From: pete.gayde@gmail.com   
      
   Mark Brader wrote:   
   > These questions were written to be asked in Toronto on 2024-03-25,   
   > and should be interpreted accordingly.   
   >   
   > On each question you may give up to two answers, but if you give   
   > both a right answer and a wrong answer, there is a small penalty.   
   > Please post all your answers in a single followup to the newsgroup,   
   > based only on your own knowledge.  (In your answer posting, quote   
   > the questions and place your answer below each one.)  I will reveal   
   > the correct answers in about 3 days.   
   >   
   > All questions were written by members of the Misplaced Modifiers   
   > and are used here by permission, but have been reformatted and may   
   > have been retyped and/or edited by me.  The posting and tabulation   
   > of current-events questions is independent of the concurrent posting   
   > of other rounds.  For further information please see my 2023-05-24   
   > companion posting on "Questions from the Canadian Inquisition   
   > (QFTCI*)".   
   >   
   >   
   > * Game 8, Round 4 - Geography - The Portuguese Empire   
   >   
   > The empire of the Portuguese was the longest-enduring of the   
   > European colonial empires.  Today, its former territories form   
   > part of 49 different sovereign states.  These questions deal with   
   > Portugal's once-vast empire.   
   >   
   > 1. It is the longest river in the Iberian peninsula.  Lisbon sits   
   >     upon its estuary.  From here, the Portuguese caravels set out   
   >     on their voyages of trade and discovery.  Name the river.   
   >   
   > 2. Today this state is India's smallest in area and richest by GDP.   
   >     Vasco da Gama visited the place on his first voyage, and it   
   >     was a Portuguese colony from 1510 until 1961, when it was   
   >     unceremoniously annexed by India.   
      
   Goa   
      
   >   
   > 3. Considered the most densely populated region in the world,   
   >     it was both the first and the last European colony in China.   
   >     The Portuguese negotiated the right to use its harbor in 1535,   
   >     and stuck around until 1999.  Name the place.   
      
   Macau   
      
   >   
   > 4. A hub of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, this African nation was   
   >     ruled by the Portuguese for three centuries.  In 1975, following   
   >     two decades of guerrilla warfare, it was granted independence,   
   >     only to fall into 25 years of civil war.  Since 2000, its   
   >     economy has benefited from oil revenue.  Name the African nation.   
      
   Nigeria   
      
   >   
   > 5. This archipelago of 10 islands off the coast of Africa was   
   >     colonized by the Portuguese in the 15th century.  It prospered   
   >     from the slave trade, making it a target for buccaneers like   
   >     Francis Drake.  Today it is a parliamentary republic whose   
   >     best-known cultural export is its music, particularly the late   
   >     singer Cesaria Evora.   
      
   Sao Tome e Principe   
      
   >   
   > 6. The Portuguese first reached this Japanese fishing village in   
   >     1543.  In 1569, a port was built to receive Portuguese ships   
   >     and their cargoes of tobacco, baked goods, and textiles.   
   >     After Japan banned Catholicism and expelled the Portuguese,   
   >     the English and Dutch picked up where they'd left off.  Name   
   >     the city, known as Japan's window on the world.   
   >   
   > 7. In 1511 the Portuguese captured the strategic port of Malacca,   
   >     achieving short-lived dominance over the South Asian spice trade.   
   >     Malacca passed to the Dutch in 1641 and the British in 1824.   
   >     In what present-day country is Malacca?   
      
   Indonesia; Malaysia   
      
   >   
   > 8. When the Royal Family fled Lisbon in 1808 in the face of   
   >     Napoleon's invasion of Portugal, they established their court   
   >     in this colonial city, thus making it the only European capital   
   >     outside of Europe.  It remained the capital of the Portuguese   
   >     Empire through much of the 19th century.  Name it.   
   >   
   > 9. The end of the Salazar regime in Portugal led to a policy   
   >     of decolonization.  Indonesia seized advantage of the moment   
   >     to annex which former Portuguese colony in 1975?   
      
   Borneo; Timor   
      
   >   
   > 10. Although the Portuguese did not set down deep roots in North   
   >     America, memories of their exploration endure in many placenames,   
   >     including one region whose name derives from the Portuguese   
   >     word for "worker".  Which region?   
   >   
   >   
   > * Game 8, Round 6 - History - Predecessors   
   >   
   > How quickly their names are forgotten!  --Or are they?  We name   
   > of a political or ceremonial leader of some kind, and you name   
   > the person who held the office or role before them.   
   >   
   > 1. Who preceded French president Emmanuel Macron?   
   > 2. Who preceded current German chancellor Olaf Scholz?   
      
   Merkel   
      
   > 3. Who preceded Mary Simon as Governor-General of Canada?   
   > 4. Who preceded current British prime minister Rishi Sunak?   
      
   May   
      
   > 5. Who preceded Antonio Guterres as Secretary-General of the   
   >     United Nations?   
      
   Annan   
      
   >   
   > 6. Who preceded Xi Jinping as general secretary of the Chinese   
   >     Communist Party?   
   >   
   > 7. Who preceded Pope Francis as leader of the Roman Catholic   
   >     Church?  (Number not required.)   
      
   Benedict   
      
   >   
   > 8. Ignoring interim leaders, who preceded Marit Stiles as leader   
   >     of the Ontario New Democratic Party?   
   >   
   > 9. Ignoring interim leaders, who preceded Doug Ford as leader of   
   >     the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party?   
   >   
   > 10. In 1998 Mel Lastman became the first mayor of the amalgamated   
   >     "megacity" of Toronto.  Name *either* the last mayor of the   
   >     pre-amalgamation City of Toronto or the last Metropolitan   
   >     Toronto Chairman.   
   >   
      
   Pete Gayde   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)