March 2023 World Trivia Round-Up: What is the Wagner force? (12 questions)

The Wagner Group is a “Russian Ministry of Defense proxy force” formerly managed and financed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch once close to Putin. The mercenary group has been involved in conflicts in Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, and, most recently, Ukraine. In a video address on Mar. 5, 2023, Prigozhin said that the whole front would crumble if the Wagner Group retreated from the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. He also said that the Russian Ministry of Defence was not supporting his efforts. On June 23, the Wagner force led the failed rebellion against Putin, and two months later to the day, Prigozhin was assassinated mid-air.

According to the International Energy Agency, global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy production grew by 0.9 percent in 2022, reaching a record high of more than 36.8 billion metric tons. As reported on Mar. 2, 2023, this was mainly driven by the rebound in air travel, the switch from natural gas to coal in Asia, and extreme weather events that reduced hydropower and increased electricity demand.

The Romans built Gaziantep Castle in the second and third centuries. The Byzantines strengthened and expanded it during Justinian’s reign.

What happened to Gaziantep Castle?

Screenshot: Ihlas News Agency – YouTube

Two earthquakes hit Turkey on Feb. 6, 2023, destroying Gaziantep Castle. Over 50,000 people were killed in buildings across Turkey and Syria as a 7.8-magnitude earthquake shook the countries, followed by another 7.7-quake later that day.

US military officials notified the Biden administration of a “high-altitude surveillance balloon” flying over Montana on Feb. 4, 2023. According to the Pentagon, China launched the balloon to collect military information, but China called it a “mainly meteorological balloon.”

When was the Chinese balloon shot down?

On Feb. 5, President Biden stated he gave orders to shoot down the balloon but was advised to wait until it reached the safest position. Later that day, an F-22 fighter jet destroyed it with an air-to-air missile over the Atlantic Ocean. US officials said the balloon’s entry violated US sovereignty and international law. Pentagon officials said the administration planned to collect debris for intelligence gathering.

A joint military organization of the US and Canada, NORAD identifies and tracks objects in the air, including recent “UFO” sightings, like the Chinese spy balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4, 2023. NORAD has since adjusted its radar system to be more sensitive, catching more flying objects. The following weekend, three other objects were shot down over Alaska, Canada, and Michigan. The objects are being recovered and analyzed by the FBI and the US military. It’s unclear how big and what kind of objects they were, but national security officials don’t think they were extraterrestrial. (NOTICE: The image above is an illustration, not the real thing.)

According to multiple Feb. 21, 2023, news reports, a panel in the Japanese justice ministry wants to raise the country’s consent age from 13 to 16. The move comes in response to criticism that existing laws didn’t do enough to protect children. A series of reforms to the penal code will also make voyeurism a criminal offense and clarify what rape prosecution requires. In the United States, the age of consent varies between 16 and 18 years old. It’s 16 in Britain and South Korea, 15 in France, and 14 in Germany and China. Japan’s age of consent hasn’t changed since 1907.

The New START Treaty is a nuclear arms control agreement between the United States and Russia. The agreement limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads each side can deploy. Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, signed the treaty in 2010, and it’s supposed to expire in 2026.

Did New START end?

During his state-of-the-nation address on Feb. 21, 2023, Vladimir Putin suspended Russia’s participation in the treaty, saying that the US was inspecting Russian military bases under the treaty to “inflict a strategic defeat on us” during the Ukrainian war.

Caste systems have ruled India and other parts of South Asia for thousands of years, providing privileges to the upper castes and repressing the lower castes. Dalits, on the lowest rung of Indian Hindu castes, have been called “untouchables.” Caste discrimination in India was outlawed more than 70 years ago, but it still happens and is widespread in diaspora communities in the US. Seattle became the first US city to ban caste discrimination on Feb. 21, 2023, when its city council added caste to its anti-discrimination laws.

Former mayor of Mexico City and left-wing populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador won the Mexican presidential election with 53% in 2018. In his campaign, he promised to rid Mexico of corruption and inequality, which he credited to previous administrations he called “a mafia of power.”

Did he keep the promise?

On Feb. 26, 2023, tens of thousands of people filled Mexico City’s main plaza to protest President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s changes to the electoral law, which they say threaten democracy. Most marchers wore white and pink, the colors of the National Electoral Institute, as they yelled, “Don’t touch my vote!” In the same week, López Obrador insisted that he had documented a real-life elf, tweeting: “Everything is mystical.“

By February 2023, TikTok had an average of 125 million active users in the EU. In October 2022, there were 65.9 million TikTok users in the US, with two-thirds of teens using it. The number of Canadians on TikTok is relatively small (26%), but 76% of people 18-24 have an account.

What is the TikTok ban?

The European Commission temporarily banned TikTok from staff phones over cybersecurity concerns on Feb. 23, 2023. The reason: The Chinese government could use TikTok to promote pro-Beijing views or sweep up users’ information. The White House on Feb. 27 gave government agencies 30 days to ensure they do not have the Chinese-owned app on federal devices. By Feb. 28, Canada announced its own ban on TikTok from all government-issued devices. China’s foreign ministry said that the US government has been “overstretching the concept of national security.” and “suppressing other countries’ companies.”

Olivia Newton-John was born in Cambridge, UK, in 1948 to a Welsh father and a German mother who had fled Nazi Germany. She moved to Australia with her family when she was five and later became a dual citizen of both countries. She did not come from Greece, despite playing Sandy in Grease.

Is Olivia Newton-John dead?

A state memorial for Olivia Newton-John took place on Feb. 26, 2023, in Melbourne, Australia, with family and friends paying tribute to the late singer and actor, who died in Aug. 2022 at 73 after a long battle with breast cancer. Newton-John was known for her music, film, and philanthropic work, especially in cancer research and wellness.

Fun fact: Queen Elizabeth II made her a dame in 2019.

Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded actor Steven Seagal the Order of Friendship on February 27, 2023, for his “humanitarian work,” which included his cooperation with Russia and his adoration for Putin. Seagal got Russian citizenship after expressing admiration for Putin in 2016 and is known for backing the annexation of Crimea.