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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. This Treasury nominee withdrew their name from consideration this week after facing objections from Democrats aligned with Elizabeth Warren.
[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”]Anthony Weiss. Weiss was nominated by President Obama to be the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for domestic finance, but Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats opposed his nomination because of his distinguished career on Wall Street. Opponents alleged that Weiss would be too deferential to the interests of the finance industry and would not seek aggressive regulatory measures.[/toggle]
2. Hackers allegedly working in the interest of the Islamic State recently hijacked the Twitter and YouTube feeds of this organization.
[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 United States Central Command (CENTCOM), which directs American military operations in the Middle East. The hackers posted a few messages warning American troops of the dangers of fighting the Islamic State and the personally identifiable information about some American generals.[/toggle]
3. What is the Lord’s Resistance Army?
[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 Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is an extreme Christian militant movement operating in northern Uganda and South Sudan that seeks to take over Uganda and rule it according to teh Ten Commandments. The group is led by Joseph Kony and has been operating since 1987. The United States considers the LRA a terrorist organization and has assisted Uganda in trying to eradicate the group, which has a long history of human rights abuses that include human trafficking and abducting children. One of the group’s senior commanders, Dominic Ongwen, will be sent to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face war crimes charges.[/toggle]
4. How many political prisoners did Cuba release as part of its deal with the United States?
[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”]Fifty-three. The release of political prisoners was a condition of Cuba’s deal with President Obama, who will now push to relax the U.S. embargo on the country, which has been in effect since 1960. The identities of the fifty-three prisoners who have been released has not yet been disclosed.[/toggle]
5. Which Republican told NBC News last week that they will not seek the presidency in 2016?
[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”]Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. Chairman of the House Ways and Mean Committee and Mitt Romney’s 2012 vice-presidential candidate, Ryan said that he thinks he can make a bigger difference in the House rather than if he sought the White House. Reports surfaced several days ago that Romney has contacted GOP donors about launching a third presidential bid.[/toggle]
6. Who is Sri Lanka’s new president?
[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”]Maithripala Sirsena. Sirsena defeated incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa in a stunning upset in last week’s Sri Lankan presidential election with 51.28% of the vote. Rajapaksa had called for an early election believing that he would win, especially since he enjoyed the support of state-owned television networks.[/toggle]
7. This California official declared yesterday that they will seek Barbara Boxer’s Senate seat in 2016.
[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”]California Attorney General (and Democrat) Kamala Harris. Harris was first elected as California’s Attorney General in 2010 and won re-election handily in 2014. She is of African-American and Asian-American descent and is deemed a rising star within the Democratic Party. If she wins she would become the first African-American Senator in state history.[/toggle]
8. British Prime Minister David Cameron has recently unveiled new security measures that target this form of digital media.
[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”]Online applications that police cannot read. This could include apps such as WhatsApp, iMessage, and Snapchat, where messages appear and disappear after they are read and whose data is encrypted. Experts question whether a ban is feasible, but they do think the government could pass legislation allowing police to access messages. Cameron’s security strategy is likely to become an issue in this year’s British parliamentary elections.[/toggle]
9. Why was the staff of the Charlie Hebdo magazine attacked last week in France?
[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 staff was attacked because the magazine has a history of making fun of the Islamic religion and depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Last week, two Islamic extremist brothers, Cherif and Said Kouachi, invaded the French magazine’s office and killed twelve people. They were eventually tracked down and killed by police.[/toggle]
10. What state was the inspiration behind President Obama’s “America’s College Promise” idea?
[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”]Tennessee. Tennessee’s program is called “Tennessee Promise” and uses lottery funds to provide two years of free tuition to state community and technical colleges. The program will begin this fall.[/toggle]