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Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
To acces
s a list of all our old quizzes, click here.
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Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete! Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.
This R&D provides resources on corporate tax inversions in the United States. An inversion is where a corporation re-incorporates itself in another location to lower its tax burden. Corporations usually do this by merging with another entity, as Pfizer, an American pharmaceutical company, recently attempted to do with Allergan, an Irish pharmaceutical firm. The Obama administration is taking action via the Treasury Department to prevent inversions of this sort and its rules blocked Pfizer’s move. Critics argue that the best way to prevent more inversions – a practice that has accelerated with American firms since 2014 – is to overhaul the U.S. tax code instead of relying on executive actions.
Only Congress can fully stop inversions and the looting of the American corporate taxes. https://t.co/E5hth6cZsB pic.twitter.com/jIF7TOgiMd
— NYT Opinion (@nytopinion) April 7, 2016
President Obama praises new federal steps designed to deter corporate financial practice known as ‘tax inversions:” https://t.co/eORlWX8fBr
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 5, 2016
Obama lumps in tax inversions with #PanamaPapers, but @MKTWGoldstein says he’s wrong: https://t.co/0CfAUUFibJ pic.twitter.com/4pcSuJ2uRx
— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) April 6, 2016
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1. Why have the ICC prosecutions into 2007 electoral violence in Kenya failed?
2. How can more “unity” come to Libya’s unity government?
3. Should Greece receive another IMF bailout?
4. Can the Minsk Group successfully resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute?
5. Will Iran’s ballistic missile program scuttle the gains it made in its nuclear deal with the West?
6. Are term limits needed for Africa to experience stronger economic growth?
7. How will a close economic relationship between Saudi Arabia and Egypt affect the geopolitics of the Middle East?
8. Is Somalia winnig its battle against Islamist rebels?
9. Will David Cameron’s involvement in the Panama Papers controversy affect the Brexit vote?
10. Should the West lament the resignation of Arseniy Yatsenyuk?
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1. Will Bill Clinton’s clash with Black Lives Matter activists hurt Hillary Clinton?
2. Does the Supreme Court need to become more diverse?
3. Is Mississippi’s religious liberty bill constitutional?
4. Should the GOP establishment cast its lot with Ted Cruz?
5. How can the U.S. tax code become more simplified?
6. Should the Baker Hughes-Halliburton merger be allowed?
7. Does the U.S. need more regulations to combat corporate inversions?
8. Was the Boston Globe’s fake front page about Donald Trump appropriate?
9. Does Bernie Sanders have a mathematical chance of winning the Democratic presidential nomination?
10. Should the U.S. back the new UN resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
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Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete! Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.
Here is our weekly survey of news stories to round out the week of April 4-10, 2016.
Poverty in American cities has grown even more concentrated since the Great Recession: https://t.co/mT2tYBMF5d pic.twitter.com/JaIs2BZjRW
— Brookings (@BrookingsInst) April 7, 2016
Russian space science is taking a giant leap — but budget cuts could bring it back to Earth https://t.co/I1njWwro1d pic.twitter.com/VT9c2Zm0hD
— News from Science (@NewsfromScience) April 7, 2016
Merkel has once again been forced to make difficult, inevitably unpopular decisions. https://t.co/jUKjWhrKeq pic.twitter.com/HcNpYMvFK7
— Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) April 7, 2016
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Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete! Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.
This R&D provides resources about the use of torture in the war on terrorism. A Reuters poll last week showed that nearly two-thirds of Americans support the use of torture against suspected terrorists. Analysts argue that this level of support reflects the San Bernardino, Paris, and Brussels attacks that have taken place over the last four months. Proponents say that torture can extract vital information that saves lives, but opponents counter that it is not effective and violates America’s founding principles.
Torture doesn’t work. But Americans keep saying they favor it. https://t.co/lD4EA810EU
— Vox (@voxdotcom) March 31, 2016
Most Americans back torture of ‘terror’ suspects, new poll finds https://t.co/OaTl86lZ6k pic.twitter.com/BLI97rkE5S
— AJE News (@AJENews) March 31, 2016
Poll: Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe torture can be justified with terror suspects: https://t.co/e9QTnxDTif pic.twitter.com/mbJOm1mNzR
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) March 30, 2016
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Last weekend fighting resumed between Armenian separatists and Azerbaijan-backed forces in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The remote territory, located within Azerbaijan territory, is largely Armenian in ethnic composition and since 1994 it has been controlled by rebels that wish to detach it from Azerbaijan and make it an independent entity. Azerbaijan has long wished to regain it, but anxiety about how a takeover would be perceived by Armenians in the area, as well as the strong defensive position of separatist forces has prevented it from taking action up to now. Why the current fighting began is still a mystery as both sides accuse the other of taking offensive action first. While it would be easy to dismiss the conflict as a local affair, Turkey and Russia, both of whom are still smarting over a confrontation in Syria last fall, back opposite sides in the conflict, with Turkey casting its lot behind Muslim Azerbaijan and Russia having a defense treaty with Christian Armenia. Although the conflict appeared to be winding down as of the time of this brief, it could flare up again in the near future and create much more instability in Europe’s borderlands.
This topic brief will highlight some of the important vocabulary that extempers need to possess to give a speech on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, explain the history of the region, and analyze the geopolitical implications of the conflict.
Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.
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Here is today’s premium R&D to accompany today’s premium topic brief on the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan’s defense ministry agrees on a cease-fire with separatists in the Nagorno-Karabakh region: https://t.co/83L8XVMfsS
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 5, 2016
Nagorno-Karabakh: The conflict no-one, including Israel, wants to solve https://t.co/MEsH7eKCPj pic.twitter.com/PoKSWxpajK
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) April 5, 2016
Why has the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh resumed now? @Tom_deWaal examines the situation.https://t.co/YkX7H4fx13 pic.twitter.com/qkUJJkCetC
— Carnegie Russia (@CarnegieRussia) April 4, 2016
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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.
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Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete! Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.
This R&D provides resources on nuclear proliferation. President Barack Obama held a summit of more than fifty world leaders last week in Washington, D.C. concerning the issue. The summit discussed how to prevent terrorists from acquiring nuclear material and cooperation over nuclear materials. However, Russia opted not to attend which critics say made it a useless exercise.
World leaders met to try to reduce the threat from nuclear weapons. Putin boycotted. https://t.co/RBQgNIe2si pic.twitter.com/Auji5JM4aE
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 31, 2016
I will keep repeating until folks listen. Strategic failure to not link ballistic missiles w/ #nuclear proliferation https://t.co/bBnL4XyBM0
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) April 1, 2016
Toward a world free of nuclear weapons? Hardly–President Obama already blew away his chance. https://t.co/sNVQMJhu7T
— LobeLog (@LobeLog) April 4, 2016
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1. Should the use of torture be a vital component in the war against terrorism?
2. How should Chicago combat its rising violent crime rate?
3. What would a “rebuilt” Republican Party look like?
4. Does America need to be “great” again?
5. Would a $15 minimum wage hike devastate the Californian economy?
6. Should the U.S. encourage or discourage a “Brexit”?
7. Is the U.S. bearing too much of the cost of European defense?
8. Should Democrats scrap “superdelegates” in future election cycles?
9. What should be America’s foreign policy with Turkey?
10. Will Donald Trump’s abortion comments cost him the GOP presidential nomination?
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1. Is the goal of a nuclear weapons-free world obtainable?
2. How should Russian opposition groups challenge the Putin regime?
3. Has Nawaz Sharif made Pakistan more vulnerable to terror attacks?
4. Is Belgium a failed state?
5. What reforms does Egypt need to make with regards to airline security?
6. Is Ukraine serious about fighting corruption?
7. What is responsible for Al Jazeera’s recent difficulties?
8. Will 2016 be the year of the “Latin American Spring”?
9. Is Mexico making significant progress in its war on drugs?
10. Should the international community halt food aid for North Korea?
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Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete! Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.
Here is our weekly survey of news stories to round out the week of March 28-April 3, 2016.
The Chinese Communist Party (#CCP) has 86 million members, but faces growing challenges: https://t.co/rQBRxj0Iqa pic.twitter.com/seWbwa2UTX
— CFR (@CFR_org) March 31, 2016
Scientists set out to create a state-of-the-art map of a mosquito genome, and conquer Zika pic.twitter.com/iEnNpSqVyO
— NYT National News (@NYTNational) March 31, 2016
Moqtada al-Sadr is back, proving that he’s still a force in Iraqi politics https://t.co/gwk7bWORwm
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 31, 2016
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Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete! Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.
This R&D provides resources on Canada’s budget, the first under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Departing from the austerity measures of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Trudeau’s budget calls for a $22.5 billion deficit, three times what was initially promised during the 2015 campaign. The arts, indigenous education, and benefits for veterans received a boost, but new military spending has been delayed. Like other oil exporters, Canada is attempting to weather a significant reduction in global oil prices and if this continues over the long-term it could force Trudeau’s Liberal government to trim spending in future years.
Canada’s Liberals budget for deficit three times higher than they promised https://t.co/9dOzsgBbhy
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 22, 2016
Jack Mintz: Liberals’ budget hikes pressure on Canada’s dangerous debt bomb #business https://t.co/YRkhXhp9eg pic.twitter.com/bIGbCB1P1H
— National Post (@nationalpost) March 22, 2016
5 ways Canada’s Finance Minister can find tens of billions of dollars for his budget https://t.co/7T3RMNU372 #canlab pic.twitter.com/cCnsJwtsz7
— PressProgress (@pressprogress) March 21, 2016
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On March 22 the Belgian capital of Brussels was rocked by two suicide attacks. One took place at the American Airlines counter at Zaventern airport and the other took place at a nearby subway station. As of the time of this brief, at least thirty-one people were reported killed and another 270 were reported wounded. The Islamic State quickly claimed responsibility for the attacks and investigators wonder if there was a link between the attack and the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, considered the lone survivor of the Paris terror attacks last year. Belgium has acquired a reputation as a terror hotbed of Europe, with militants using Brussels and other Belgian cities as planning centers for other attacks throughout Europe and the world. The attacks will likely cause the Belgian government to bolster its security infrastructure and rethink some of its policies regarding the integration of immigrants from Islamic nations. And the attacks will likely bolster a right-wing critique of existing security policies within the European Union (EU) that they say make the continent more vulnerable to attack.
This topic brief will highlight some of the major terminology and people that extempers should know related to these attacks, explain why Belgium is struggling to deal with terrorism, and note some ways that Belgian authorities are likely to respond to the recent attacks.
Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.