossible to reverse aging.
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Alexandra Sharp is the World Brief writer at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @AlexandraSSharp
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