Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz.
1. Why did the FBI conduct a raid on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate this week?
Spoiler
The FBI conducted the raid on Monday as part of a federal investigation into whether former President Trump took classified records after he left the White House. The National Archives and Records Administration says that it received fifteen boxes of classified material from Mar-a-Lago earlier this year and argues that this material should have been turned over by President Trump when he left office. Former President Trump denies wrongdoing, saying that he maintained presidential records in keeping with past presidents.
2. The New York metropolitan area is currently tackling an uptick of which virus?
Spoiler
Polio. There are fears that hundreds could have polio in New York City after an adult in the area caught it last month. New York’s Health Commissioner has urged people to get the polio vaccine. The U.S. was declared polio free in 1979, but there have been cases where international travelers have brought the virus back into the country.
3. Recently, a Mississippi grand jury refused to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham for what crime?
Spoiler
A grand jury refused to indict Donham on charges of kidnapping and manslaughter for the death of Black teenager Emmett Till in 1955. Till, who was from Chicago, was visiting relatives in Mississippi and was abducted by Donham’s then-husband Roy Bryant and his brother-in-law J.W. Milam for whistling at a white woman. Donham revealed in an unpublished memoir that her husband abducted Till and brought him to her for identification. Till’s gruesome murder, which Bryant and Milam were found not guilty for, is seen as a galvanizing force in the modern Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
4. What is the new U.S. unemployment rate?
Spoiler
3.5%. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy added 528,000 jobs last month. These jobs were found in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, and healthcare sectors. The new rate is lower than last month’s 3.6% rate, matching a 50-year low that the United States reached before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
5. What does the CHIPS Act do?
Spoiler
The CHIPS Act, a bipartisan measure, aims to increase domestic manufacturing of semiconductors. Semiconductors help to power smartphone, computer, and automobile technology and the legislation provides $52 billion to bolster U.S. chipmaking. The Biden administration has championed the technology as a way to check the power of an emerging China.
6. Who was the only U.S. senator to vote against allowing Finland and Sweden into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)?
Spoiler
Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who is a Republican. Hawley argued that allowing Finland and Sweden into NATO would stretch American defense commitments in Europe at a time when the U.S. needs to enhance its defense commitments in Asia to counter China. He wrote a piece in the National Interest entitled “Why I Won’t Vote to Add Sweden and Finland to NATO” on August 1. Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, voted present on the measure.
7. What started a three-day conflict in Gaza recently between Israel and Islamic Jihad?
Spoiler
Fighting between the two sides started on Friday afternoon when Israel launched a pre-emptive strike on Gaza to head off what it says was an imminent attack. Israel was targeting the forces of Islamic Jihad, Gaza’s second-largest militant group behind Hamas. Reports are that 44 people have been killed in Gaza and 311 have been wounded.
8. Which workers have gone on strike in Lebanon?
Spoiler
Public sector workers. They have been on strike for six weeks over poor wages, which have not been raised since 2019 even though the country’s currency has lost over 90% of its value against the dollar, causing the prices of goods like food, gasoline, and medicine to rise. Other demands of the workers are better healthcare and a stipend to handle high gas prices. Lebanon has been beset by a financial crisis since late 2019 that has eroded trust in the government’s institutions.
9. What did China do in response to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to visit Taiwan?
Spoiler
China conducted provocative military drills and missile launches close to Taiwan, with some missiles landing in waters claimed by Japan. It also sanctioned Taiwanese agricultural goods and imports of Chinese sand. Taiwan was also the victim of cyberattacks and it halted military and climate ties with the United States.
10. Which African nation is held its presidential election yesterday?
Spoiler
Kenya. The race pits Raila Odinga, an opposition leader, against William Ruto, a former deputy to President Uhuru Kenyatta. Ruto is arguing for spending more on job opportunities and increasing agricultural productivity, while Odinga favors cash handouts for the poor and greater access to healthcare. Major issues in the election are corruption and the state of the economy, as Kenya is facing growing food prices due to the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.