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Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
To access a list of all our old quizzes, click here.
1. Greece’s government recently announced that it was prepared to follow the bulk of the Troika’s bailout reforms. What percentage of the reforms did Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis say the government would follow?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]70%. The Greek government vows that it will “suspend or withdraw” the other 30% of reforms. The governing SYRIZA Party is in a tough spot, as it promised voters to roll back austerity measures, yet still needs outside funds to keep the country from defaulting on its debts.[/toggle]
2. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) recently routed the BJP in Delhi’s state elections. Name an issue that the AAP campaigned on.
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]The AAP promised to end corruption, establish good governance, and make the state of Delhi safe for women. The AAP won 67 of the 70 assembly seats in the elections, which centered mostly on the corruption issue. AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal triggered resigned from the previous assembly when opposition parties blocked his attempt at creating an independent body that could investigate politicians and bureaucrats accused of corruption.[/toggle]
3. Why has NBC News anchor Brian Williams currently off the air?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Williams has come under fire for making up events that did not happen. His story of riding in a helicopter that came under fire in 2003 has been debunked and people are also questioning some of his reporting during Hurricane Katrina, when he said he saw a body floating from his hotel window in the New Orleans French Quarter. NBC has yet to officially fire Williams, although there are growing calls to do so.[/toggle]
4. What are remittances?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Remittances are money sent from a foreign worker to someone in their native country. For developing countries, this can supplement international aid and/or make up for the lack of a fully-functioning banking system. Countries such as Somalia are highly dependent on remittances, with 40% of the population receiving them.[/toggle]
5. Why are American regulators investigating UBS?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]American regulators are investing the Swiss financial services company to determine whether it helped Americans avoid paying taxes. Investigators are looking into so-called “bearer bonds” that can be transferred to accounts without registering ownership. This can help wealthy Americans hide assets.[/toggle]
6. What is the new U.S. unemployment rate?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]5.7%. This is up from the previous month’s 5.6% figure, but the increase is due to more Americans looking for work. This is the largest number of Americans seeking a job since 2008. Early reports say that in January employers added 257,000 jobs.[/toggle]
7. This state recently became the thirty-seventh to legalize gay marriage.
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Alabama. The Supreme Court decided not to put gay marriages on hold in the state, refusing to intervene in a judicial ruling that declared the state’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional. The Court will hear a federal appeal of gay marriage bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee later this year.[/toggle]
8. Why did the Venezuelan government seize the private supermarket chain Dia a Dia last week?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]The Venezuelan government alleged that Dia a Dia was hoarding food, thereby creating massive shortages in the country. Soldiers and government workers descended on branches of the chain to oversee sales. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro argued the Dia a Dia was “waging war against the population.” Maduro’s government is under fire for growing inflation and a shortage of staple products, a problem made worse by low oil prices.[/toggle]
9. Nigeria’s government announced this week that national elections would be delayed by this amount of time due to security concerns.
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Six weeks. The original vote was due to take place this Saturday, but will now be held on March 28. The delay was due to Boko Haram militants displacing more than one million people in the country, creating problems for arranging a poll. The Nigerian Electoral Commission said that security forces could not guarantee a safe poll in time for the vote. However, opposition parties allege that the governing People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are just trying to hang onto power.[/toggle]
10. What unusual gift did Russian President Vladimir Putin give his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]A Kalashnikov rifle, also known as an AK-47. Media pundits dubbed it as “Kalashnikov diplomacy.” Putin is seeking to increase Russian arms sales to the Egyptian government after the United States suspended some of its military aid to Egypt following a military coup in 2013. Putin and el-Sissi were also said to discuss increasing trade ties.[/toggle]