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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. Thailand’s anti-corruption commission recently announced that it will seek to impeach hundreds of ruling party politicians for doing what?
[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”]Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission has said that it will move to impeach 308 politicians for attempting to amend the country’s constitution that would make the national Senate fully elected. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was one of the politicians cleared during the investigation.[/toggle]
2. This 2014 Republican Senate hopeful abruptly ended their campaign this week.
[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”]Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice-President Dick Cheney, ended her bid to defeat sitting Republican Wyoming Senator Michael Enzi, citing family health issues. Cheney was running well behind Enzi in test polls in the state’s Republican primary.[/toggle]
3. A group of Satanists from New York are making headlines for wanting to do this in Oklahoma.
[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 group of Satanists wants to erect a seven-foot status of Satan at the Oklahoma state Capitol. The move is seen as backhand attack on the state’s Ten Commandments statue, which was erected in 2012 and paid with private funds. Other groups, like a Hindu animal rights group and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster have also made arguments for their own displays near the Capitol.[/toggle]
4. Why is Princess Cristina, the daughter of Spanish King Juan Carlos, under investigation?
[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”]Princess Cristinia is being investigated on tax fraud and money laundering charges. Her husband Inaki Urdangarin is under investigation for embezzling money from public contracts. The investigation has been an embarassment for King Carlos and has hurt the Spanish public’s opinion of the royal family.[/toggle]
5. French President Francois Hollande has backed bans on performances by comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala for what reason?
[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”]Dieudonne has been convicted six times for hate speech against Jews and has a history of deriding Holocaust survivors. His supporters argue that France is stifling freedom of speech and that the local bans are operating on shaky legal grounds. Hollande and other French officials consider Diedonne’s performances a threat to the public order.[/toggle]
6. A federal judge recently found this city’s ordinance that restricted gun sales unconstitutional. This city’s gun ban was struck down in 2010 by the U.S. Supreme Court.
[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”]Chicago. A federal judge recently found the city’s ban on hand gun sales and transfers in violation of the Second Amendment. The ordinance that was struck down was passed in 2010 and was ruled to go too far. Chicago is looking into other options to regulate firearms and may appeal the decision.[/toggle]
7. How did Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently respond to police raids on suspects linked to the government in an anti-corruption investigation?
[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”]Erdogan and the Turkish government have recently removed at least 350 police officers from their positions in the capital of Ankara for allegedly operating outside of the chain of command. Opponents argue that Erdogan is obstructing the corruption investigation and weakening the rule of law, while Erdogan has denounced the corruption probe as a conspiracy against his government. The government has removed prosecutors overseeing elements of the corruption investigation up to this point.[/toggle]
8. The sheriff of this large American city has recently announced his retirement amid a federal investigation into the treatment of inmates and obstruction of justice.
[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”]Los Angeles. The sheriff, Lee Baca, announced yesterday that he was retiring at the end of the month and would not seek re-election to a fifth term.[/toggle]
9. How long is President Obama asking Congress to extend emergency unemployment benefits?
[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”]President Obama is calling on Congress to extend emergency unemployment benefits by three months, which would impact an estimated 1.3 million Americans. These Americans had their benefits run out on December 28th. The benefit extension would cost $6.5 billion.[/toggle]
10. What weather phenomenon is being blamed for the cold temperatures blanketing much of the country this week?
[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”]Meterologists are speculating that the colder temperatures are due to a “distorted polar vortex.” A polar vortex is a circulation of strong, upper-level winds that are located near the North Pole. The winds move there in a counterclockwise direction and this pattern keeps the colder temperatures locked in the Arctic. The distorted vortex, which can occur when Arctic winds are weaker, is what sends colder air southward.[/toggle]