What in the World?

Test yourself on the week of Oct. 10: The Houthis strike Saudi Arabia, Brazil shortens the workweek, and protests rock India. Silhouetted figures stand at night in front of a massive blaze, with two individuals holding up the red flag of Albania featuring its black double-headed eagle emblem. Protesters hold an Albanian flag in front of a burning kiosk during an anti-government demonstration in central Tirana on Oct. 15. Adnan Beci/AFP via Getty Images Politics October 16, 2026, 4:20 PM Beyond the scary movies and trips to the pumpkin patch, have you remembered to keep up with this week’s top stories? Find out with our international news quiz! Have feedback? Email [email protected] to let me know your thoughts. Beyond the scary movies and trips to the pumpkin patch, have you remembered to keep up with this week’s top stories? Find out with our international news quiz! 1. Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked a major structure in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. What was it? The Houthis’ renewed aggression against Saudi Arabia is about more than Yemen’s civil war, Marc Lynch wrote in September. 2. A U.S. judge on Sunday ordered President Donald Trump to cancel any remaining commercials promoting his politics that had been funded by millions of dollars from what source? Trump’s weakening of U.S. democracy through his blatant corruption will be one of his longest-lasting legacies—and one of the most difficult to dismantle, FP’s Howard W. French argued in July. 3. India’s opposition parties marched to the Supreme Court on Monday in protest of what recent event? Whether Modi navigates this volatile turning point through dialogue or further authoritarian overreach could determine India’s democratic trajectory, Sushant Singh argues. 4. Joseph Kabila announced a new political-military movement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Monday, which he said would include figures connected to the M23 movement. Kabila previously occupied which role in Congo’s government? Kabila’s new rebel group further complicates the conflict in eastern Congo, FP’s Nosmot Gbadamosi reports in Africa Brief. 5. A Chinese court on Tuesday sentenced three members of a prominent crime family to death for their involvement in a so-called pig-butchering scheme and protection racket in Myanmar and China. What is pig butchering? The most notable revelation from the trial is that an entire Myanmar border guard unit was on the gang’s payroll, FP’s James Palmer writes in China Brief. 6. What led to the disruption of several Ukrainian military operations on Wednesday? In more Russia-Ukraine war updates, Trump last week struck a deal with Putin to suspend sanctions on Russian diesel exports. The arrangement won’t help anyone, including Russia, FP’s Keith Johnson reports. 7. Brazil’s Senate on Wednesday approved a constitutional amendment that shortened the country’s maximum workweek from 44 hours to how many? The bill arrives less than two weeks ahead of a presidential runoff election between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro. On their podcast Ones and Tooze, FP’s Cameron Abadi and Adam Tooze discussed the stakes of the election ahead of the first round earlier this month. 8. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama defied calls to resign on Thursday amid student-led protests across the country. The protesters have accused Rama’s government of corruption in connection to a luxury resort project tied to which person in Trump’s orbit? Rama insisted that his government was in the best position to finalize negotiations over Albania’s European Union membership, FP’s Alexandra Sharp reports in World Brief. 9. In a deal announced on Tuesday, Uganda was selected to host which sporting event in the early 2030s? (Hint: It is the first time that this event will be held in Africa since 1993.) The last F1 race on the continent was on South Africa’s Kyalami circuit to the ‌north of Johannesburg, Reuters reports. 10. A Hong Kong auction house on Tuesday displayed the 1890 painting Chestnut Trees in Blossom, which had not been publicly exhibited in more than 60 years. Who painted the piece? The artwork will be auctioned next month at Sotheby’s in New York, where it is expected to fetch around $180 million, Reuters reports. 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 Taiwanese crowd protests while waving flags of the Republic of China. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine depart following a national ceremony for POW/MIA Recognition Day in Arlington, Virginia, on Sept. 18. Xi (left) and Trump (right) are shown up close, with Xi looking at Trump. Putin and Xi are both seen in profile as Putin walks to the right and away from Xi, just a few feet of space between them. Xi, meanwhile, is also faced away from Putin, standing and looking down at his feet or the red carpet beneath them. Both men wear dark suits. A man wearing a dark suit jacket, light blue button-down shirt, and patterned red tie sits on a dark gray couch against a textured dark blue wall. He is looking off to the side with a mild smile, next to a teal pillow. The Twilight of the Francis Fukuyama Era By Jeremi Suri An illustration in red and blue tones depicting five silhouetted figures running forward through a dark corridor flanked by large, textured Russian lettering on the walls and floor. Light radiates from the far end of the tunnel behind them U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping after a welcome ceremony in Beijing. A statue of a seated, bearded man with a bare torso and draped cloth around his waist, holding a scroll in one hand, positioned in front of a row of large classical columns. Negotiators from the United States, Canada, and five European countries converse after finishing the draft of the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington on March 18, 1949. Trans-Atlanticism Isn’t Dead—It’s Being Renegotiated By Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer An aerial photo shows Doha in the booming petrostate of Qatar. Energy War Ramps Up Two men seated in armchairs on a stage reach toward each other to shake hands. The man on the left wears a dark suit, light shirt, and tie, leaning forward while holding a microphone in his left hand. The man on the right wears a long-sleeved black polo shirt and black pants, holding a microphone in his left hand while extending his right hand to complete the handshake. Large double doors and architectural details are visible in the background. The Plan to End the Ukraine War Trump’s diesel-deal feud with Zelensky obscures a more important effort.