NewsTracker Answers for week of Sep. 29, 2025

Q: After complaining more than a year ago about dynamite explosions set off by a construction company, residents of Equatorial Guinea’s remote Annobon island have been without internet access, and dozens of them were imprisoned. Where is the small nation of Equatorial Guinea on Africa’s Gulf of Guinea?

Circle the area on this map

Q: Equatorial Guinea consists of a mainland territory and five inhabited islands. Annobon’s roughly 5,000 residents are about 315 miles from the mainland area where most of the country’s 1.7 million people reside. Annobon is closer to Equatorial Guinea’s southern neighbor ...

A. Gabon

B. Ghana

C. Guinea

D. Guinea-Bissau

A. Equatorial Guinea shares land borders with Gabon to the south and Cameroon to the north. Annobon island is an extinct volcano located south of the equator. It is also part of an archipelago that includes the much larger island of Bioko, where Equatorial Guinea’s capital, Malabo, is located.

Q: Autocratic President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, 83, has ruled Equatorial Guinea since 1979, when he overthrew and executed his dictator uncle, who had ruled the country since its independence from Spain in 1968. Which dictator ruled Spain in 1968?

A. Batista

B. Franco

C. Noriega

D. Pinochet

B. Dictator Francisco Franco ruled Spain for 36 years, from 1939 to 1975. Obiang has been called Africa’s longest-ruling dictator, with 46 years in power. In the 20th Century, Fulgencio Batista was a dictator of Cuba, Manuel Noriega was a dictator of Panama, and Augusto Pinochet was a dictator of Chile.

Q: Obiang’s regime ranks among the worst authoritarian nations in the world, according the Economist Democracy Index. Which country ranks as the most democratic nation in the world?

A. Iceland

B. New Zealand

C. Norway

D. Sweden

C. Norway topped the 2024 list by the British company that publishes the influential weekly newspaper The Economist. Norway was followed by New Zealand, Sweden, and Iceland. The index ranked Afghanistan as the absolutely worst authoritarian regime.

Q: The internet shutdown on Annobon collapsed key infrastructure, including health care and banking services. Many residents have fled the island, citing fears for their safety and the difficulties of daily life without connectivity. Which nation had the most people leaving their homeland in 2023?

A. Bangladesh

B. China

C. India

D. Pakistan

D. The United Nations reported that 1.62 million left Pakistan, mainly to find work. Sudan’s civil war drove out 1.35 million people. But, it was also primarily employment that enticed 979,000 people to leave India, 568,000 to leave China, and 550,000 to leave Bangladesh.