Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
1. What percentage of the world’s energy comes from nuclear power?
Spoiler
10%. Due to increased concerns about climate change, as well as concerns about the price of natural gas and oil, nuclear energy has started to become an attractive energy alternative again. However, dealing with nuclear waste, as well as the length of time it takes to construct nuclear power plants remains an obstacle.
2. What was Brazil’s Bolsa Familia (Family Fund) Plan?
Spoiler
It was a cash-transfer plan created by Lula da Silva’s government in 2003. It gives money to poor Brazilian families so long as their children attend school and were vaccinated. Analysts say that it helped Brazil reduce its poverty rate by more than 25% during da Silva’s first term. In 2021, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro ended the program but now that da Silva has taken office, he wants to reintroduce it.
3. How long has the African National Congress (ANC) governed South Africa?
Spoiler
29 years. The ANC, which was the primary opponent of South Africa’s old apartheid regime, took power in 1994 when Nelson Mandela was elected president. It has never lost a presidential election since multiracial democracy started. Critics claim, though, that the ANC’s dominance is contributing to corruption and hurting the economy.
4. Which U.S. airline had a massive meltdown of its systems during the holiday season, sparking a federal investigation?
Spoiler
Southwest Airlines. Overloaded scheduling platforms for crews, sickness among those crews, and underinvestment caused Southwest to cancel thousands of flights during the holidays, stranding passengers across the country. The Department of Transportation is doing an investigation into what caused the issue.
5. A Russian naval blockade of which strait has been blamed for a global food crisis?
Spoiler
The Bosporus Strait. It connects ports on the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, which leads into the Aegean Sea. After invading Ukraine, Russia put a naval blockade around Ukraine, preventing wheat and corn from reaching the wider world. Although Russia has allowed some ships to pass due to diplomatic pressure, the damage of fewer grains into the global food supply has led to inflation across the world.
6. Mali has recently jailed soldiers from what country, claiming that they were mercenaries that were seeking to undermine national security?
Spoiler
The Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire). 46 of its soldiers were sentenced to 20 years in jail last week for serving as mercenaries. The Ivory Coast has challenged this claim, arguing that the soldiers were part of a 15,000-member United Nations peacekeeping force that was dispatched there to protect civilians from Islamic militants.
7. Where has former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fled to?
Spoiler
Orlando, Florida. Bolsonaro left Brazil after giving a televised address two days before his term of office ended, eschewing Brazilian tradition of handing Lula da Silva, the man who defeated him last year for the presidency, the presidential sash. Bolsonaro says he will remain abroad for the next month, but some see his departure as getting ahead of possible criminal investigations into his time in office.
8. What is Title 42?
Spoiler
Title 42 is a clause in the 1944 Public Health Services Law, enabling the government to restrict immigration during public health emergencies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration used Title 42 to expel migrants without giving them a chance to apply for asylum. Immigration groups argue that the use of Title 42 is violating existing immigration law, but the Supreme Court recently decided 5-4 via its shadow docket that the Biden administration should continue the Trump era polic until it hears legal arguments later this year. There are concerns that the lifting of Title 42 could cause a rapid acceleration of asylum seekers on America’s southern border with Mexico.
9. What prominent journalist passed away last week?
Spoiler
Barbara Walters. Walters was the first female anchor of an evening news program when she came to ABC News in 1976. She also co-hosted programs such as “20/20” and “The View” and was a major interviewer in the industry. She was 93 years old.
10. What does incoming Congressman George Santos stand accused of?
Spoiler
Fabricating his resume and lying about past job experience, college education, and some of his family history. During his 2022 campaign in New York, Santos argued that he worked for Wall Street banks and had employees killed at the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida. However, these claims were proven false. There are also questions about his campaign funding. Santos, a Republican, has said he will serve his term but Democratic critics have called on him to resign.