“What In The World? Weekly Quiz” – May 4-10, 2020

Well done!

by Michael T. Klare

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Stay Tuned for the May 2020 Monthly Prize

1. Leaked intelligence reports touched off speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was critically ill, leading to the prospects that Pyongyang might see a new leader. Talks about a Kim Jong-un successor focused attention on THIS official, his sister and ruthless political figure who was blacklisted by the State Department for humanitarian abuses.

A. Kim il Sung
B. Kim Yo Jong
C. Kim Jong Il
D. Moon Jae-in

Correct Response: B. Kim Yo Jong
https://www.foxnews.com/world/with-kim-jong-uns-health-uncertain-focus-shifts-to-powerful-sister-kim-yo-jong

2. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “A couple of months from now I am confident that pledge will be honored,” referring to a green light from Washington to do THIS.

A. Expulsion of Palestinians from East Jerusalem.
B. Strike Iranian centrifuge facilities.
C. De facto annexation of parts of the West Bank.
D. Removal of citizenship for Israeli Arabs.

Correct Response: C. De facto annexation of parts of the West Bank.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-usa/netanyahu-confident-u-s-will-allow-west-bank-annexation-in-two-months-idUSKCN2280NQ?il=0

3. An international effort is being launched to develop, produce and distribute pharmaceutical treatments and vaccines for the Covid-19 pandemic. A U.S. spokesman said, “There will be no U.S. official participation,” in the project of THIS ORGANIZATION that President Trump has ordered funding of halted.

A. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
B. World Health Organization (WHO)
C. Doctors without Borders
D. Center for Disease Control (CDC)

Correct Response: B. World Health Organization (WHO)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-usa/u-s-says-will-not-take-part-in-who-global-drugs-vaccine-initiative-launch-idUSKCN2261WJ

4. On Saturday the World Health Organization issued a statement regarding the status of people who have recovered from Covid-19 and their relative immunity to reinfection. THIS is what the WHO said.

A. “There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.”
B. “Countries can begin to issue ‘health passports” to people who have recovered.
C. “Screened persons who have had Covid-19 can rejoin workforce situations that do not enjoy physical distancing precautions.”
D. “Recovered individuals do not pose a danger of reinfection or future passing of Covid-19 to other individuals.”

Correct Response: A. “There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who/no-evidence-yet-that-recovered-covid-patients-cannot-be-reinfected-who-idUSKCN2270FB

5. A group from THIS COUNTRY originated a fad of recreating famous artworks through photos posted to the Изоизоляция | Izoizolyacia Facebook page – a combination of the words for “visual arts” and “isolation.” The Facebook page, created by Katerina Brudnaya-Chelyadinova, was a reaction to Covid-19 shelter in place boredeom and it spurred a movement picked up by noted world-wide museums.

A. Kazakhstan
B. Russia
C. Belarus
D. Estonia

Correct Response: B. Russia
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/25/world/europe/russia-Facebook-art-parodies.html

6. The global oil industry is in turmoil with an ongoing over supply exacerbated by a catastrophic downturn in energy demand resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. The world energy supply troubles have been marked by all of these EXCEPT ONE.

A. U.S. oil futures prices dropped to an unimaginable minus $38 a barrel.
B. Pipeline companies began to refuse shipments, forcing the shutdown of wells.
C. Russian oil producers were considering burning its oil to take it off the market.
D. The Department of Energy began restrictions on foreign oil importation.

Correct Response: D. The Department of Energy began restrictions on foreign oil importation.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-turmoil/when-oil-became-waste-a-week-of-turmoil-for-crude-and-more-pain-to-come-idUSKCN228059

7. Insurgents in Afghanistan have returned to all out strikes against U.S.-backed security forces with as many as 50-70 attacks per day. The insurgents had negotiated with the United States but the agreement has stalled over the Afghan government’s refusal to release prisoners. The insurgent group that the United States and Afghan forces have been battling for almost two decades is THIS GROUP.

A. Taliban
B. Tamil Tigers
C. Lashkar-e-Taiba
D. ISIS-KP

Correct Response: A. Taliban
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/world/asia/taliban-attacks-afghanistan-coronavirus.html

8. “China has continued to run a global disinformation campaign to deflect blame for the outbreak of the pandemic and improve its international image,” was a sentence in a report by THIS group before China threatened to react negatively. The removal of the sentence was one example of how the tone of the report was watered down as a result of pressure from Beijing.

A. United Nations Security Council
B. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Group
C. European Union
D. G-20

Correct Response: C. European Union
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/world/europe/disinformation-china-eu-coronavirus.html

9. Plans for President Trump’s reelection campaign to focus on the threat from THIS target are faced with the reality of needing good relations for trade deals and supply chains.

A. Russia
B. European Union
C. Mexico
D. China

Correct Response: D. China
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/24/coronavirus-trump-clings-to-china-trade-deal-as-beijing-backlash-grows.html

10. WHAT American politician told a Sunday news show that Chinese students in the U.S. should be limited to non-scientific programs of study saying, “If Chinese students want to come here and study Shakespeare and the Federalist papers, that’s what they need to learn from America.” He added, “”It is a scandal to me that we have trained so many of the Chinese Communist Party’s brightest minds.”

A. Senator Tom Cotton
B. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
C. Congressman Louis Gohmert
D. Senator Lindsey Graham

Correct Response: A. Senator Tom Cotton
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/494742-cotton-says-us-shouldnt-give-visas-to-chinese-students-to-study-science

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