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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. Russian President Vladimir Putin has targeted this American fast food chain in response to American sanctions.
[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”]McDonald’s. Russia’s consumer watchdog agency has forced twelve McDonald’s to close thus far. The official reason given for the closures is sanitary violations. McDonald’s was the first fast food restaurant to open in the Soviet Union in 1990.[/toggle]
2. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), healthcare, Social Security, and interest on the national debt will make up this percentage of new federal government spending over the next decade.
[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”]85%. The forecast expects government services outside of healthcare, Social Security, and interest payments on the debt to shrink.[/toggle]
3. Two weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay that kept this state’s gay marriage ban in place.
[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”]Virginia. The move is a signal that the Supreme Court will likely look into appeals of gay marriage legislation in a future session.[/toggle]
4. Why did Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign manager recently resign?
[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”]Jesse Benton, McConnell’s campaign manager, stepped down due to his involvement in a bribery scandal that dates back to the 2012 Iowa Caucuses.[/toggle]
5. California is looking to ban the use of this product in grocery and pharmacy stores.
[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”]Plastic bags. California lawmakers argue that it would reduce pollution and waste. A recently passed bill would require shoppers to pay at least ten cents for a paper or reusable bag if they did not bring one to the store. Massachusetts and Washington are looking at similar plans. Critics say that the legislation constitutes a tax on the poor.[/toggle]
6. A federal judge recently blocked a new Louisiana abortion law. What does that law do?
[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 Louisiana law requires a doctor providing abortion care to obtain admitting privileges at a local hospital. Similar bills have been passed in Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas. Critics allege that it restricts women’s access to abortion services, while proponents argue that they best protect women’s health.[/toggle]
7. On Monday, Turkey announced that it would not normalize its relations with Israel until this step was taken.
[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 said it would not normalize its relations with Israel until Israel lifted its blockade of the Gaza Strip. Relations between Turkey and Israel have been strained since the Turkish Justice and Development (AK) Party took power eleven years ago.[/toggle]
8. How is China limiting the 2017 elections in Hong Kong?
[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”]China is allowing all Hong Kong citizens to vote in the 2017 elections, but it has announced that it will screen the nominees for the office of chief executive. The chief executive is the highest office in the territory. Hong Kong citizens allege that this is a violation of China’s agreement with Great Britain in 1997 that led to the British relinquishing control of the area. In response to China’s limitations on the election, thousands of Hong Kong citizens are expected to protest.[/toggle]
9. Explain what NATO’s new “spearhead” force is.
[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 “spearhead” force is a rapid reaction force in development by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is to be composed of a few thousand troops and could be deployed in less than 48 hours. The creation of the force is a reaction to Russian ventures into Ukraine, who is not a NATO member.[/toggle]
10. Great Britain has given its police this temporary power in order to prevent radical Islamists in Britain from going to Syria or Iraq.
[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 British government has given police forces the power to seize the passports of suspected Islamic militants. Britain has raised its terror threat level to “severe” after a British jihadist is thought to have killed American journalist James Foley. British intelligence estimates that at least 500 people have left the country to fight with extremists in Syria and Iraq.[/toggle]