The Week of January 23, 2022 by CoenM

A group calling itself the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration claimed responsibility for a coup in what WEST AFRICAN NATION, stating that it dissolved parliament and toppled president Roch Kaboré in order to focus on the Islamic insurgency that's been ongoing since 2015?

What EXAM announced that it would be going completely digital, reduce its length to two hours, and will allow the use of calculators?

What US SUPREME COURT JUSTICE announced his retirement as of this coming June? President Biden reaffirmed that he would nominate a Black woman to fill the vacancy.

What OCEANIC COUNTRY, which closed its borders two years ago at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, recorded its first outbreak after nearly half of a group of returning Mormon missionaries tested positive? Over 180 cases have now been reported.

What STREAMING SERVICE saw Neil Young pull his music - with Joni Mitchell pledging to follow - in protest of its "spreading false information about vaccines," referring to Joe Rogan's podcast, which is exclusive to the service?

A "Freedom Convoy" of big rigs descended on what CANADIAN CITY, where drivers protested vaccine mandates and other measures aimed at stopping Covid-19?

The school board in McMinn County, Tennessee achieved international notoriety when its decision to remove what GRAPHIC NOVEL from its schools' curricula became public? While the decision was made on January 10, it became widely known just before International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

What US CITY saw its Forbes Avenue bridge in Frick Park collapse, just hours before President Biden was to arrive in town to tout his infrastructure plan? Ten people were injured in the collapse, but there were no fatalities.

What EUROPEAN COUNTRY saw Russia agree to move a live-fire naval exercise out of its exclusive economic zone? Diplomacy by foreign minister Simon Coveney and threats by local fishermen to interrupt the exercise in order to protect fish stocks were factors in the relocation.

Your HallR mini-theme of the week (TM): California Scheming. The city council of what CALIFORNIA CITY approved an ordinance that would require gun owners to carry liability insurance? Opponents contend that the measure violates the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.

What OTHER CALIFORNIA CITY saw its city council approve a ban on future oil and gas drilling, and the phase out of well currently operating within city limits?

A federal judge allowed the federal government to continue its annual round-up of what wild ANIMAL in eastern Nevada? Opponents claim the round-up is illegally shortening the length of the round-up, while the Bureau of Land Management argued that it has limited time to complete the process.