Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz!
1. Which film won the Oscar for best picture on Sunday night?
Spoiler
Oppenheimer. The Christopher Nolan-directed film about the creation of the atomic bomb took home seven Oscars, which also included best director, best actor, best supporting actor, and best cinematography.
2. What has Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry pledged to do in order to create stability in his country?
Spoiler
Resign his position. After meeting with regional leaders this week, Henry announced that he will resign after a transitional presidential counci is created. Henry was stranded in Puerto Rico this week as armed gangs, who have been overrunning the country in his absence, refused to allow his return. Those gangs have also demanded a place on any council that will form a political transition. Haiti has not held national elections since 2016.
3. Earlier this week, it was reported that the European Commission would recommend that the European Union open accession negotiations with which country?
Spoiler
Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosnia is one of six Balkan nations that are in the process of getting EU membership, receiving candidate status in 2022. The EU hopes that ongoing negotiations can reduce Russian infuence in the region. However, there are concerns that the ethnic divisions within Bosnia will scuttle its chances at membership, especially the actions of Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who has pledged to keep weakening the country until it falls apart.
4. Who was elected by Pakistani lawmakers as the country’s new president last week?
Spoiler
Asif Ali Zardari. He is the widow of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated after returning to the country in 2007. Zardari had previously served as president from 2008-2013. Zardari won the vote over Mehmood Khan Achakzai by a 411-181 margin. His candidacy was backed by the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and its political allies.
5. Which NATO member has offered to broker peace talks between Russia and Ukraine?
Spoiler
Turkey. It was reported that during a visit last Friday that Turkey repeated its offer to negotiate a peace agreement between the two warring sides through President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Ukraine has refused to consider peace talks with Russia but its position on the battlefield is degrading as Western support has been held up or become engrossed in a larger public debate. Pope Francis also came out in favor of peace talks last week, urging Ukrainian leaders to have the courage to negotiate an end to the conflict.
6. A two-part constitutional referendum failed in Ireland last week. What would this referendum have done had it been passed?
Spoiler
The referendum asked Irish voters to expand the constitutional definition of families to “durable relationships” and wanted to redefine a mother’s “duties in the home” to one that recognized the role family members should play in the provision of care. The referendum was supported by Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and was scheduled for International Women’s Day. However, voters rejected the durable relationships component by a 67.7% to 32.3% margin and the redefinition of a mother’s duties by a 73.9% to 26.1% margin.
7. In his State of the Union address, what step did President Biden say the U.S. was going to take in Gaza to help increase the flow of humanitarian aid?
Spoiler
Building a temporary port. That will allow better shipments of food, medicine, and other supplies into the region. Humanitarian groups urged the U.S. to take stronger action to achieve a ceasefire to make Israel cease its offensive, arguing that they have been unable to make aid deliveries because of the conflict. Biden administration officials have promised that building the port will not require the presence of U.S. soldiers in Gaza.
8. What is the only state that former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley won on Super Tuesday?
Spoiler
Vermont. Haley won a four-point victory there over former president Donald Trump, who swept all of the other contests. Haley’s poor showing, along with the commanding victories that Trump won elsewhere, forced her to suspend her presidential campaign, making Trump the last Republican candidate in the race.
9. Which car manufacturer had one of their production facilities attacked by an anarchist group last week?
Spoiler
Tesla. The far-left Volcano Group launched on attack on Tesla’s Gigafactory outside of Berlin, arguing that it had a negative impact on nearby water supplies and treated workers poorly. Tesla has said that the costs of an electric outage at its facility due to the attack will cost it hundreds of millions of euros.
10. Which U.S. senator announced last week that they would not seek re-election in 2024?
Spoiler
Krysten Sinema of Arizona. Sinema, who left the Democratic Party in 2022, was running in third place in recent election polls against Democrat Ruben Gallego and Republican Kari Lake. In a message announcing her decision, Sinema said she was leaving the Senate “because I choose civility, understanding, listening, working together on stuff.” Sinema came under fire from Democrats early in President Biden’s term for not supporting filibuster reform, court packing, and a more expansive Build Back Better legislative program.
