Dec. 17 Friday News Quiz of the Week: Person of the Year

Image: Time Magazine

Time magazine named Tesla CEO Elon Musk its Person of the Year for 2021. Musk, the founder and CEO of the space exploration company SpaceX, passed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the world’s wealthiest person in 2021.

On Dec. 8, 2021, New Zealand announced that it would ban young people from buying cigarettes for life by making it illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone aged 14 and under from 2027. That means a person aged 60 in 2073 will be banned from buying cigarettes, while a person aged 61 will be allowed to do so. The ban will remain in place for the rest of the person’s life. The bill was passed as a law on Dec. 13, 2022.

Log4j is a Java-based logging utility, one of several Java logging frameworks. A bug, dubbed “Log4Shell,” discovered in the Java-logging library Apache Log4j in Dec. 2021 could be used to take over computer servers, potentially putting online services and popular consumer devices at risk of failure. Amit Yoran, CEO of the cybersecurity firm Tenable, called it “the single biggest, most critical vulnerability of the last decade.”

What’s the Damage?

Cybersecurity firm CheckPoint said on Dec. 13, 2021, it had detected over 800,000 attempted exploits of the bug in the first 72 hours after it became public, including in the Microsoft-owned hit game Minecraft.

Kronos is a popular payroll and timesheet software for managing a company’s workforce. Ultimate Kronos Group has been hit by a ransomware attack that’s limping its clients’ access to processing payroll, handling timesheets, and managing their workforce. In a blog post on Dec. 12, 2021, the company wrote that the issue might likely require several weeks to resolve. High-profile clients using Kronos systems include Tesla, Puma, and the YMCA.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Dec. 10, 2021, “Social media, which was described as a symbol of freedom when it first appeared, has become one of the main sources of threat to today’s democracy.” Erdogan delivered his message in a video played at a government-organized communications conference in Istanbul.

Is Erdogan a democrat?

Erdogan’s regime has a record of imposing growing censorship on the press and social media and restricting access to YouTube, Twitter, and Wikipedia. He also removed opposition supporters from judicial, bureaucratic, and military positions. Erdogan’s government pursues “legislation to criminalize spreading fake news and disinformation online.” Critics say the proposed changes are meant to tighten restrictions on free speech.

Serbia is not a part of the European Union. Yet. On Dec. 14, 2021, Serbia was permitted to open talks on climate change and environment, energy, transport policy, and trans-European infrastructure networks – a significant step towards joining the European Union. Membership talks began in 2014. Countries wanting to join the European Union must uphold laws and regulations in line with the EU’s standards in 35 policy chapters, ranging from free movement to economic policy.

What’s holding Serbia from joining the EU?

As EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi put it, “Serbia’s progress on the rule of law and the normalization of relations with Kosovo remains essential for the overall pace of accession negotiations.” Serbia refuses to recognize the statehood of its former province, which unilaterally declared independence in 2008.

The EU includes 16 nations that have legalized same-sex marriage, compared to about 30 countries overall in the world. The European Court of Justice ruled Dec. 14, 2021 that a child with two mothers certified in one EU nation must also be recognized by the other EU members as such – even if that country doesn’t allow same-sex marriage.

Thwaites glacier in western Antarctica is the widest glacier on Earth, spanning about 80 miles (120 kilometers) and extending to a depth of about 2,600 to 3,900 feet (800 to 1,200 meters). Rapid deterioration could end with the ice shelf’s complete collapse in just a few years, raising sea level to 10 feet (3 m), researchers warned at the Dec. 13, 2021, annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in New Orleans.

A hydra is a freshwater-dwelling cnidarian no more than a half-inch long that eats mostly insect larvae and crustaceans. It is equipped with the ability to regenerate its body — even its head – deeming it essentially immortal (unless starved.) Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, pinpointed the genetic machinery behind some of these tiny creatures’ powers of regeneration, which practically make them immortal. Their research was published in Genome Biology and Evolution on Dec. 8, 2021.

Lily Collins, Phil Collins’s daughter, is Emily in “Emily in Paris.” The Netflix series’ second season premieres on Dec. 22, 2021. Watch the season 2 trailer.

The third “Fantastic Beasts” movie is titled “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.” The film’s official trailer was released on Dec. 10, 2021, providing a first look at Mads Mikkelsen as Gellert Grindelwald, the villain role played by Johnny Depp in the first two installments. Watch the trailer. 

The Nintendo Entertainment System was first released in North America on Sept. 27, 1986. It featured 17 launch titles, including Super Mario Bros. Masayuki Uemura, who developed the Nintendo Entertainment System that started a global revolution in-home gaming, died on Dec. 9, 2021. He was 78.

While luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton should probably do all of the above,  a group of Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, and Jewish leaders on Dec. 10, 2021, has urged LVMH to stop using animal fur in its clothing and other products. The group includes Orthodox Christian priest Stephen Karcher, Hindu activist Rajan Zed, Jewish rabbi Elizabeth Webb Beyer, and Buddhist priest Matthew Fisher.

Anne Rice is the novelist behind “Interview With the Vampire.” Rice died on Dec. 12, 2021, due to complications from a stroke. She was 80.

Chris Wallace was born on Oct. 12, 1947, which makes him 74 in 2021. He’s the son of legendary “60 Minutes” reporter Mike Wallace.

Is Chris Wallace leaving Fox News?

News anchor Chris Wallace has left Fox News on Dec. 12, 2021, after 18 years for CNN+, CNN’s new streaming service, expected to debut in early 2022.

Grammy-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion became a college graduate on Dec. 12, 2021, with a bachelor of science degree in health administration.