Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
1. In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western leaders have cut major Russian banks off from SWIFT. What is SWIFT?
Spoiler
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is a messaging network that financial institutions used to securely transmit information and instructions. It functions as a global payments system that is used by more than 200 countries and facilitates trillions of cross-border payments. Locking Russian banks out of SWIFT has been likened to a “financial nuclear option” that will prevent those banks from making or receiving international payments through the service and not allow them to receive foreign currency.
2. Who is Ukraine’s president?
Spoiler
Volodymyr Zelenskyy. A former actor and comedian, Zelenskyy took office in 2019 as the country’s sixth president. Prior to the war with Russia, Zelenskyy campaigned on opening a dialogue over Ukraine’s border conflict with the Russian government. He has rallied his country in its current war with Russia, refusing to leave the country.
3. Who did President Biden nominate to the U.S. Supreme Court last week?
Spoiler
Kentaji Brown Jackson. A graduate of Harvard Law School, where she served as editor of the Harvard Law Review, Jackson has been serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit since 2021. If confirmed, Jackson will be the 116th Associate Justice and the first African-American female to serve on the Court. The latter fulfills a campaign pledge by President Biden in 2020.
4. The city of Philadelphia recently banned police from stopping people for what?
Spoiler
Minor traffic violations. The change was pushed forward by councilmember Isaiah Thomas and will bar police from stopping drivers for a single broken brake light, driving with a single headlight, not having a clearly visible registration plate, not having an emissions sticker, having a bumper issue, having minor obstructions in a mirror, or driving without vehicle registration within sixty days. The argument is that these stops will prevent police from disproportionately stopping African-American drivers more. Philadelphia is the first major U.S. city to enact such a policy, which will also require city police to gather and publicly release data on traffic stops.
5. The United Nations is looking into creating a global treaty to regulate which type of pollution?
Spoiler
Plastic pollution. The UN’s Environmental Assembly is currently meeting in Nairobi, Kenya and is expected to propose an international framework to tackle the issue of plastic pollution. The goal is to have a new plastic treaty completed by 2024.
6. This week marks the tenth anniversary of which tragic event that some believe galvanized protesters of racial justice?
Spoiler
The shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Martin, who was seventeen, was killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. Zimmerman was later put on trial for murder but was found not guilty, using Florida’s “stand your ground” law as a defense. It is believed that his death started the formation of the Black Lives Matter movement, which reached its apex after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in May 2020.
7. Which two European countries are being floated as potential new admissions to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)?
Spoiler
Finland and Sweden. Due to the Ukrainian invasion there is renewed speculation that both countries might pursue NATO membership, especially Finland due to sharing a border with Russia. A recent poll by Finnish state broadcaster Yle showed that 53% of people there support joining. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of “serious military-political consequences” if either country joins NATO.
8. The leader of which country has denied reports that special operations units will join Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
Spoiler
Belarus. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says that his country’s military forces will not join Russia in Ukraine, but has also denied reports that Russia is using its forces in Belarus to attack Ukrainian territory.
9. What weapons did Germany agree to send Ukraine?
Spoiler
On Saturday, the German government decided to send 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger anti-aircraft defense systems to Ukraine. It also told the Netherlands to send Ukraine 400 rocket-propelled grenade launchers and Estonia to send nine howitzers. The decision was notable as the German government has refused to send weapons to conflict zones since World War II.
10. President Biden will host leaders of which international organization at the White House in March?
Spoiler
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). President Biden will meet with them on March 28 and 29, part of the administration’s effort to bolster engagement in Asia to meet the threat posed by a rising China.