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

To accesquiz-01s a list of all our old quizzes, click here.

1. This nation recently sentenced an American national to fifteen years’ hard labor for stealing a political banner at a hotel.

[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”]North Korea.  The individual, twenty-one-year-old college student Otto Warmbier, said that he stole the banner as a trophy for a friend’s mother back home.  Warmbier’s release could factor into future U.S.-North Korean negotiations as ties between both countries are chilly at the moment.[/toggle]

2. What post does Merrick Garland, President Obama’s recent pick for the Supreme Court, occupy in the federal judiciary?

[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”]Garland is the chief justice of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.  He has served in this post since 1997.  He has a moderate record, but Republicans have pledged not to hold confirmation hearings.  Garland is currently sixty-three, which makes him the oldest nominee in fifty years.[/toggle]

3. The European Space Agency and Russia are launching a joint mission to this planetary body.

[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”]Mars.  The mission will analyze methane and other atmospheric gases on the red planet and deploy a lander.  The spacecraft will arrive at Mars in October.[/toggle]

4. This nation said that it would withdraw the “main part” of its forces from Syria last 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”]Russia.  Vladimir Putin made the announcement early last week.  However, there are few Russian grounds troops in Syria and Russian air forces remain in place.  The announcement does appear to press Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to reach a political solution to the ongoing civil war, though.[/toggle]

5. Which two parties fared the best in Germany’s regional elections on March 13?

[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 Green Party and the Social Democrats.  The far-right Alternative for Germany Party made gains, but the Greens and Social Democrats seemed to fare better in an election that dealt a blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel.  What made the election curious is that the Greens and Social Democrats have favored Merkel’s refugee position.[/toggle]

6. How many delegates does Donald Trump have to win to avoid a contested convention?

[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”]1,237.  It is possible that Trump can achieve this number so long as he wins roughly 53% of the remaining delegates.  California may decide whether or not he gets there, though, as models show that Trump needs to win the state to clear the 1,237 benchmark.[/toggle]

7. How many countries are in the British Commonwealth of Nations?

[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 intergovernmental organization units territories that were once part of the British Empire.  It seeks to promote human rights and democracy, but some members such as Sri Lanka have registered poor records on those accounts over the years.  Still, the organization boats nearly a third of the world’s population and has a GDP worth of $10.45 trillion as of 2014.[/toggle]

8. Who is the current mayor of London?

[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”]Boris Johnson.  Johnson is a member of the Conservative Party and he is opposing Prime Minister David Cameron’s campaign to remain in the European Union.  Johnson has sometimes been deemed as a replacement for Cameron, but for now he is content to blast Cameron’s claims that the British economy would be hurt by a “Brexit.”[/toggle]

9. What are some of the terms of the recent EU-Turkish migrant deal?

[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 deal calls for the EU to accept up to 72,000 migrants from Turkey so long as those migrants have not attempted to cross the Aegean Sea.  The EU will send any migrants that do not achieve asylum status back to Turkey, which will receive more than $6 billion from the EU to care for migrants.  Turkey has pledged to target human traffickers more aggressively and in return it will have accession talks restarted for one day becoming an EU member.  Turkish nationals are set to also have access to the EU’s visa-free travel zone by June.[/toggle]

10. This Republican presidential candidate dropped out of the 2016 election campaign last 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”]Florida Senator Marco Rubio.  Rubio dropped out after losing his home state to Donald Trump in last week’s primary contests.  Although he made a decent showing in Iowa and South Carolina, Rubio was never able to gain traction after that.  He did win primary contests in Minnesota, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., but he found it difficult to convince conservative voters to abandon Trump and Ted Cruz and embrace his campaign.[/toggle]