NewsTracker Answers for week of Apr 11, 2016

Q: Authorities across the globe have opened investigations into the activities of the world's rich and powerful after reporters used 11 million leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm to document how the elite use tax havens to hide their wealth. Where is the Central American nation of Panama?

Circle the area on this map

Q: France, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands are among nations that have started investigations. But, leaders of the world's largest nation denounced the series of news stories assembled by investigative reporters from 76 countries. Which nation covers the largest area of the globe?

A. Canada

B. China

C. Russia

D. United States

C. The files revealed a suspected billion-dollar money laundering ring involving close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A spokesman said the reports were the result of "Putinophobia" and aimed at smearing the country in a parliamentary election year.

Q: News reports and Internet discussions were censored in the world's most populous nation after relatives of present and former leaders were named in the Panama Paper reports. What is the world's most populous nation?

A. Canada

B. China

C. India

D. United States

B. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which published information from the documents, said the files revealed offshore companies linked to the families of Chinese President Xi Jinping and other powerful current and former Chinese leaders.

Q: While Russian and Chinese leaders actively challenged the reports, the leader of Europe's most sparsely populated country was forced to resign. What is this nation with an average of 8 people per square mile?

A. Iceland

B. Monaco

C. Norway

D. Spain

A. Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson resigned after Panama Papers showed his wife owned an offshore company with big claims on Iceland's banks, an undeclared conflict of interest for the premier. Monaco is Europe's mostly densely populated nation with 43,830 people per square mile.

Q: The Panamanian law firm used the British Virgin Islands tax haven to set up the majority of the shell companies the very wealthy use to hide from tax collectors, ex-spouses, creditors and criminal investigators. Where else is it very easy to set up shell corporations?

A. Delaware

B. Nevada

C. Wyoming

D. All of the above

D. Authorities in these states tout the ease of setting up shell corporations – sometimes with even fewer restrictions than in the Virgin Islands. The British-based, nonpartisan Tax Justice Network ranks the United States as the third biggest tax haven well above Panama in 13th place.