Extemp Central News Quiz for the Week of August 11th-17th, 2014

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quiz-01Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz.  Good luck!

To access a list of all our old quizzes, click here.

1. Lawmakers in this U.S. state have been ordered to redraw their congressional district map.

[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”]Florida.  A state judge ruled that Florida’s existing map was unconstitutional because it placed most of the state’s black voters in Northern Florida in the same Congressional district to help Republican candidates in neighboring districts.[/toggle]

2. Which two African leaders, both of whom have been criticized for human rights violations, were not invited to President Obama’s African summit?

[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”]Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Omar al-Bashir of Sudan.  Mugabe has been criticized for abusing the rights of political opponents for more than a decade and al-Bashir is currently under indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Sudanese actions in Darfur.[/toggle]

3. This NASCAR driver killed a man in a local sprint race in New York on Saturday.

[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”]Tony Stewart.  Stewart’s car struck Kevin Ward, Jr., after Ward got out of his car and gestured at Stewart after their cars collided on the previous lap.  Stewart is cooperating with a police investigation into the incident.[/toggle]

4. Twelve educators from this U.S. city are facing trial for their participation in a 2009 cheating scandal.

[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”]Atlanta, Georgia.  Twelve former Atlanta educators are being charged with conspiring to alter students’ standardized test scores.  In 2009, a state investigation found that forty-four Atlanta public schools were cheating on standardized tests to receive state bonuses.  If convicted, the educators could face up to twenty years in prison.[/toggle]

5. Russian criminals have allegedly stolen this many Internet passwords.

[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”]It has been reported that a Russian criminal gang has stolen 1.2 billion Internet user names and passwords.  If confirmed, it would be the largest theft of digital credentials in history.[/toggle]

6. What criticisms did Hillary Clinton level toward President Obama’s Middle East policies last week?

[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”]Clinton accused the Obama administration of not building up a credibly fighting force of opponents against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which allowed jihadists to fill the void.  She also criticized President Obama’s foreign policy for being overly cautious and warned that the Islamic State will eventually become a threat to the United States if it remains unchecked.[/toggle]

7. The Turkish presidency is largely ceremonial, but what powers does the president enjoy?

[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 Turkish president has the power to summon the Turkish parliament to meet, can submit constitutional amendments to a national referendum, call new parliamentary elections, appoint a new prime minister, ratify treaties, and appoint members of the Constitutional Court.  Former Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the first popularly elected Turkish president on Sunday, winning 52% of the vote.[/toggle]

8. Who are the Yazidis?

[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 Yazidis are a Kurdish community who practice elements of the Zoroastrian religion.  They have faced attacks this month from the Islamic State and the United States has launched airstrikes to protect them after they fled to Mount Sinjar.[/toggle]

9. Who did Iraqi President Fouad Massoum recently nominate for Iraqi prime minister?

[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”]Haider al-Ibadi. President Massoum snubbed current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and hopes that al-Ibadi, the deputy parliamentary speaker, will form a new government that can reduce some of Iraq’s sectarian tensions.[/toggle]

10. What incident recently triggered riots in Ferguson, Missouri?

[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 police shooting of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black teenager. Rioting and looting broke out in Ferguson late Sunday night. The shooting is currently being investigated by St. Louis County police.[/toggle]

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