Endless Lockdown Quiz!

China is New Zealand’s largest trading partner and was responsible for 29% of New Zealand’s total exports in 2020. New Zealand was the first developed nation to sign a free trade deal with China in 2008. China now buys twice as much from New Zealand as New Zealand’s next most significant market, Australia (12.7% of New Zealand’s total exports in 2020).

What’s new?

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took a tougher stance on China’s human rights record in her speech to the China Business Summit in Auckland Monday, May 3, 2021. Ardern said New Zealand had raised “grave” concerns with China on human rights issues, including the situation of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region and people who live in Hong Kong.

Republican Representative to the US Congress, Matt Gaetz, was raised in the house used in the film The Truman Show in Seaside, Florida. His parents still live there.

News Fact:

On Thursday, April 8, 2021, CBS News reported that Federal investigators are looking into whether Gaetz paid women to travel to the Bahamas with him, which could violate federal sex trafficking law. Gaetz, who has not been charged with any crime, has repeatedly denied the allegations.

What’s the other sex-trafficking suspicion against Gaetz?

In March 2021, The New York Times reported that the Justice Department was investigating whether Gaetz had had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and had paid for her to travel with him, citing three people briefed about the matter.

Ellen aired between 1994 and 1998.

Ellen DeGeneres Fact

Ellen Degeneres’s daytime talk show returned Sep. 21st, 2020, amid ‘toxic workplace’ controversy, which Degeneres promised to address on the show.  In May 2021, DeGeneres announced she would be quitting the show.

King Kong (initially appeared in a 1933 movie) and Godzilla (originally from a Japanese 1954 film) made their first cinematic standoff in 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong that hit theaters and HBO Max simultaneously on Mar. 26.

Lebanon’s tenure as Switzerland of the East ended with its long-lasting civil war (1975-1990). 

Apple introduced AirTags, a coin-like personal location device, on Tuesday, April 20, 2021. They can be placed on personal possessions and then tracked with the Find My app (formerly Find My iPhone) on iPhones, iPads, or Macs.

Do AirTags beep?

Like some other similar products, AirTags also emit noise to make them easier to find. Apple users can also lift their phone cameras and see their AirTags’ locations accurately in real physical space on the screen.

The Armenian genocide was the systematic killing and deportation of around 1 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey) during World War I (1915-1917).

Joe Biden and the Armenian genocide fact:

President Joe Biden acknowledged the Armenian genocide formally on Saturday, April 24, the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. Turkey’s foreign minister has warned the Biden administration in the past that the recognition would “harm” U.S.-Turkey ties.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are ancient fragments of biblical texts dating back almost 2,000 years and thought to have been hidden during a Jewish revolt against Rome. The first set of Dead Sea Scrolls was found by a Bedouin shepherd near the salty lake in 1947 and are among the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century.

Were new dead sea scrolls found lately?

The Israel Antiquities Authority announced Tuesday, March 16, 2021, that a four-year archaeological project uncovered portions of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets, including the books of Zechariah and Nahum. It is the first such discovery in 60 years.

Prince Harry, younger brother of Prince William, has repaid 2.4 million pounds ($3.2 million) used to renovate a Windsor home for him and his wife, Meghan. The renovation took place before they gave up royal duties and moved to California.