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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. What are the three states that President Barack Obama has yet to visit during his presidency?
[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 Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah. All three states have voted against the President in both of his campaigns for office. He lost all three states by double digits in 2012.[/toggle]
2. What was the name of the recent winter storm that blanketed parts of the Northeast with snow?
[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”]Juno. The storm blasted New England and Long Island with heavy snow, high winds, and caused some coastal flooding. According to the Weather Channel, parts of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Rhode Island receive more than twenty inches of snow.[/toggle]
3. Who is Alberto Nisman?
[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”]Nisman was an Argentinian federal prosecutor who was the chief investigator of the 1994 car bombing of the Jewish center in Buenos Aires. The attack was the worst incident of terrorism in Argentinian history and left eighty-five people dead. Before Nisman could reportedly tell the Argentinian Congress of how President Cristina Kirchner covered up parts of the crime to help Iranian suspects, he was found dead at his home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His death is under investigation, with some thinking it was a politically-inspired murder.[/toggle]
4. House Republicans have invited this foreign leader to address a joint session of Congress next month.
[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”]Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu will speak on February 11 and this will be the third time he has addressed a joint session of Congress. Netanyahu spoke to Congress in 1996 and 2011. Only former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill has spoken the same number of times before Congress.[/toggle]
5. Who is the new king of Saudi Arabia?
[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”]Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud. King Salman assumed the throne last week after the death of his half brother, King Abdullah. Prior to taking the throne, King Salman served as the Governor of Riyadh Province from 1963-2011 and was Minister of Defense since 2011.[/toggle]
6. Why did the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) recently suspend a relief program to repair homes in Gaza damaged by last year’s conflict between Israel and Hamas?
[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 lack of funds. The UNRWA says that it needs $720 million to accomplish its goal of repairing more than 96,000 homes, but has only received $135 million. All existing funding for the program is exhausted. In October, donors in Cairo pledged $5 billion for reconstruction if the Palestinian Authority and UN oversaw the reconstruction process, but only a small amount of that money has found its way into Gaza, due in part to the Palestinian Authority still exercising little authority in the Gaza Strip.[/toggle]
7. Facebook recently agreed to block pages deemed offensive to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad in this country, which threatened to shut down access to the site.
[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”]Turkey. A Turkish court order demanded that the government block access to Facebook if the company did not block offensive content. Critics argue that the move is the latest crackdown by the Turkish government on free speech and expression. They also worry that the crackdown on the Internet could expand to traditional media outlets, some of whom are critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.[/toggle]
8. The speaker of this state’s assembly announced that they would be resigning after being indicted on federal corruption charges.
[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”]New York. Speaker Sheldon Silver, who has held that position for twenty-one years, was arrested last week for allegedly accepting $4 million in bribes. Silver has announced that he will step down in light of the charges.[/toggle]
9. What are 529s?
[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”]College savings accounts named after a section of the IRS tax code that handles them. The accounts are largely used by middle class families to save money for college. Money earned within the accounts is not taxed per a 2001 tax change, but President Obama sought to reintroduce taxes for the plans in his new budget. After receiving criticism, the President will reportedly back down on the idea.[/toggle]
10. Who won the recent Greek parliamentary elections?
[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 Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), which won 149 of 300 seats. This put it two seats shy of an absolute majority and it will coalition with the Independent Greeks, which are center-right. Both parties oppose the austerity measures Greece has had imposed upon it by the European Union, European Commission, and the International Monetary Fund. Next week’s premium topic brief will break down the outcome of the Greek elections and what they mean for Greece’s economic future.[/toggle]