Here is this week’s news quiz. Good luck!
1. What does Section 230 of Title 47 of the United States Code concern?
Spoiler
Section 230, last amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, provides immunity for website platforms that host third-party content. It gives them legal immunity from lawsuits over that content. This shield law is being challenged in the Supreme Court case of Gonzalez v. Google, which had its oral arguments yesterday. Google stands accused of spreading content that radicalzied users into becoming terrorists, thereby making the company legally liable for the death of Nohemi Gonzalez, a 23-year-old California college student who was killed in a terrorist attack in Paris in November 2015. Google warns that if it were to lose this case it will lead to wider censorship on its platform, a concern echoed by other tech giants and social media companies. That could constitute a stifling of free speech.
2. What action did Canada recently make to help reduce violence in Haiti?
Spoiler
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last week that Canada would send naval vessels to gather intelligence in an effort to combat gang violence in Haiti. Canada had previously send one of its surveillance planes to collect information for Haiti’s police. Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has pleaded for a U.S. and Canadian military intervention to stabilize his country but neither power will commit to leading or sending ground troops into the impoverished Caribbean nation.
3. Why was former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in the news over the weekend?
Spoiler
Carter, who governed the United States from 1977-1981, announced that he was entering hospice care. He is already America’s long-lived president at the age of 98. The announcement from the Carter Center led to an outpouring of support among admirers and even former political opponents, who reminded Americans of Carter’s charity and foreign policy work since leaving the White House.
4. The United Nations recently condemned what action by Israel earlier this week?
Spoiler
Israel’s continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank. The UN Security Council voted unanimously for a resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction but it was watered-down by the U.S., which made the resolution not legally binding. Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s UN ambassador, said that continued Israeli settlement building in the West Bank was “dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution” that has been advanced by the UN since 1948.
5. What type of discrimination is Seattle currently looking to eliminate?
Spoiler
Caste-based discrimination. Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant is pushing for a city ordinance that would add caste to the city’s anti-discrimination laws. If it passes, Seattle would become the first U.S. city to ban caste-based discrimination. Activists among the Dalit community, which is the lowest caste in the Indian caste system, argue that discriminaton against them is prevalent in Indian diasporic communities in the U.S.
6. Who is New Hampshire’s current governor?
Spoiler
Chris Sununu. Sununu is a four-term governor of New Hampshire, last winning office with 57% of the vote in 2022 (New Hampshire elects its governors every two years). His father, John Sununu, was a former White House Chief of Staff and New Hampshire Governor (1983-1989). Sununu declined to run for the Senate in the last election cycle, which helped Democrats keep the state’s seat. He is considering a presidential bid, which experts believe would constitute a challenge from the moderate wing of the party to former President Donald Trump.
7. Sri Lanka’s path to get a reduction of its foreign debt has been blocked by which country?
Spoiler
China. China owns 20% of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt and has opposed reducing what Sri Lanka owes in fear of other borrowers demanding similar cuts. China’s reluctance to agree to a debt relief package has complicated Sri Lanka’s ability to get an emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). All that China has offered is a two-year moratorium for Sri Lanka’s on its payments. Sri Lanka ran out of foreign currency last year, triggering economic chaos that resulted in a toppling of its government.
8. Why did CNN commenator Don Lemon come under fire last week?
Spoiler
Lemon was taken off the air for saying that Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was “past her prime,” igniting criticisms that his remarks were sexist against the only female candidate in the 2024 election (to this point). Lemon is a co-host of “CNN This Morning” and has not appeared on the air after his comments last Thursday.
9. What city did President Biden recently visit, directly challenging Russian President Vladimir Putin?
Spoiler
Kyiv. Biden’s visit was intended to boost the morale of Ukrainians in their war of attrition against Russia. He visited Ukraine’s presidential palace and met with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Biden gave remarks about how Putin’s “war of conquest [was] failing” because of his mere presence in the Ukrainian capital.
10. Who are the three Nigerian presidential candidates with the best chance of winning this week’s election?
Spoiler
Bola Tinubu, Atiuka Abubakar, and Peter Obi. Tinubu is running on the All Progressives Congress ticket and is the former Governor of Lagos from 1999-2007. Obi is a candidate of the Nigerian Labour Party and served as the Governor of Anambra State from 2007-2014. And Abubakar is a former Nigerian Vice President, serving under Olusegun Obasango from 1999-2007. He is a candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party. Nigeria will hold its presidential election on February 25.