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Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
1. France voted last week to curtail this practice, which marks a retreat from very liberal laws toward it.
[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”]Prostitution. Although it seems odd that the Socialist Party is moving to clamp down on the practice, proponents argue that it is necessary to stop human trafficking. Opponents argue that it will just drive the prostitution industry underground.[/toggle]
2. North Korea confirmed on Sunday that Jang Song Taek had been purged from the government. Who is this and what is his relationship to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un?
[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”]Jang Song Taek is Kim’s uncle and he was made regent for Kim Jong-un upon his father’s death. It is not expected that Mr. Jang will be executed, as he has been demoted in the past, but his removal has created anxieties about the actions that the relatively inexperienced Mr. Kim may take on his own.[/toggle]
3. On Monday, the merger of these two airlines was made official.
[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 Airlines and U.S. Airways. The merged airline will be the country’s largest and will operate primarily out of Charlotte.[/toggle]
4. A federal judge recently allowed Detroit to take what action(s) to deal with its finances?
[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 federal judge said that the city of Detroit could file for protection under federal bankruptcy laws and that it could restructure its public employee pensions.[/toggle]
5. What is the “Volcker rule”?
[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 rule, named after former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, was part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill of 2010. It restricts banks that have federally insured deposits from engaging in risky investment activities and bans them from having ownership stakes in hedge funds and private equaity funds. The goal is to make sure banks do not overextend themselves and create another financial crisis. Federal regulators were set to vote on the implementation of the rule Tuesday.[/toggle]
6. This former Republican senator is said to be considering a run for New Hampshire’s Senate seat next year. Why would this be an usual move?
[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”]Scott Brown. What makes the move unusual is that Brown would be running for the New Hampshire Senate seat currently occupied by Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, but he occupied a Senate seat from Massachusetts from 2010-2013. Brown shocked the political landscape in 2010 by winning the Massachusetts seat vacated by Ted Kennedy’s death and caused House Democrats to pass the Senate’s version of the Affordable Care Act. He was defeated by Elizabeth Warren in 2012.[/toggle]
7. How many nations are members of the World Trade Organization (WTO)?
[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 WTO currently has 159 member nations. The WTO made headlines last week after successfully agreeing to a trade agreement in Bali that experts claim could add $1 trillion to the world economy.[/toggle]
8. Why is Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Ukrainian prime minister, in prison?
[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”]Tymoshenko is serving a seven year sentence after being convicted in 2011 of abusing her authority over a natural gas deal with Russia. Her supporters argue that the conviction was politically motivated.[/toggle]
9. 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”]The new U.S. unemployment rate is 7%, which is the lowest unemployment rate since 2008.[/toggle]
10. South Korea took this provocative international action on Sunday, which angered China and Japan.
[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”]South Korea expanded its air patrol zone to include parts of the East China Sea claimed by Japan and China. All three countries argue that they control parts of the zone, which is rich with minerals and natural gas. This is the first time that South Korea has expanded the zone in 62 years.[/toggle]