Fernando Henrique Cardoso became president of which large South American country in 1995?

What is a formal reduction in rank, status or position called? A formation known as Half Dome rises more than 4,700 feet above the valley floor in which California national park? What did the former European nation known as the GDR call itself in English? A former foreign editor of Time magazine founded which rival news magazine in 1933? Which former California governor and presidential candidate was elected mayor of Oakland in 1998? Which former kingdom made up the western part of what is now the Czech Republic? A former monk who rose from poverty founded which Chinese dynasty in 1368? A former Rhodes Scholar, whose image as an ordinary bloke helped him become Australia's prime minister in 1983?