Extemp Central News Quiz for the Week of December 30th, 2013-January 5th, 2014

[fblike]

quiz-01Here is the last news quiz of 2013 and the first of 2014.  Good luck and happy new year!

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

1. It was reported last week that Edward Snowden has reached out to this Latin American nation for permanent asylum.

[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”]Brazil.  Snowden said that he could best assist Brazil’s investigation into NSA spying if he were granted permanent asylum by the Brazilian government.[/toggle]

2. Saudi Arabia recently provided $3 billion in what type of aid to what fellow Middle Eastern nation and why?

[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”]Saudi Arabia recently provided $3 billion in military aid to Lebanon in an attempt to bolster the fortunes of the government relative to Hezbollah, who is an ally of Syria, which is an opponent of Saudi interests in the Middle East.  The funds will be used to purchase military equipment from the French, who were the former colonial power in Lebanon.[/toggle]

3. Netflix might end up offering a cheaper subscription to customers in 2014 in anticipation of competition from this business.

[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”]Netflix is anticipating more competition from Amazon in 2014 who has tied its video streaming service with an Amazon Prime subscription for $79 a year.[/toggle]

4. Chinese recycling material mogul Chen Guangbiao made headlines earlier this week by saying that he would like to purchase this American newspaper.

[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 New York Times.  To do it, he would have to buy it from the Sulzberger family that has run the paper for generations.  It said earlier this year at the paper was not for sale.  Guangbiao has said that if he fails to purchase the Times that he may look into buying the Wall Street Journal, CNN, or the Washington Post.[/toggle]

5. Russia suffered two suicide attacks on December 29th and 30th that killed at least thirty-four people and wounded over eighty others. Where did these attacks take place?

[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 suicide attacks took place in Volgograd, a city in southern Russia.  International terrorism experts argue that Russian security services cannot prevent terrorist attacks on the Sochi Olympics from small, well-organized groups.  No group has taken responsibility for the Volgograd attacks, but President Vladimir Putin has considered them acts of terrorism and has vowed to eliminate terrorism in Russia.[/toggle]

6. Utah investigators recently ruled that this caused twenty-seven bald eagles to die in its state this month.

[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”]State investigators ruled that West Nile Virus caused the deaths of the eagles, who acquired the virus after eating infected grebes.[/toggle]

7. Syria recently missed a December 31st deadline as part of its international accord on chemical weapons. What deadline did it miss?

[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 Syrian government recently missed a deadline to turn over the deadliest parts of its chemical arsenal to ships for delivery to an American ship that would destroy them at sea.  Despite the missed deadline, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons insists that the plan to rid Syria of chemical weapons is on track.[/toggle]

8. Why is Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government facing protests in Turkey?

[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”]Hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the streets to protest corruption in Erdogan’s government.  Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, is seeing his Justice and Development Party (AKP) face a graft investigation concerning construction projects and money transfers to Iran.  The investigation has caused five Members of Parliament (MPs) and three cabinet ministers to resign.  The investigation could hurt the AKP at the polls, since elections loom in three months.[/toggle]

9. Which nation has agreed to host talks between South Sudan’s government and rebel forces starting today?

[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”]Ethiopia.  Negotiations were set to begin yesterday, but were delayed.  Ethiopian officials worry that continued fighting may cause the talks to fail or not happen at all.[/toggle]

10. As 2013 comes to a close, which country in the world did people from 65 nations tell Win/Gallup International polling was the biggest threat to world peace?

[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 United States.  The U.S. topped the list at 24%, with Pakistan coming in second at 8%.  China followed in third at 6%.[/toggle]

This entry was posted in Quiz and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.