Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
1. What is the new U.S. unemployment rate?
Spoiler
3.6%. This remains unchanged from last month’s number. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) noted that the U.S. added 428,000 jobs last month, a sign of a healthy economy. However, economists expect hiring to start being less robust in the coming months due to inflationary pressures.
2. What two abortion medications might conservative states look to ban if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court?
Spoiler
Mifepristone and progesterone. The two drug combination has become the most prevalent form of abortion in the United States, constituting more than half of recent abortions in the country. Over the past year Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas have enacted state-level laws to stop the mailing of these drugs and conservative-leaning states are expected to enact more restrictions to halt the sale and access to these drugs if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court.
3. Which two candidates will face off in Ohio’s U.S. Senate election this November?
Spoiler
Republican candidate J.D. Vance and Democratic candidate Tim Ryan. Vance, the author of the memoir Hillbilly Elegy, secured former President Donald Trump’s endorsement and won the Republican primary last week. Ryan currently represents Ohio’s thirteenth congressional district in the House of Representatives. The race will be a test of whether Democratic candidates can regain white working class voters who have deserted the party since the 2016 presidential election.
4. Which political party recently won the most seats in Northern Ireland’s Assembly?
Spoiler
Sinn Fein. The Irish nationalist party has links to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), a terrorist group that targeted British forces in Northern Ireland for decades. It won 27 of the Northern Irish Assembly’s 90 seats, displacing the Democratic Unionist Party that dominated the legislative body for the last twenty years. Nationalist forces hope that Sinn Fein’s victory means that the goal of a united Ireland may not be far off. However, that would require a referendum and constitutional change.
5. Which nation recently moved away from a “zero COVID” strategy?
Spoiler
Taiwan. In contrast to neighboring China, which has aggressively kept its “zero COVID” strategy going, Taiwan is moving to mitigate the virus by allowing people with mild and asymptomatic cases to isolate at home rather than go to hospitals. It also loosened restrictions on incoming travelers and those who have been in close contact with an infected person.
6. Who is the projected winner of the Philippines’ presidential election?
Spoiler
Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., the son of former Philippines’ dictator Ferdinand Marcos. A senator, the younger Marcos won a landslide victory over Vice President Leni Robredo and completes the return of his family to power after a thirty-six-year exile. It is estimated that his father stole more than $10 billion from the Philippines’ treasury while in office.
7. Former President Trump’s lawsuit concerning what issue was recently tossed out by a federal judge?
Spoiler
His permanent ban from Twitter. U.S. District Judge James Donato ruled last week that the former president’s legal team failed to show a violation of his First Amendment rights because Twitter was a private company. Trump has been banned from Twitter since the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill.
8. President Biden recently announced what new program, which is aimed at helping low income Americans?
Spoiler
Discounted internet service. The program is a joint effort with twenty internet companies and will provide high speed internet to more than 48 million households at $30 per month ($75 in tribal areas). Those qualifying for Medicaid will be eligible, along with families of four that make $55,000 annually. So overall, more than 40% of Americans will be able to take part in the program.
9. Which Sri Lankan leader recently stepped down after weeks of protest?
Spoiler
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. He resigned amid weeks of protest over the dismal state of Sri Lanka’s economy. Rajapaksa’s brother, Gotabaya, is Sri Lanka’s president. Protests are aiming for their removal, blaming them for inflation and energy and food shortages.
10. Which region of Sudan is seeing increased violence?
Spoiler
Darfur. Attacks by Arab militias against the non-Arab peoples in the Darfur region of Western Sudan, which began last month, have left more than 160 people dead. More than 100,000 people have been displaced. A peace accord in late 2020 was supposed to quell violence in the region but Sudan’s political turmoil has hindered following through on it.