What in the World? Weekly Quiz – February 15-21, 2020

Hundreds of thousands of protestors in Myanmar have taken to the streets to demand the release of THIS deposed official and a return of power from the military to civilian rule.

THIS leader of a Middle Eastern country pleaded not guilty to corruption and then walked out of the court, later claiming the charges were fabricated.

A powerful temblor struck eastern Japan in THIS region, injuring at least 150 and cutting power to over a million households. The 7.3 magnitude earthquake occurred one month before the tenth anniversary of an earthquake-tsunami that left 19,000 people dead or missing and led to meltdowns at three reactors in a nuclear power plant.

The leader of THIS country, head of the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, has pushed to change school curricula to downplay the country’s secular roots, which reflect the country’s founders’ goals to promote peace between the majority Hindus and the sizable Muslim minority and other religious communities.  [“Daily Chatter” Question]

The USIP recently wrote a tribute to this American diplomat who served as Secretary of State, Labor and the Treasury and was key to building Ronald Reagan’s relationship with Soviet leader Gorbachev and the end of the Cold War. THIS leader likened diplomacy to gardening, requiring unwavering attention and steady and diligent tending. [US Institute of Peace Question]

Medical researchers for THIS agency were in Wuhan, China to investigate the origins of COVID-19. They discovered the virus was already spreading widely throughout Wuhan, China, by December of 2019 and had already mutated into more than a dozen strains before the end of that year.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which was delayed to the summer of 2021 due to Covid-19, has faced another misstep this week when THIS occurred.

A mutant version of the Covid-19 virus, which has become widespread in the United States, was first discovered in THIS country which announced there may not be regular international travel to it for the rest of 2021.

A veteran international law attorney who has represented both sides of the bar has been selected for THIS global body that meets in the Hague. Briton Karim Khan is known as a tough prosecutor but has also defending clients such as Saif el-Qadaffi, son of the dictator, and Charles Taylor, former Liberian President charged with war crimes.

Happy Presidents Day!  THIS American president dispatched the “Great White Fleet,” 14,000 sailors on 16 battleships on a 43,000 mile, 14-month circumnavigation of the world to 20 ports on six continents as a demonstration of the United States’ newly established industrial and military might.