Question:
The Beja Congress was formed in 1952 with the aim of pursuing regional autonomy against the government in Khartoum. Frustrated by the lack of progress, the Beja Congress joined the insurgent National Democratic Alliance in the 1990s. The Beja Congress effectively controlled a part of eastern Sudan centered on Garoura and Hamshkoraib. The Beja Congress sabotaged the oil pipeline to Port Sudan several times during 1999 and 2000. In 2003, they rejected the peace deal arranged between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army, and allied with the rebel movement of the Darfur region, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, in January 2004. A peace agreement was signed with the government of Sudan in October 2006. In the general elections in April 2010, the Beja Congress did not win a single seat in the National Assembly in Khartoum. In anger over alleged election fraud and the slow implementation of the peace agreement, the Beja Congress in October 2011 withdrew from the agreement, and later announced an alliance with the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army.

What was the first year that the Beja Congress sabotaged the oil pipeline to Port Sudan

Answer:



Question:
In week 11, the 7-2, NFC North-leading Lions flew to Phoenix to face the NFC West's first place team, the 8-1 Arizona Cardinals. In the first quarter, the Cardinals picked up two touchdowns to open the game. Michael Floyd caught a pair of touchdown passes from Drew Stanton, from 42 yards and 12 yards out, giving them an early lead they never relinquished. Detroit's Matt Prater hit a pair of field goals, first a 50-yard kick in the first quarter then a 28-yarder late in the second quarter, to cut the lead to 14-6 at halftime. Neither team scored in the second half. The Lions, plagued by several penalties on both sides of the ball, saw their four-game winning streak snapped.

How many touchdowns more were scored in the first quarter than the second half?

Answer:
2


Question:
Cloud argues, "the emblematic moment of the period from 1955 through the 1980s in American labor was the tragic PATCO strike in 1981." Most unions were strongly opposed to Reagan in the 1980 presidential election, despite the fact that Reagan remains the only union leader  to become President. On August 3, 1981, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization  union—which had supported Reagan—rejected the government's pay raise offer and sent its 16,000 members out on strike to shut down the nation's commercial airlines. They demanded a reduction in the workweek to 32 from 40 hours, a $10,000 bonus, pay raises up to 40%, and early retirement. Federal law forbade such a strike, and the Transportation department implemented a backup plan  to keep the system running. The strikers were given 48 hours to return to work, else they would be fired and banned from ever again working in a federal capacity. A fourth of the strikers came back to work, but 13,000 did not. The strike collapsed, PATCO vanished, and the union movement as a whole suffered a major reversal, which accelerated the decline of membership across the board in the private sector. Schulman and Zelizer argue that the breaking of PATCO, "sent shock waves through the entire U.S. labor relations regime.... strike rates plummeted, and union power sharply declined." Unions suffered a continual decline of power during the Reagan administration, with a concomitant effect on wages. The average first-year raise  fell from 9.8% to 1.2%; in manufacturing, raises fell from 7.2% to negative 1.2%. Salaries of unionized workers also fell relative to non-union workers. Women and blacks suffered more from these trends.

What enabled the Transportation department to fire the strikers if they did not return to work within 48 hours?

Answer:
law forbade such a strike


Question:
Subsequent negotiations led by Jesuit papal legate Antonio Possevino resulted in the 1582 Truce of Jam Zapolski between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This was a humiliation for the Tsar, in part because he requested the truce. Under the agreement Russia would surrender all areas in Livonia it still held and the city of Dorpat to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, while Polotsk would remain under Commonwealth control. Any captured Swedish territory—specifically Narva—could be retained by the Russians and Velike Luki would be returned from Batory's control to Russia. Possevino made a half-hearted attempt to get John III's wishes taken into consideration, but this was vetoed by the Tsar, probably in collusion with Batory. The armistice, which fell short of a full peace arrangement, was to last ten years and was renewed twice, in 1591 and 1601. Batory failed in his attempts to pressure Sweden into relinquishing its gains in Livonia, particularly Narva. Following a decision by John, the war with Russia ended when the Tsar concluded the Truce of Plussa  with Sweden on 10 August 1583. Russia relinquished most of Ingria but left Narva and Ivangorod under Swedish control. Originally scheduled to last three years, the Russo-Swedish truce was later extended until 1590. During the negotiations, Sweden made vast demands for Russian territory, including Novgorod. Whilst these conditions were probably only for the purposes of negotiation, they may have reflected Swedish aspirations of territory in the region.

When did the Truce of Plussa end?

Answer: