Note:  There will not be a news quiz for the next two weeks because of the winter holiday.  The next news quiz will be posted on Wednesday, January 8.

Here is this week’s news quiz! Good luck!

1. Which prominent figure resigned from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government this week?

Spoiler
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. She was one of Trudeau’s closest allies but quit after clashing with Trudeau over how to handle possible tariffs under a Donald Trump presidency and government spending levels. Freeland’s departure has been interpreted as Trudeau losing his political footing. Polls project he will lose to the Conservative Party in the next general election and reports suggest some Liberals are floating the idea of Trudeau stepping down before that election occurs to minimize losses.

2. When will the German general election take place?

Spoiler
February 23. This was moved up from its September date as Olaf Scholz’s minority government received a vote of no confidence this week. Scholz hopes that accelerating the date of the election can help his Social Democrats (SPD) but polls show that the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) are in the lead.

3. What is the new U.S. unemployment rate?

Spoiler
4.2%. This increased by 0.1% from last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The U.S. economy was said to have gained 227,000 jobs in November, a little above what economists were expecting. Retail trade jobs declined but employment in healthcare, leisure, hospitality, government, and social assistance increased.

4. Who did French President Emmanuel Macron name as the nation’s new prime minister last week?

Spoiler
Francois Bayrou, a 73-year-old mayor of Pau in southwest France who is the President of the Democratic Movement, a centre-right political party. He is a former Minister of National Education (1993-1997). Bayrou will try to cobble together some degree of consensus in the National Assembly, which is divided between collective left-wing and far-right opposition, along with Macron’s centrists.

5. Why did Moldova’s parliament vote in favor of a state of emergency in the energy sector last week?

Spoiler
There are fears that Russia could leave the country without sufficient natural gas supplies this winter. Moldova, which is a European Union candidate, voted to impose a 60 day state of emergency to manage the hypothetical Russian gas shortage. The country used to be completely dependent on Russian natural gas as of 2022 but has worked to diversify energy sources since Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

6. Sightings of what in the skies of New Jersey last week sparked a great deal of anxiety?

Spoiler
Drones. Residents of New Jersey posted footage of social media of drones flying overhead. Sightings were also reported in New York City. Lawmakers were demanding answers of the Biden administration of what was taking place but information was not forthcoming.

7. Who was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year last week?

Spoiler
President-elect Donald Trump. Time justified the choice by saying that “no single individual has played a larger role in changing the course of politics and history” since 2015. Trump was also named as Time’s Person of the Year in 2016. It is typical for the winner of U.S. presidential elections to win the award. The last victories presidential candidate not to win it was Bill Clinton in 1996 (although he did win in 1998). That year’s winner was David Ho, who pioneered AIDS research and helped turn it from a terminal disease into a chronic disease.

8. After a decision to declare martial law two weeks ago, who is banned from leaving South Korea?

Spoiler
President Yoon Suk Yeol and several of his allies. They are all under investigation for insurrection. Although a first vote failed to impeach Yoon, police chief Cho Ji-ho and justice minister Park Sung-jae were impeached by the South Korean National Assembly. Yoon was impeached in a second vote over the weekend. He has insisted that his declaration of martial law was justified because opposition against him is dangerous.

9. How did Ethiopia and Somalia end their feud over a planned Ethiopian port in Somaliland?

Spoiler
A joint declaration, brokered by Turkey, said that Ethiopia will receive access to the sea “under Somalia’s sovereignty.” However, technical details still await an agreement, which are supposed to be worked out in February. Tensions between the two nations grew after Ethiopia signed a deal with Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia, for access to the sea on January 1, ostensibly in return for recognizing Somaliland’s legitimacy. Somalia had argued that the move was an act of aggression. There were fears it would spark a war between the two sides.

10. Last week, President Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people. What was the criteria used for this?

Spoiler
The individuals that President Biden pardoned were those who had home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic. These people were also said to have been successfully reintegrated into their communities. It was seen as one of the largest commutations, if not the largest, ever issued by an American president.