It’s getting colder in much of the Northern Hemisphere! Warm up your brain with this week’s international news quiz.
1. Qatar announced on Saturday that it had paused its efforts to help mediate a cease-fire in which conflict?
Doha’s prime minister warned back in April that “narrow political interests” were threatening the possibility of a cease-fire, FP’s Anchal Vohra wrote at the time.
2. This year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP29, began in which city on Monday?
The choice of host nation has been controversial, since Azerbaijan is a petrostate with plans to ramp up its fossil fuel production, FP’s Christina Lu reports.
3. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced on Monday that he would nominate whom to become the nation’s next ambassador to the United Nations?
Stefanik has a history of criticizing of the U.N. and has called for a “complete reassessment” of U.S. funding to the international body, FP’s Alexandra Sharp reports.
4. Which Southeast Asian leader traveled to the United States on Tuesday to meet with outgoing President Joe Biden?
Prabowo has faced controversy over allegations that he committed war crimes during Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor, a special correspondent writes in FP.
5. The president of the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in which country for talks on Wednesday?
Conflict with Israel has decimated much of Tehran’s defense capabilities in recent months, leaving its nuclear program as the most intact pillar, Sina Azodi writes.
6. Also on Wednesday, which region of Somalia held a presidential election?
The breakaway region lacks international recognition but has its own currency, militia, and passport, FP’s Nosmot Gbadamosi writes in Africa Brief.
7. What kind of infrastructure project did Chinese President Xi Jinping help inaugurate in Peru on Thursday?
The massive port in the city of Chancay may be one of the last of its kind as China shifts its overseas investments toward smaller initiatives, Mie Hoejris Dahl writes.
8. Reports emerged early on Friday that Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te is planning a visit to which U.S. state in the coming weeks?
The move sparked immediate pushback from Beijing. Lai has spent much of his term thus far seeking to “enhance Taiwan’s response capabilities” in preparation for a potential Chinese invasion, Heather A. Conley and Bonnie S. Glaser write.
9. South African authorities spent much of the week in a standoff with hundreds of people who are believed to be illegally working and hiding in which type of mine?
Mining is still an important part of South Africa’s economy—coal mining alone employs about 90,000 people, Sam Matthews Boehmer wrote in June.
10. Roughly how many mariachis gathered in Mexico City’s Constitution Plaza on Sunday in an attempt to break the world record for the largest mariachi performance?
The performers are believed to have topped the previous record, which was set in 2013 by 700 performers in the city of Guadalajara—considered by some to be the birthplace of the genre, according to Mexico News Daily.
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