Friday, May 20 News Quiz of the Week: Cold War II

The US has a population of an est. 335 million in 2022, making it the largest NATO member. Turkey is the second-largest, with a population of 85.5 million, Germany comes next with a population of 84 million, and the UK is fourth with a population of 68.5 million. Russia is not a member of NATO.

What’s Turkey’s stand on broadening NATO?

As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated on May 16, 2022, hours after Stockholm followed Helsinki by confirming it would apply for membership in NATO, diplomatic delegations from the two countries should not bother coming to Ankara to discuss Turkey’s approval of the move. The Turkish government objects to Finnish and Swedish NATO membership, citing their history of hosting Kurdish militant groups and Sweden’s recent suspension of arms sales to Turkey over Ankara’s military operation in Syria.

Sweden has avoided military alliances since the end of the Napoleonic Wars and kept its policy of neutrality during World War II and the Cold War. Thus, approximately 70,000 Finnish children were evacuated and placed with families in Sweden during the Second World War, and nearly all of Denmark’s Jewish population.

Is Sweden ending its neutrality?

After being firmly against NATO membership for decades, public opinion in Sweden and Finland shifted following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. Sweden decided on May 16, 2022, to seek NATO membership. The country’s governing Social Democratic party endorsed a plan for the country to join the trans-Atlantic alliance one day after Finland’s government announced a similar move.

Two months after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, McDonald’s opened its doors in Moscow – the first American fast-food restaurant to enter the Soviet Union. 33 years later, on May 16, 2022, McDonald’s confirmed that it is selling its 850 restaurants in Russia, increasing the country’s isolation over its war in Ukraine.

Cresson. Screenshot: TV5 Monde

Édith Cresson is the first woman to have held the office of Prime Minister of France. She served from May ’91 to Apr. ’92, and left office due to corruption charges dating from her tenure as European Commissioner for Research, Science and Technology.

Who’s Élisabeth Borne?

On May 16, 2022, Élisabeth Borne, 61, became France’s first female prime minister in 30 years and second in modern French history. A Macron ally, Borne served as minister for transport, environment, and labor during his first term.

The “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory suggests that a powerful cabal of leftist and Jewish politicians and businessmen plan to replace white Americans with masses of indebted immigrants from other ethnic groups. Investigations into the May 14, 2022, mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, are focusing on a 180-page manifesto containing the white nationalist conspiracy theory that is believed to have been written by the gunman Payton Gendron aged 18. Gendron was charged with shooting at about a dozen mostly Black people.

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 1 million on May 14, 2022 – roughly the number of Americans who died in the Civil War and World War II combined – according to death certificate data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. has the highest reported COVID-19 death toll of any country, but we should note that the actual number of deaths in places such as India, Brazil, and Russia is probably much higher than the official figures.

Sky Bridge 721, The longest pedestrian suspension bridge, is located in the northeastern part of the Czech Republic near the border with Poland. The 721-meter (2,365-foot) -long bridge, which opened on May 13, 2022, was built at more than 1,100 meters (3,610 feet) above sea level. It connects two ridges of the mountains and hangs up to 95 meters (312 feet) above the valley below. The bridge will be closed for safety if winds reach 135 kph (84 mph). The previous longest pedestrian bridge is in Arouca, Portugal, and is 516 meters (1,693 feet) long.

Screenshot: Jason Momoa via Instagram

“Aquaman” and “Game of Thrones” vet Jason Momoa used his Instagram account on May 14, 2022, to shirtless apologize for taking photos in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel – a series of photographs he uploaded to the social platform on May 9. Momoa, 42, is shooting “Fast X,” the 10th “Fast & Furious” film in Rome.

Is taking pictures forbidden in the Sistine Chapel?

During the visit to the Sistine Chapel, visitors are requested to observe absolute silence. According to the Sistine Chapel rules for visits, taking pictures and filming videos in the Chapel is strictly prohibited. The use of mobile phones is also forbidden. Pets are not allowed. During the visit to the Sistine Chapel, visitors are requested to observe absolute silence.

“Stefania” by Ukrainian folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra won the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest, making it the first song sung entirely in Ukrainian and the first rap song ever to win the competition.

She-Hulk (AKA Jennifer Walters) is the lawyer cousin of The Hulk (AKA Bruce Banner). According to “The Savage She-Hulk #1” comic book published in 1980, she acquired a milder version of the Hulk condition through an emergency transfusion of her cousin’s blood. She-Hulk, portrayed by actress Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), makes her live-action debut in the Disney+ comedy series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law premiering on Aug. 17, 2022. Watch the first trailer.

Batman, Arya Stark, Shaggy, and Bugs Bunny take on Superman, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, Tom & Jerry, and the Tasmanian Devil (AKA Taz) in Warner Bros. Games new “MultiVersus,” a free-to-play platform fighter game. One-on-one matches, team-based 2 vs. 2 battles, and a 4-player free-for-all mode will all be part of the game, available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One consoles, as well as PC (via Steam). MultiVersus is scheduled to arrive in July 2022. Originally released May 16, 2022, the trailer features the real Maisie Williams as the voice of Arya Stark. Watch the hilarious trailer.

Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night inspired a 2,316 three-dimensional piece Lego set scheduled for release on Lego’s website on June 1, 2022, in cooperation with New York’s Museum of Modern Art.