International
Affairs
Affairs
What did Israel and Hamas agree to after more than a year of fighting?
a) A plan to send United Nations peacekeepers to maintain peace and security in the region.
b) A six-week ceasefire.
c) The creation of a sovereign Palestinian state.
b) A six-week ceasefire.
The cease-fire deal raised hopes that a 15-month war that killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destroyed much of Gaza could soon come to an end.
The agreement starts with an initial phase lasting six weeks. In all, 33 hostages and more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners are to be released. Six hundred trucks carrying humanitarian relief will be allowed into Gaza each day.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in southern Gaza have been living in tents, makeshift shelters, rented homes and relatives’ apartments for more than a year. Many of those making their return to the north are finding that their homes and neighborhoods have been destroyed.
Which film was the big winner at the 2025 Academy Awards on Sunday, collecting five Oscars, including best picture, director, actress, editing and original screenplay?
a) I'm Still Here
b) Anora
c) The Brutalist
d) Wicked
b) Anora
Earth’s inner core may not be what, according to a new scientific study?
a) perfectly solid
b) super hot
c) round
a) perfectly solid
The inner core at the center of the Earth, a ball of iron and nickel about 1,500 miles wide, may not be perfectly solid.
A new study finds evidence that the inner core’s outer boundary has noticeably changed shape over the past few decades.
“The most likely thing is the outer core is kind of tugging on the inner core and making it move a little bit,” said John Vidale, a professor of earth sciences at the University of Southern California. Dr. Vidale and his colleagues reported their findings on Feb. 10 in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Why did the Ukrainian president's visit to the White House’s Oval Office make big headlines last week?
a) President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine vowed to immediately accept a cease-fire agreement.
b) President Trump berated Mr. Zelensky in a fiery exchange.
c) Vice President JD Vance offered to mediate a face-to-face meeting Mr. Zelensky and President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
b) President Trump berated Mr. Zelensky in a fiery exchange.
The United States’ relationship with Ukraine erupted in a storm of acrimony on Feb. 28 as President Trump and Vice President Vance berated President Zelensky of Ukraine in an explosive televised Oval Office showdown and abruptly cut short a visit meant to coordinate a plan for peace.
In a fiery public confrontation unlike any seen between an American president and a foreign leader in modern times, Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance castigated Mr. Zelensky for not being grateful enough for U.S. support in Ukraine’s war with Russia, and sought to strong-arm him into making a peace deal on whatever terms the Americans dictated.
With his voice raised and temper flaring, Mr. Trump threatened to abandon Ukraine altogether if Mr. Zelensky did not go along. After journalists left the Oval Office, Mr. Trump canceled the rest of the visit, including a planned joint news conference and signing ceremony for a deal on rare minerals, and U.S. officials told the Ukrainians to leave. A grim-faced Mr. Zelensky strode out, climbed into a waiting black sport utility vehicle and departed the White House grounds.
Why is the Chinese film “Ne Zha 2” making headlines around the world?
a) It became the highest-grossing movie in China.
b) It criticized President Xi Jinping and the ruling Communist Party.
c) It was created by artificial intelligence.
a) It became the highest-grossing movie in China.
The new king of the Chinese box office is an adorably ugly, demonic child fighting off monsters.
In less than two weeks since its release, “Ne Zha 2,” an animated film based loosely on Chinese mythology and a famous 16th-century novel, has become the highest-grossing movie ever in China, with more than $1 billion in ticket sales. “Ne Zha 2” is also the first film not made by a Hollywood studio to cross that mark.
The blockbuster delivered a rare dose of good news for the Chinese film industry, which is struggling with anemic ticket sales and a slumping economy. The few films that break through the malaise are no longer Hollywood titles but domestic features teeming with patriotic messaging or rooted in traditional Chinese culture or folklore.
“Ne Zha 2” is a sequel to what was the highest-grossing animated film in China. In the 2019 original, Nezha is born as the reincarnation of a demon with supernatural powers, but he is destined to live only three years. He fights back against his fate and saves his village.
What artificial intelligence breakthrough sent shock waves through stock markets and caused U.S. technology giants to quake?
a) A little-known Chinese start-up created a powerful AI model with far less money than many experts thought possible.
b) An AI companion reached a level of intelligence comparable to human consciousness.
c) A new AI chatbot successfully predicted future events 94% of the time.
a) A little-known Chinese start-up created a powerful AI model with far less money than many experts thought possible.
Tech stocks tumbled. Giant companies like Meta and Nvidia faced a barrage of questions about their futures. Tech executives took to social media to express their fears.
And it was all because of a little-known Chinese A.I. start-up called DeepSeek.
DeepSeek caused waves all over the world on Jan. 27 as one of its accomplishments — that it had created a very powerful A.I. model with far less money than many A.I. experts thought possible — raised a host of questions, including whether U.S. companies were even competitive in A.I. anymore.
A Times tech columnist writes: “At the very least, DeepSeek has shown that the A.I. arms race is truly on.”
Elon Musk recently deepened the confusion and alarm of workers across the federal government by having the Office of Personnel Management send them an email with what subject line?
a) "are you a human being?"
b) "How many hours did you sleep last week?"
c) "What did you do last week?"
d) "You're FIRED!"
c) "What did you do last week?"
An all-female crew will lead the next human flight mission of the private space company Blue Origin. Which pop star will be on board?
a) Beyoncé
b) Cher
c) Katy Perry
d) Madonna
c) Katy Perry
The singer and songwriter Katy Perry and the broadcast journalist and show host Gayle King will be among the all-female crew on the next mission of New Shepard, the space tourism rocket that is operated by Jeff Bezos’ private company, Blue Origin.
Blue Origin announced the lineup on Feb. 27, ahead of a planned spaceflight this spring, though no specific date has been announced for the launch. It will also include Aisha Bowe, a former NASA engineer; Amanda Nguyen, a research scientist; Kerianne Flynn, a film producer; and Lauren Sánchez, who is Mr. Bezos’ fiancée and a helicopter pilot.
The company has garnered attention for its flights by including celebrities or highlighting new milestones in spaceflight.
What did a home security-camera in Canada capture, with sound, perhaps for the first time?
a) A beaver cutting down a mature aspen tree in less that two minutes.
b) A meteorite hitting Earth.
c) A black bear wrestling a moose.
d) Sasquatch ringing a doorbell and then running away.
b) A meteorite hitting Earth.
A couple in Canada were returning home from walking their dogs some months ago when they found a burst of dusty debris on their walkway. They turned to their security-camera footage for answers and found it showed a mysterious puff of smoke appearing on the tidy walkway where the mystery splotch was.
The source of the splotch was officially registered as the Charlottetown meteorite, named after the city on Prince Edward Island, in eastern Canada, where it landed.
Earlier this week voters in what European country rejected a left-leaning government largely because of their unhappiness over immigration and the economy?
a) France
b) Germany
c) Ireland
d) Spain
b) Germany
Germany’s conservative Christian Democrats won Sunday’s election and the next chancellor is likely to be Friedrich Merz, a former corporate lawyer who has promised to crack down on migration, cut taxes and regulation and adopt a hawkish policy toward Russia. Merz leads a center-right alliance that finished first in the election, with 29 percent of the vote.
A far-right party, Alternative for Germany, that promises even tougher immigration policies — and is friendly toward Russia — finished second, with 21 percent of the vote.
The center-left Social Democrats, who led the government for the past four years, tumbled to third place, with 16 percent of the vote, their worst showing in a national election since at least 1890.
On Feb. 16, “Saturday Night Live” celebrated a big anniversary with a star-studded prime-time special. What anniversary was it?
a) 10th
b) 25th
c)50th
d) 75th
c)50th
Since “Saturday Night Live” premiered its 50th season last fall, the show has been hailed over and over for its central role in shaping comedy and television. The celebrations culminated on Feb. 16 with a live three-hour anniversary special.
Major fires, driven by fierce winds, have scorched areas of which California city early this year, destroying homes and businesses and prompting tens of thousands to evacuate?
a) Los Angeles
b) Sacramento
c) San Diego
d) San Francisco
a) Los Angeles
The wildfires burning in and around Los Angeles, the most destructive in the region’s history, have razed neighborhoods, killed at least 24 people and forced desperate evacuations. And the fires are far from over, as firefighters strain against fierce winds and dry conditions.
You can learn more about the wildfires and their impact from these photos and maps. You can also find out how to stay safe and how to help the victims.
President Trump was sworn in on Jan. 20 as the 47th president, and made major policy moves immediately after taking office. During the first week of his presidency, he did all of the following EXCEPT:
a) He announced that his administration would double the number of federal employees.
b) He changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
c) He pardoned the rioters charged in connection to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6.
d) He withdrew from the Paris climate agreement.
a) He announced that his administration would double the number of federal employees.
President Trump on Jan. 20 issued a barrage of executive orders, kicking off his presidency with a muscular use of power intended to signal a sharp reversal from existing policies on issues including immigration, the environment and diversity initiatives.
The flurry of executive actions was an effort to roll back many of President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s most significant domestic policies, primarily on climate and immigration, while also reimposing a Trump agenda that would launch drilling and mining on natural resources and fundamentally upend the United States’ global role as a sanctuary for refugees and immigrants.
Some of Mr. Trump’s orders are almost certain to be challenged in court, and others will be largely symbolic. But taken together, they represent his intention to sharply turn away from the direction of the Biden administration, and to make good on his campaign promises to break what he and his aides cast as a “deep state” effort to thwart his agenda.
Which video game – allowing players to build virtual neighborhoods populated by virtual families who pay virtual bills and complete virtual chores – celebrated its 25th anniversary?
a) grand theft auto
b) minecraft
c) the sims
c) the sims
The Sims was a sandbox for the American dream when it was released on Feb. 4, 2000, with the game designer Will Wright pulling inspiration from biology, architecture, comics and psychology to dictate the rules of his virtual dollhouse. It was an unusual proposal at a time when most games were goal-oriented and linear, and a predecessor to create-your-own-adventure games like Minecraft that give players a pick axe and carte blanche.
Although more than 500 million people have played games in the Sims franchise, which is particularly popular with women, it was originally seen as a risk.
What big change to its social media platforms did Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, announce on Jan. 7?
a) It would discontinue the use of pop-up ads.
b) It would end the collection of private user information.
c) It'd remove the Like button feature.
d) It would no longer fact-check content.
d) It would no longer fact-check content.
The fact-checking policy was instituted to curtail the spread of misinformation across Meta's social media apps. The announcement is a stark sign of how the company is repositioning itself for the upcoming Trump presidency in favor of unfettered speech online.
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said it would now allow more speech, rely on the platforms' users to correct inaccurate and false posts, and take a more personalized approach to political content. Meta described the changes with the language of regret, saying that the company had strayed too far from its values over the past decade.