Prove It: The Weekend News Quiz in Six Questions

A trade deal, a Supreme Court ruling, a killer storm, a notorious fraudster's next move, your financial aid form, and a massive meat recall all landed within roughly forty-eight hours. That is a lot to keep straight, so consider this weekend news quiz a public service. Read each question, pick A, B, or C, and keep your own score. The answers, with sources, are waiting below.

The questions

Question 1. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped a summit in Washington this week. According to the White House fact sheet, what came out of the meeting? A) A complete end to all tariffs between them. B) Targeted tariff cuts on non-sensitive goods, a trade council, and a formal dialogue on artificial intelligence. C) Nothing at all; the summit ended with zero agreements.

Question 2. A nor'easter slammed the Northeast this weekend. What is the confirmed toll so far? A) The storm fizzled out before reaching the coast. B) A Brooklyn man was killed by a falling tree, heavy rain is expected through the weekend, and emergencies were declared across New York. C) The storm turned into a heatwave instead.

Question 3. The Supreme Court weighed in on voter eligibility checks ahead of the November midterms. What did the justices decide? A) States may never check voter citizenship. B) States can use the expanded SAVE database for individualized citizenship checks while the underlying lawsuit continues. C) The court ordered every voter roll frozen until next year.

Question 4. Where is Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes headed? A) She walked free this week. B) She is approved to move to a halfway house in Del Valle, Texas, in August of next year. C) She received a full pardon.

Question 5. The financial aid form for the 2027-2028 school year is already out. What makes this launch different? A) It is the earliest launch in the program's history. B) The form was eliminated entirely. C) The form now takes much longer to finish.

Question 6. A major meat recall hit this week. What went wrong? A) The meat was produced without federal inspection and shipped with a false USDA mark. B) Shoppers disliked the packaging. C) Regulators banned the sale of pork outright.

The answers and what actually happened

B is the answer to the summit question. The meeting produced a limited but real economic agreement: according to Reuters, the two countries will reduce tariffs on thirty billion dollars of goods, set up a trade council, and launch a dialogue on the risks and benefits of AI, while China committed to buy at least ten million metric tons of American coal annually. "We've actually reached agreement with the Chinese on a number of these things," U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC, teasing more details on Monday. You can read Reuters' full breakdown of the deal. We also covered a very different AI warning from Pope Leo earlier this month.

B again for the storm. The New York Post reported that a falling tree killed a Brooklyn man on Euclid Avenue in East New York as gusts topped forty-five miles per hour, and Governor Kathy Hochul declared emergencies in New York City, Westchester, and all of Long Island, warning that much more rain was on the way. The Post's full storm report has the details. If you are anywhere in the storm's path, we put together a guide to riding out the blackout.

The court question is also B. In a six-to-three decision issued Friday, the justices lifted a lower court's restrictions and let the administration use the expanded SAVE database for individualized citizenship checks ahead of the midterms, according to CNN. The program was created in nineteen eighty-six to verify immigration status for public benefits, then linked to Social Security data so states could run bulk voter checks. Limits still apply: federal law bars systematic voter-roll removals within ninety days of an election. "The harm caused by burdening or disenfranchising even a few lawful voters outweighs the nonexistent harm that the government experiences," Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in her dissent, which Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined, according to CNN. CNN has the full ruling explained.

B for Holmes. She is not walking free, but she is moving. ABC News reported, citing a Justice Department victim notification, that Holmes was approved for placement at the Austin Transitional Center in Del Valle, Texas, on August 23 of next year. She has been serving time at the minimum-security Federal Prison Camp Bryan since May of 2023 following her 2022 conviction for defrauding Theranos investors. A halfway house gives residents more freedom than a prison camp, but movements stay monitored with head counts and sign-outs, according to CNN. More on the transfer here.

A is the FAFSA answer. The Department of Education rolled out the form earlier than ever before, ahead of its federally mandated October deadline, marking the earliest launch in the program's history. "We've simplified it," Department of Education Under Secretary for Higher Education Nicholas Kent told ABC News ahead of the launch. "Instead of it taking hours or even days to fill out, it takes 15 minutes on average." The redesigned form uses plainer language and lets students invite contributors by text or email, according to ABC News reporting. Read the full story on the early launch.

And A closes out the recall. Star Meat Delivery Inc. of Lucama, North Carolina, is recalling more than one hundred sixty-seven thousand pounds of raw pork, beef, and goat products after they were produced without federal inspection and shipped with a false USDA inspection mark, the USDA said Tuesday. The products, sold under the A&D Foods label to restaurants and retailers nationwide, bore establishment number EST. 1363, which the agency says holds no federal grant of inspection. The agency classified the recall at its highest risk level. No confirmed illnesses have been reported, according to CNN. CNN's report lists the affected products.

A perfect score means you were paying closer attention than most people scrolling past the headlines this weekend. Anything less, and at least you now know where the tariff deal stands, how bad the storm got, and what to check before buying ground pork. Share this weekend news quiz with the friend who always claims to have read the news.