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Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
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s a list of all our old quizzes, click here.
1. Why have more than 700,000 Americans pledged to boycott Target?
[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 thousands have pledged to boycott Target due to the fact that the company announced at the end of April that it would allow transgender guests to use the restrooms and fitting rooms that they preferred. Christian activist group the American Family Association has gathered signatures from those who have vowed to boycott the retailer until it changes its policy. Target has said that it will not do so.[/toggle]
2. How much cocaine did Colombian police recently intercept in a historic drug haul?
[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”]8.8 tons. The 17,500 pounds of cocaine were estimated to be worth $240 million. Colombian police say that it will be a blow to drug gangs that still operate in the country, as well as new paramilitary organizations that rely on drug trafficking for funding.[/toggle]
3. Why were conservatives recently angry at Facebook?
[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”]A story broke last week on the technology website Gizmodo that Facebook’s “Trending Topics” team was intentionally suppressing interest in conservative news stories, even when those stories were “trending” on the website. Facebook says that the allegation is not true and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has invited a group of conservative leaders to the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California to discuss the issue.[/toggle]
4. How much did the White House request for Zika prevention funding and how much did the House Appropriations Committee earmark for it?
[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 White House has asked Congress for $1.9 billion to fight the Zika virus, but the House only wants to spend $622 million. The Senate is considering a package that is worth $1.1 billion, meaning that Congress may eventually compromise on a number, but that number is bound to fall well short of what the White House requests.[/toggle]
5. What are some of the provisions in Wisconsin’s voting laws that are currently under legal challenge?
[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”]Litigants against Wisconsin are challenging a series of electoral changes enacted in 2011. These include a photo identification requirement, reducing early voting from thirty days before an election to twelve, limiting the hours that early voting can take place and restricting it to one per municipality, eliminating straight ticket voting, doing away with requiring special election deputies at high schools, and not allowing local governments to require landlords to distribute voter-registration forms to new tenants. Litigants allege that all of these changes were meant to suppress voter turnout and that some, such as the photo identification requirement, are unconstitutional.[/toggle]
6. What is causing long lines at airport security terminals in recent weeks?
[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 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says that staffing shortages, along with a miscalculation of how many fliers would choose to signup with the TSA’s PreCheck program, have created hours-long lines at several U.S. airports, including those in Chicago and Phoenix.[/toggle]
7. President Barack Obama soon plans to visit this site in order to encourage the world to pursue nuclear disarmament.
[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”]Hiroshima, Japan. Hiroshima was the site of the first atomic bombing in the history of warfare in 1945. Its destruction, along with that of Nagaski several days later, paved the way for the end of the Second World War. President Obama is expected to use his visit to remind the world of the horrors of nuclear conflict and encourage greater international action against nuclear proliferation.[/toggle]
8. Reports circulated that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) played a role in the capture of this former national leader.
[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”]Nelson Mandela. Mandela was jailed by South Africa’s apartheid government in 1962 and served 27 years in prison before he was released in 1990. Mandela was elected as South Africa’s first post-apartheid president in 1994. For a period of time during the Cold War the United States considered the African National Congress (ANC), whose armed wing was headed by Mandela, a terrorist organization.[/toggle]
9. Western governments hope that this nation can reconcile competing political factions in Libya.
[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. Western powers such as the United States are hoping that the Saudis can reconcile conflicts between Arabs within Libya, which suffers from a divided government. Political dysfunction has made it difficult for Libya to confront the Islamic State, as well as work with the European Union (EU) on stemming the flow of migrants over the Mediterranean into countries such as Italy.[/toggle]
10. What issue is thought to have hurt Hillary Clinton’s electoral chances last week in West Virginia?
[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”]Clinton’s comments in a previous Democratic debate where she said that she was looking to put the coal industry out of businesses was not warmly received by West Virginians, who live in a state that has been hurt by environmental regulations against coal. Some observers wonder whether Clinton’s anti-coal rhetoric will cause her to lose votes in Appalachia, which could swing states such as Virginia and Pennsylvania toward Donald Trump this November.[/toggle]