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

1. Which European country recently brokered a deal with a U.S. company for nuclear energy?

Spoiler
Poland. The U.S. company Westinghouse Electric Company won a bid over French and South Korean companies to build Poland’s first nuclear power plant. Poland is selling the deal as a way to diversify its energy supply and be less reliant on Russian natural gas.

2. Why did the Democratic Republic of Congo expel Rwanda’s ambassador last week?

Spoiler
It was retaliation for what the Congolese government alleges is Rwanda’s support for the M23 rebellion in Eastern Congo. Last week rebels took control of two towns in Eastern Congo and greatly expanded their territory. Rwanda denies that it is supporting rebels in Congo’s east.

3. What illness is sweeping through Haiti?

Spoiler
Cholera. The current cholera epidemic has killed at least forty people and sickened 1,700 more, but health officials think the number could be higher because gang violence is making it difficult for people to move through the country. According to UNICEF, children who are younger than fourteen make up 50% of all the reported cholera cases so far.

4. What happened to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband last week?

Spoiler
Pelosi’s husband, Paul, was attacked by a home invader with a hammer. Paul Pelosi went through several hours of surgery to repair a skull fracture and injuries to his right arm. A witness told police that the assailant wanted to know where Speaker Pelosi was, making law enforcement believe that she was a possible target. The incident has led to calls for greater security for members of Congress and denunciations of the current temperature of political rhetoric in the United States.

5. How much did Elon Musk pay for Twitter?

Spoiler
$44 billion. Musk took control of Twitter on Thursday and proceeded to fire several top executives after taking over. A flood of conspiracy and hateful rhetoric emerged on Twitter after Musk’s takeover, testing Twitter’s old content moderation standards. This led to companies like General Motors to suspend advertising on the social media platform until they see what content regulations are allowed to stay in place.

6. Who won Brazil’s presidential election?

Spoiler
Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. da Silva defeated President Jair Bonsolaro in the closest election in Brazilian history, winning 50.9% of the popular vote against Bolsonaro’s 49%. It marked the first time in Brazil’s modern democratic history that an incumbent was defeated.

7. The International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor moved this week to reopen an investigation against which Latin American leader?

Spoiler
Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro. Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan moved to reopen an investigation into torture allegations and extrajudicial killings that were done by security forces under Maduro’s government. Other Latin American countries – Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru – have supported the investigation into Maduro’s human rights record since 2014.

8. How many elections has Israel held in the last four years?

Spoiler
Five. Israeli voters went to the polls yesterday to cast their ballots in yet another parliamentary election, an attempt to break recent political deadlock. Observers noted that turnout was on track to be the highest since 1999. Results were not known at the time that this quiz was put together.

9. The U.S. Treasury moved this week to sanction weapons suppliers to which terrorist groups?

Spoiler
Al-Shabab and Islamic State-Somalia. The U.S. Treasury moved this week to freeze and block transactions from a weapons trafficking network as part of its commitment to strengthen Somalia’s government.

10. What tragedy affect South Korea last weekend?

Spoiler
A crowd surge in the Seoul neighborhood of Itaewon led to a deadly crush that claimed the lives of at least 156 people, many of the victims women and teenagers. South Korea’s police chief admitted “a heavy responsibility” yesterday in not doing more to prevent the tragedy. More than 100,000 people were said to have come out to celebrate Halloween in the district.