Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
1. What did Poland and Lithuania recently announce that they would do to help Ukraine’s war with Russia?
Spoiler
Repatriate Ukrainians who are subject to their country’s military draft. Ukraine is facing a deficit of soldiers in its ongoing battle with Russia and its government recently lowered the age of draftees from 27 to 25. Last week Ukraine announced that it was not allowing men in that age range to access consular services. It is unclear how many Ukrainians are in surrounding nations since the war broke out but one estimate puts the number in Poland at more than 300,000 people.
2. Who is the new prime minister of Haiti?
Spoiler
Fritz Belizaire, who previously worked as the nation’s Sports Minister. Belizaire was appointed to the position by Haiti’s transition council, a nine-member body that is seeking to quell gang violence and create circumstances to hold new national elections. Belizaire is replacing Michel Patrick Boisvert, who served as interim prime minister after the former Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned.
3. According to a proposal from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, marijuana will be reclassified as what level drug?
Spoiler
Schedule III. This will place marijuana alongside ketamine and some anabolic steroids. Currently, marijuana is a Schedule I drug alongside heroin and LSD. The DEA’s scheduled reclassification is still subject to review by the White House Office of Management and Budget. However, some marijuana advocates argue that the change does not go far enough, saying that it should be removed from the controlled-substances list and regulated like alcohol.
4. Which U.S. state recently allowed teachers to carry concealed firearms on school grounds?
Spoiler
Tennessee. Governor Bill Lee signed legislation on Friday that would let teachers and staff carry concealed handguns. It also bars parents and other teachers from finding out who is armed in their schools. Those wishing to carry a firearm would need 40 hours of handgun training and clear a background check. The bill was not Lee’s first attempt at limiting gun violence, though, as he asked the Republican legislature to enact legislation to keep those who were a danger to themselves or others from accessing a firearm. However, state legislators refused. The bill is a response to a shooting last year at the Covenant School in Nashville that killed three students and the head of the school.
5. Which prominent U.S. criminal defendant had a 2020 conviction reversed in New York last week?
Spoiler
Film producer Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction was thrown out by the New York Court of Appeals last Thursday, which ruled that the trial judge allowed jurors to see evidence that was unrelated to the charges. It wiped out a 23-year prison sentence given to Weinstein and he was ordered to have a new trial. The appeal does not mean Weinstein is released, though, as he was also found guilty of the same crime in California. Accusations and investigations of Weinstein in 2017, sparked by a New York Times investigative piece, started the #MeToo movement.
6. Protests in Argentina this week were directed toward President Javier Milei’s plans to do what?
Spoiler
Freeze the budget for public universities. More than 100,000 protesters gathered in front of the Cosa Rosada, the official presidential workplace, to try to reverse President Milei’s plan last week. Protesters argue that even though education funding is not being reduced a freeze is a cut because of Aregentina’s inflation rate.
7. Which U.S. state recently handed down indictments of allies of former President Donald Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election?
Spoiler
Arizona. Those indicted include former White House aide Boris Epshteyn, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Eight other individuals are also subject to indictment on a list of nine counts that range from conspiracy to forgery to engaging in fradulent schemes. Prosecutors allege that fake electors were assembled to vote for Trump and thwart the will of Arizona voters in the 2020 presidential election. In 2020 President Joe Biden won the state by less than 11,000 votes, becoming the first Democrat to do so since Bill Clinton in 1996.
8. Last week Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution concerning weapons in what place?
Spoiler
Outer space. The UN Security Council was seeking to affirm the 1967 Outer Space Treaty that saw parties agree “not to place in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction.” The United States has alleged that Russia is seeking to develop space-based weapons that can target satellites. The vote in the Security Council saw 13 of 15 members vote in favor of the resolution. Russia vetoed it while China abstained.
9. Who is Spain’s prime minister and why did he threaten to resign last week?
Spoiler
Pedro Sanchez, who is the leader of the Socialist Party. He threatened to resign last week and suspended his public duties after a corruption investigation was launched against his wife Begona Gomez. The investigation began after a complaint by pressure group Manos Limpias. Sanchez has accused his political opponents of working with the far-right to go after his family.
10. Which international institution suspended funding for a tourism project in Tanzania last week and why did they do so?
Spoiler
The World Bank. It suspended a $150 million project to help manage natural resources and tourism in Southern Tanzania called REGROW due to the displacement and suffering inflicted on more than 10,000 villagers. The displacements took place as Tanzania sought to expand the Ruaha National Park.