What in the World?

Test yourself on the week of Oct. 3: Brazilians and Pakistanis protest, Spain calls for snap elections, and Ebola spreads in East Africa. Supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party take part in a march in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party take part in a march in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Oct. 7. Abdul MAJEED/AFP via Getty Images Politics October 9, 2026, 1:15 PM It’s Nobel week! See if you kept up with the prizes and other global goings-on by taking our news quiz! Have feedback? Email [email protected] to let me know your thoughts. It’s Nobel week! See if you kept up with the prizes and other global goings-on by taking our news quiz! 1. A protest march began in Pakistan on Sunday to demand the release of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The march was originally scheduled for late September. Why was it delayed? The march to Islamabad could put pressure on the government to free Khan, who has been imprisoned for more than three years for corruption, FP’s Michael Kugelman writes in South Asia Brief. 2. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday called for snap elections, following his government’s failure to pass emergency measures to tackle what issue? The elections, set for Nov. 29, will be risky, as Sánchez’s party is trailing in most local opinion polls. But the socialist leader has navigated tricky political waters before, Omar G. Encarnación wrote in August. 3. Lithuania’s parliament voted on Tuesday in favor of a constitutional amendment that would lift a ban on what? FP’s Sam Skove spoke with the president of neighboring Latvia last week to discuss Russia’s increasing appetite for sabotaging Ukraine’s allies. 4. Which East African country reported its first case of Ebola on Tuesday? The continent’s current Ebola crisis, centered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is the fastest-growing outbreak of the disease on record, FP’s Nosmot Gbadamosi reports in Africa Brief. 5. North Korea accused the United States of fueling tension in the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday over what? Beijing needs Pyongyang as a geopolitical ally and bargaining chip, Deng Yuwen wrote in May. 6. Wednesday marked the three-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel. Which armed group perpetrated those attacks? Israel’s refusal to abandon convenient assumptions about its national security played a role in the country’s early failings in its war against Hamas, Simon Frankel Pratt and Jamie Levin write. 7. Thousands of Brazilian students marched in downtown Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday to protest what? After a first-round presidential election on Oct. 4, Bolsonaro—the son of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro—and incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are headed for an Oct. 25 runoff election, FP’s Catherine Osborn reports in Latin America Brief. 8. European Union trade chief Maros Sefcovic began two days of trade talks with China on Thursday with the goal of doing what? Among the EU’s top priorities are limiting the import of Chinese hybrid vehicles and getting clarification on China’s restrictions on rare-earth exports, FP’s Alexandra Sharp writes in World Brief. 9. Canadian poet and essayist Anne Carson was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday. One of her more notable works, Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse, retells which ancient Greek story as a modern tragic teenage love affair? Carson is the third Canadian-born writer to receive the award, after Alice Munro in 2013 and Saul Bellow in 1976, the New York Times reports. 10. South African lawyer and judge Navanethem “Navi” Pillay was announced as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in recognition of her efforts to do what? Pillay’s work “is a source of hope and inspiration to all those who seek to bring about a more peaceful world,” the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. You scored It’s a big world out there! Brush up on global goings-on by subscribing to World Brief, Foreign Policy’s flagship daily newsletter. 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 [email protected] to let me know your thoughts. Politics Drew Gorman is a deputy copy editor at Foreign Policy. OTHER SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS Stories Readers Liked Go to slide 1 Go to slide 2 Go to slide 3 Go to slide 4 Go to slide 5 Go to slide 6 Go to slide 7 Go to slide 8 Go to slide 9 Go to slide 10 A oil painting portrait of a man shown in profile facing left. 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