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

1. Who is the longest-held American prisoner in Iran?

Spoiler
Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American businessman. He was arrested in 2015 for collaborating with the United States. Namazi began a weeklong hunger strike this week and has appealed to the Biden administration to negotiate for his release. Two other Americans, who hold dual nationality, are also held by Iran. These are Morad Tahbaz, a 67-year-old businessman, and Emad Sharghi, another businessman. Tahbaz was arrested in 2018 and Sharghi last month. They also stand accused of spying and threatening Iran’s national security.

2. According to the U.S. Treasury Department when will the U.S. debt limit be reached?

Spoiler
January 19. According to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the U.S.’ statutory debt limit of $31.81 trillion will be reached on that date and the U.S. will be at risk of defaulting on its debt unless Congress increases the debt ceiling. Members of the Republican Freedom Caucus oppose raising the debt ceiling unless there are significant spending cuts to go with it. A fight over the debt ceiling could further weaken House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who just assumed the office.

3. A failed GOP candidate in what state was charged in shootings at lawmakers homes last year?

Spoiler
New Mexico. Solomon Pena, who proclaimed himself as “MAGA king,” is alleged to have hired four men to shoot at homes of Democratic lawmakers last year and have gone along with the final shooting spree. Pena ran for New Mexico’s state legislature last year, losing to Democrat Miguel P. Garcia.

4. Climate activist Greta Thurnberg was arrested by police for protesting at what site?

Spoiler
An open coal pit mine in the West German state of North Rhine-Westaphalia. Energy company RWE is destroying the village of Luetzerath to expand the mine, a move approved by the German government last year. Activists like Thurnberg argue that the project will increase Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions.

5. Which country recently announced that its population fell for the first time in decades?

Spoiler
China. Official figures on Tuesday showed that one million fewer babies were born last year as the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on the nation’s economy. It was the first time that China’s population had death rates outpace birth rates in six decades. It is projected that by 2050 India will supplant China as the site of the world’s largest population, having major impacts on the Chinese economy.

6. Why did the British government recently block a Scottish gender change recognition law?

Spoiler
The British government argued that the law, which would allow those over the age of 16 to apply for a gender recognition certificate that would legally recognize their new gender and get a new birth certificate without a medical diagnosis, violates equality legislation because it would grant different treatment to people’s based on their place of residence. The Scottish government, led by the separatist Scottish National Party, argued that the British decision is overriding the democratic wishes of the Scottish people.

7. Italy recently arrested mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, who has been able to elude capture for 30 years for what crime?

Spoiler
The 1992 murder of two anti-mafia prosecutors, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, as well as bombings in Florence, Milan, and Rome in 1993 that left 10 people dead. He was sentenced in absentia for the crimes but had eluded capture. Denaro was arrested in a hospital in Palermo.

8. The Biden administration now finds itself on the defensive after reports came out last week that classified documents were found where?

Spoiler
Biden’s private home in Wilmington, Delaware and an office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. Three batches of classified documents have been discovered, prompting Republican claims that the Justice Department has not acted aggressively enough against the President as they did against former President Donald Trump. Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed former U.S. attorney Robert Hur to look into Biden’s storing of the documents, which date back to his role as Vice President during the Obama administration.

9. Which official in Germany’s coalition government resigned this week?

Spoiler
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht. Lambrecht was the highest-ranking member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government. Since assuming the post in December 2021 she had come under attack for having never served in the military and having poor knowledge of it and later came under attack for not sending more German aid to Ukraine.

10. How many U.S. states now have red flag laws?

Spoiler
19. The District of Columbia also have them. These laws allowed courts to issue temporary orders that allow police to take a firearm from people who are deemed dangerous. A judge’s orders for the seizure can last anywhere from 14 days to a year.