1. Which major social media platform is under fire for a massive data breach?
a. Instagram
b. Twitter
c. Facebook
2. President Trump is denying rumors that he is struggling to hire who?
a. A legal defense team
b. A White House chef
c. A new secretary of state
3. In an order on March 23, President Trump banned whom from serving in the armed forces?
a. Illegal immigrants
b. Transgender people
c. People with complex autoimmune diseases
4. As punishment for the deadly nerve agent attack in Britain, which country is expelling 60 alleged Russian spies?
a. France
b. United States
c. Germany
5.Omar Mateen, the Pulse nightclub shooter, was considered for what position before he carried out the deadly shooting?
a. Police captain
b. CIA operative
c. FBI informant
6. What object is expected to crash to earth in within the next week?
a. A Chinese space station
b. Elon Musk’s space Tesla
c. A Russian satellite
1. c. According to Stars and Stripes, Facebook has had a massive data breach. Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm, siphoned off data from about 50 million Facebook users. Cambridge Analytica used this information in the 2016 election and boasted it could sway voters.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va) thinks Facebook has not been fully forthcoming with information about the breach.
“The whole industry has been reluctant to accept the fact that we’re seeing the dark underbelly of social media — how it can be manipulated,” Warner said. “We’re still dealing right now with fake posts and fake accounts.
2. a. President Trump is denying rumors that he is unable to find a legal defense team willing to defend him in the Russia investigation, according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
On March 25 it was confirmed that Joseph diGenova, a former U.S. attorney, and his wife Victoria Toensing, would not represent the president as expected. diGenova and Toensing have previously represented people in the Russia investigation, and their hire would pose a possible conflict of interest.
In a statement, diGenova and Toensing said, “We thank the president for his confidence in us and we look forward to working with him on other matters.”
diGenova declined to comment further.
3. b. According to the Los Angeles Times, President Trump issued an order on March 23 that bans transgender individuals from serving in the armed forces except under “limited circumstances.”
The order bans the Pentagon from enlisting recruits who have undergone gender transition treatment, but leaves Defense Secretary James N. Mattis the ability to retain those who have openly served since doing so was authorized.
The order will likely lead to a Supreme Court ruling on whether the government can discriminate against people because of their gender status.
4. b. On March 26, the United States ordered 60 alleged Russian spies out of the country, as well as closed Moscow’s last diplomatic outpost on the west coast, according to the San Francisco Examiner.
The expulsion comes in response to the deadly nerve agent attack on a former Soviet spy and his daughter. Britain has expelled 40 percent of the Russian diplomatic staff, and other European nations have followed suit.
In a statement from the White House, President Trump is said to have ordered the expulsions to “make the United States safer by reducing Russia’s ability to spy on Americans and to conduct covert operations that threaten America’s national security.”
5. c. The Pulse nightclub shooter, Omar Mateen, was considered as an FBI informant prior to the attack on the Orlando nightclub, according to the Journal Times.
After Mateen was accused of making statements at work claiming he was connected with al-Qaida he was investigated and then cleared. Later Mateen would again claim ties to the Islamic State group.
Mateen’s father, Seddique Mateen, was an FBI informant for more than ten years.
6. a. According to the Los Angeles Times, a Chinese space station is expected to crash to earth sometime this week. Most of the station will burn up in the atmosphere, but between 10 and 40 percent is expected to land somewhere on the planet.
The hardier pieces of the station will likely land somewhere in the ocean, experts say. People are told not to worry, as their chances of getting hit by burning space debris are 1 in 1 trillion.
