Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
1. Which Democratic U.S. senator is trying to broker a debt ceiling compromise with Republicans?
Spoiler
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin. Manchin, who faces a re-election challenge in 2024, met last week with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy on reaching an accord that would get House Republicans to agree to raise the debt ceiling. Manchin did this without authorization from the White House, as President Joe Biden says he will not negotiate over raising the debt ceiling.
2. In keeping with the debt ceiling of question #1, former President Donald Trump warned Republicans last week not to cut federal spending for what?
Spoiler
Social Security and Medicare. In a video message, the former President warned against cutting “a single penny” for either entitlement program, mirroring language that he once used on the campaign trail in 2016. At the time, then-candidate Trump’s position on entitlement reform would out of step with other leading Republicans, among them former Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan (who later went on to be Speaker of the House during some of Trump’s tenure).
3. What is the Wagner Group?
Spoiler
A far-right Russian paramilitary organization that was formed in 2014. Some analysts see it as a private army of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is led by Putin confidant Yevgeny Prigozhin. British intelligence estimates that the group has at least 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, many of whom were drawn from Russian prisons.
4. Pope Francis is visiting which African nations this week?
Spoiler
The Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. This marks the first time that a pope is visiting the Congo since 1985. Catholics are hoping that Francis’ visit can help calm down rising tensions in the Congo, where fighting has displaced more than 100,000 people in the country’s eastern region. With regards to Sudan, the Catholic Church continues to place a role in building the nation’s democratic system.
5. Which U.S. state has yet to sign onto a water use plan for the Colorado River?
Spoiler
California. Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming have all agreed on a model to cut water use from the Colorado River’s basin and sent it to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The Bureau demanded action from the affected states by mid-August but that deadline was missed. California, who uses the largest amount of water from the river, says that it will soon release its own plan.
6. Over the weekend, Petr Pavel won the Czech presidential election. What organization did he once serve as a high official for?
Spoiler
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Pavel, a retired general, had never run for office before and won 58.3% of the vote against billionaire (and former Prime Minister) Andreg Babis. Pavel was chair of NATO’s Military Committee between 2015-2018 and considers himself a social liberal.
7. The U.S. has recently argued that Russia is breaching which nuclear agreement?
Spoiler
The new START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) that the U.S. and Russia renewed in February 2021. The State Department informed Congress earlier this week that Russia is out of compliance because it refuses to allow inspections and did not “covene a session of the bilateral consultative commission” that the treaty requires. The accord is the only nuclear arms treaty that remains between the U.S. and Russia. Were it to collapse, defense experts warn of a new round of missile buildups that almost led to disaster in the 1960s and 1980s.
8. Which official in the Conservative Party did British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fire earlier this week?
Spoiler
Nadhim Zahawi, the chairman of the British Conservative Party. Zahawi had come under fire for not disclosing an investigation into his taxes. He had been serving as Chairman of the Conservative Party since October 26, 2022 and had a brief run as the British Chancellor of the Exchequer from July-September 2022. It serves as another blow for Sunak’s government, which is still reeling from ethics scandals under former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
9. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently blocked a mine project in which state?
Spoiler
Alaska. A gold and copper mine was planned at Bristol Bay, but the EPA stopped the project by arguing that it threatens wild salmon fisheries close by. It grounded its decision in the 1972 Clean Water Act. The project has been fought over for the last two decades, with the Obama administration’s EPA blocked the mine project from going forward in 2014.
10. Disgraced New York congressman George Santos recently conceded some ground to those calling for him to resign. What did he do?
Spoiler
Santos temporarily withdrew from two House commitees that he was serving on yesterday. These were committees on small business and science, space, and technology. Calls for Santos to resign for fabricating his resume and potentially engaging in campaign finance violations keep growing. Last week, a poll of the third congresstional district that he represents showed that 80% of voters want him to step down.
Peter
these questions are so vague. where the frick do you read ur news.