Time to tackle the newsquiz

The top solo score in last week's quiz was Janet Boyle with an impressive 18 and the top team was Adam Batstone and Lucy Thorpe with 17. Here is this week's quiz. As usual there are 25 questions about the week's events. Give it a go and let me know how you get on. 

Royal baby crazy: Tuesday's front pages (Questions 1 and 2)

1. What three names were given to the baby boy born to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge?

2. The new royal baby will be what number in the line to the throne?

3. Speaking to journalists at a lunch Home Secretary Amber Rudd said 'I don't feel I have been used in that way’ when asked if she was what?
4. Who chaired the Home Affairs Select Committee which accused Theresa May of repeatedly ignoring warnings about the 'damage her obsession with her net migration target was doing’?

5. The White House announced that President Donald Trump is to visit the UK on which date?

6. Who accused rebel MPs of 'working overtime trying to present the Labour Party as a morass of misogyny, anti-Semitism and bullying’?

7. The father of Alfie Evans, the baby at a centre of a legal battle in Liverpool, said of his son surviving after being taken off life support: 'Some people say it’s a miracle. It’s not a miracle; it’s a _____.’ What is the missing word?
8. Kim Jong-un made history as he became the first North Korean leader to cross the 38th parallel since the Korean War ended how many years ago?

9. How many people were killed when a van driver drove at 70mph along a pavement in Toronto?
10. The van driver who killed pedestrians in Toronto had posted on Facebook saying he was joining the 'Incel Rebellion’. What is Incel short for?
11. Chief executive Paul Pester said his company is 'on our knees’. Which company is he in charge of?

12. He often said he could drink his own weight in booze, was briefly married to a six-foot two model and his screen roles included Griphook. Who is he?
13. Prime Minister Theresa May announced that a national commemoration of whom is to take place on April 22 each year?

14. Why was 53-year-old Sean Cox in the news?
15. Why will Jackson Carlaw be taking over as temporary leader of the Scottish Conservatives?
16. French president Emmanuel Macron alluded to the fact his relationship with Donald Trump reminded him of that of Benjamin Franklin and which Frenchmen who 'embraced each other by hugging one another and kissing each other's cheeks'?
17. What did Everton captain Phil Jagielka carry on to the pitch before the match against Newcastle on Monday evening?
18. More than £100,000 was raised for the charity that MasterChef contestant Matt Campbell was raising money for when he died during the London Marathon. What is the charity called?
19. A bronze casting by artist Gillian Wearing became the first statue of a woman in Parliament Square. Who is depicted in the statue?
20. The Football Association announced it has received an offer to buy Wembley stadium from Shahid Khan, who is the owner of which British football club?
21. The body of the Swedish DJ Avicii was found at a hotel in which country?

22. Who called a prosecutor an asshole in court after he had asked the judge not to grant bail?

23. Who announced he was suing Facebook for running fake adverts using his name?

24. Kanye West tweeted: 'You don't have to agree with trump but the mob can't make me not love him. We are both _____ energy. He is my brother.’ What is the missing word?

25. Malcolm Trobe, deputy general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said what was being removed from exam rooms as they were a ‘cause of unnecessary stress’?

Answers here

Can you handle the heat of the newsquiz?

Last week's newsquiz was seen as a tough one by most online players. That didn't stop Liz Gerard scoring a very healthy 19 though. The top team, led by Heather Clifton, scored 17. Here's this week's quiz. As usual 25 questions about the week's events. Give it a go and let me know how you get on.

1. Former head of the civil service Lord Kerslake called for an investigation into who authorised the destruction of thousands of what?
2. Theresa May apologised to the Windrush immigrants threatened with deportation. Why are they called Windrush immigrants?
3. According to senior EU diplomatic sources what was subjected to a 'systematic and forensic annihilation' this week?
4. The Pentagon said that US-led coalition unleashed how many cruise missiles on three Syrian chemical weapons centres?
5. In a special House of Commons debate which Labour MP said she had been told: 'Hang yourself you vile treacherous Zionist Tory filth'?
6. Former FBI director James Comey said of US president Donald Trump: 'I don't think he's medically unfit to be President. I think he's ____ unfit to be President.' What is the missing word?
7. Prime Minister Theresa May, in a continuing purge on plastics, said she had put forward ambitious plans to further reduce waste from plastic straws, stirrers and what other item?
8. The Queen opened the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at Buckingham Palace after which singer sang the National Anthem?
9. The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is investigating Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt's failure to declare his stake in a firm which bought seven luxury flats in which town?
10. Arsène Wenger announced he is leaving Arsenal, ending his reign as the Premier League’s longest-serving manager. What year did he join the club?

11. Why was Tammie Jo Shults in the headlines?
12. Her maiden name was Pierce, her codename was Tranquility and her family called her The Enforcer. Who was she?
13. How much was television presenter Ant McPartlin fined at Wimbledon Magistrates Court after admitting drink-driving?
14. Which football team, that carries the slogan The Club That Wouldn’t Die, celebrated promotion and the highest position in its history?
15. Dale Winton, who died aged 62, was mainly known as a television and radio presenter but he also played a game show host in which film in the 90s?

16. The pound fell against the euro and dollar on Thursday after the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, indicated that what might not happen in May?
17. What is the name of the BBC reporter who, when asked if he wanted to make a personal apology to Sir Cliff Richard, told the High Court he was sorry the star 'went through such a difficult time’?
18. King Mswati III of Swaziland announced that he was renaming the country and it is now called the Kingdom of what?
19. Which company has shut down all its social media - Twitter, Facebook and Instagram - because it had 'become a waste of time’?
20. Australia topped the Commonwealth Games with 198 medals, England were second with 136 and which country came third with 66?
21. Who announced that his wife Natasha Shishmanian is expecting twins?
22. What was the name of the Queen's 14-year-old corgi who was put to sleep this week?
23. How did Helen Housby achieve glory?
24. Temperatures soared to 84.4F (29.1C) in St James’s Park, London, on Thursday making it officially the hottest UK April day since what year?
25. Asda apologised to Nottingham shopper Bobbie Gordon after charging her £930.11 for what?

Answers here

Here's this week's newsquiz ...

The top scorer in last week's newsquiz was Janet Boyle with 18. Liz Gerard scored 17, as did the Penmans, aided by daughter Daisy back from uni for Easter. Here's this week's quiz. As usual, there are 25 questions about the week's events. Let me know how you get on. 

Getting ready for war: Syria dominates the front pages (questions 1-3)

1. A toxic gas attack on which Syrian city killed around 75 people?
2. Donald Trump tweeted a warning to Russia saying: 'You shouldn’t be partners with a ___ ___ ___ who kills his people and enjoys it!’ What are the three missing words?

3. Who said: 'We have proof that last week chemical weapons, at least chlorine, were used by the regime of Bashar al-Assad’? 

4. The Russian Embassy in the UK said the secret resettlement of poison victims Sergei and Yulia Skripal would be seen as what?
5. At the US Senate Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg was asked by Senator Orinn Hatch: 'So, how do you sustain a business model in which users don’t pay for your service?’ How did Zuckerberg respond?

6. Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner was recorded using what word to express doubts over Labour's pledge to ensure that the UK will have the same benefits post-Brexit that it has in the single market?

7. The BBC came under fire over plans to air a full recitation of a speech given 50 years ago by which politician?
8. Why was South Park Crescent in the headlines?
9. Online retailer Shop Direct announced it is to close three warehouses in Manchester, putting nearly 2,000 jobs at risk. Name one of its brands.
10. Thomas Chipperfield lost his appeal against a Defra ruling which means he is no longer allowed to continue his job as what?
11. What connects 12-year-old Manchester Arena bombing victim Amelia Thompson, former soldier Philip Gillespie and Rosie Ginday, the founder of Miss Macaroon?

12. Andrew Burke, who was sentenced to a minimum 26 years for killing his ex-girlfriend in a Tui travel agent in Southport, boasted about the tattoo on his hands. What did the tattoo say?

13. Police investigated car parking company Absolutely Secure after it was accused of dumping holidaymakers' cars in muddy fields at which airport?

14. Hundreds of people staged a protest outside which hospital after judges set a date for terminally ill toddler Alfie Evans's life support to be withdrawn?

15. After a South London inquest recorded that six-year-old Ellie Butler was unlawfully killed, her grandfather said: 'I believe the agencies involved with Ellie’s care have ___ ___ ___ ___’. What are the missing four words?

16. Welsh table tennis prodigy Anna Hursey took 17 minutes to record her first victory in the Commonwealth Games singles competition. How old is she?

17. How was 67-year-old art dealer Todd Brassner killed?

18. Organisers of the Olivier Awards apologised for omitting who from a tribute segment shown during the ceremony?

19. Englishman Michael Oliver was accused by the Italian Press of 'the robbery of the century'. What did he do?

20. Iceland is to be the first major UK supermarket to ban which ingredient in its own-brand products?

21. Who is seeking damages for lost earnings from his autobiography My Life, My Way which he claimed was 'no longer viable’?

22. Bandmates paid tribute to 'our dear friend and brother’ Tim Matley who died age 36. What is the name of the band?

23. What is the name of the lingerie brand set up by Conservative peer Michelle Mone which announced it will cease trading in the UK?

24. The controversial name of a street in Rowley Regis in the West Midlands will not be changed after an online petition was supported by 4,800 people. What is the street called?
25. UK consumers will next week be able to buy a new KitKat, with 'naturally coloured’ chocolate made from cocoa beans grown in the Ivory Coast, Ecuador and Brazil. What colour will it be?

Answers here

Splendid tabloid look for the Inverness Courier

The new Inverness Courier

The old broadsheet Courier

Congratulations to the team at Scottish Provincial Press who this week saw the relaunch of three of their titles - The Inverness Courier, Northern Scot and Ross-shire Journal - as tabloids. The Courier has also launched a new lifestyle magazine Seven Days, which looks stunning. 

The cover of the new lifestyle magazine

Next month the group’s other broadsheets, the Northern Times, Caithness Courier and John O’Groat Journal will also change size while the existing tabloids will switch to a new design. My colleague Mike Brough and I thoroughly enjoyed working with the SPP team. It was a mammoth task executed brilliantly by John Davidson and Amanda Patterson. Editorial director David Bourn is rightly proud of the results. ‘We have managed to keep the essence of these wonderful newspapers while presenting them in a vibrant new format which will please existing readers, tempt lapsed readers back into the fold and, hopefully, attract some new ones,’  he said. They all deserve a large one at the excellent Malt Room tonight. Mike and I wish we were there to raise a glass with them. 

Have a crack at this week's newsquiz

The top scorer in last week’s newsquiz was Liz Gerard with an impressive 20 points. Jamie Johnson’s household was the top team with 19. Janet Boyle scored 18 as did Steven Silk. Graham Dudman and Charlie Coe also reported healthy scores with 17 each, the same as Adam Batstone and Lucy Thorpe. Here is this week’s quiz. As usual there are 25 questions about the week's events. Give it a go and let me know how you get on. 

Today's front pages

1. A Russian proposal for a joint investigation into the Salisbury poisonings was outvoted at a meeting of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in which city?
2. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson reacted to claims he had misled people over the poisonings by saying: '28 other countries have been so convinced by the UK case they have expelled Russians. In contrast, Jeremy Corbyn chooses to side with the Russian ___ ___.’ What are the two missing words?
3. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he had no regrets about attending a dinner organised by which left-wing Jewish group?
4. Alison Saunders announced she is to step down from which position at the end of her contract in October?
5. UK companies with more than how many staff had to submit their gender pay figures by midnight on Wednesday?
6. After a teenager was stabbed to death in Hackney, the Metropolitan police confirmed it is investigating how many suspected murders since the start of the year?
7. Tory MP Jacob Rees Mogg was sent a 'cease and desist' letter accusing him of ‘masquerading’ as which character?
8. Vauxhall's French parent company PSA announced that a new model of which van would be built at its Luton plant?
9. Nasim Aghdam, 39, shot three people and then killed herself at the YouTube offices in which Californian town?
10. When he stood in the 1984 Chesterfield by-election against Tony Benn, he was asked if voters could take seriously a man who played Selwyn Froggitt. Who was he? 

11. Former students in England and Wales, who took out loans from September 2012 onwards, will now start repayments when they earn how much per year?
12. Why was Richard Osborn-Brooks in the headlines?
13. Sergeant Matt Tonroe from Manchester became the first British serving officer to be killed doing what?
14. AC Milan legend Franco Baresi held up a shirt with whose name on it before the derby with Inter Milan on Wednesday?
15. In 1969 prisoner number 1323/69 was jailed for 18 months and kept a diary which was published as a book called 491 Days. Who was the prisoner?
16. Four members of a Bristol family were killed in a car crash in Florida while returning to their rented home after visiting what attraction?
17. What did Jazz Carlin, Eilidh Doyle, Alistair Brownlee and Caroline O'Hanlon all carry this week?
18. Former consultant Martin Watt was jailed for 12 years after being caught with guns and a list of colleagues he blamed for his dismissal from Monklands Hospital in Airdrie. What title did he give the list?

19. Who was 'in good spirits’ at King Edward VII hospital in Marylebone?
20. Who received a 'heartfelt congratulations’ on its 100th anniversary from the Queen who ended her message with the organisation’s own motto Per Ardua ad Astra?
21. Why did Liverpool FC apologise ‘unreservedly’ to Manchester City?
22. The Echo Arena in Liverpool burst into a rendition of 'there's only one ____ ____’ on Thursday night. What are the missing two words?

23. What measure, introduced today (Friday), does the Treasury estimate will raise £240million a year?

24. The Prime Minister of which country joined a social media protest over MasterChef judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace after they said that chicken rendang needed ‘crispy’ skin?
25. What did MP Nadine Dorries says was 'too vicious’ and ‘too abrasive’ for women?

Answers here