Extemp Central News Quiz for the Week of August 1-7, 2016

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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. Massachusetts recently banned employers from asking potential hires about this.

[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”]Previous pay.  The new law will require hiring managers to present compensation upfront in an attempt to equalize pay between men and women and it also prohibits companies from barring their workers from sharing their pay with each other.  The law will take effect in July 2018.[/toggle]

2. The police commissioner of this city recently stepped down.

[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”]New York City.  William Bratton, who also served as the head of the Los Angeles Police Department, announced his retirement earlier this week with plans to enter the private sector.  Bratton was heralded for bringing some of the city’s crime down, but leaves at a time when New Yorkers are divided over how the city is handling criminals.[/toggle]

3. On what conditions was Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Yu released on Monday?

[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”]Yu was released after confessing to “subverting state power” and rejecting an award from the American Bar Association for her work.  Chinese officials had arrested Yu and others for “blackening the reputation of the Chinese state.”  China’s recent human rights crackdown has been condemned by the United Nations and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs).[/toggle]

4. How high is South Africa’s unemployment rate?

[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”]27%.  The high unemployment rate is taking a toll on the African National Congress (ANC), which has governed the country since the end of apartheid in 1994.  The ANC is expected to lose ground in municipal elections this week to the Democratic Alliance (DA), which is steadily improving its reputation among voters.[/toggle]

5. How many electoral votes does a presidential candidate need to win in November?

[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”]270.  Electoral votes are given to states based on their number of senators and representatives.  California has the most electoral votes with fifty-five.[/toggle]

6. This individual at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced yesterday that they would resign in the midst of a hacked e-mail controversy.

[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”]Amy Dacey, who is the current CEO of the DNC.  The DNC is looking to move on after WikiLeaks released e-mails last week that showed the DNC favoring the candidacy of Hillary Clinton over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.  The ensuing anger over the e-mails, which were initially accessed by a hacker, has already claimed the job of DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wassmerman Schultz.[/toggle]

7. How many signatures are needed in order to activate a recall referendum against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro?

[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”]Those looking to get rid of Maduro need to get signatures from at least 20% of the country’s voters.  Opposition activists have gathered 1% of voter signatures in all of the country’s twenty-four states, but must now reach the 20% threshold if they wish to have a recall referendum against Maduro, whose official term of office expires in 2019.[/toggle]

8. This European nation is still without a government and could face a third election this year.

[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”]Spain.  The Socialist and Popular Party (PP) have failed to reach a governing accord after seven months of negotiations and no party has enough seats to govern on its own.  Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says that having a third election would be “nonsense,” but tht may occur if a governing coalition cannot be formed.  Observers worry that the nation’s political dysfunction will continue to harm the nation’s economy.[/toggle]

9. How many nations are part of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)?

[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”]Twelve.  President Obama says that he will continue to push for the TPP’s ratification despite growing opposition to it in Congress.  Prominents members of the accord include the United States, Japan, Australia, and Mexico.[/toggle]

10. Who is the Turkish government asking the U.S. to extradite?

[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”]Cleric Fetullah Gulen.  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan alleges that Gulen was behind last month’s coup attempt.  Turkey has now sent two extradition requests to the U.S., but U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says that Turkey must provide definitive evidence of Gulen’s role in the coup before the government considers the request.[/toggle]

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