Friday 31 May 2019

Time to tackle the newsquiz

There were some good scores in last week's newsquiz. Pick of the bunch was Janet Boyle with 20.5, just ahead of Liz Gerard on 20. Jamie Johnson was next on 16. The Roberts Family were the top team with 17, just pipping Adam Batstone and Lucy Thorpe on 16.5 and the Three Legs drinkers Peter, Stacey and Bryan on 16. Here is this week's newsquiz. 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. Which former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party became the 11th MP to join the contest to succeed Theresa May as Tory party leader?
2. Tory leadership candidate Rory Stewart apologised for a 'very stupid mistake’ for doing what while travelling in Iran?
3. Boris Johnson was summoned to court to face accusations of misconduct in public office over claims that he lied by saying Britain gave how much a week to the European Union?
4. Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, commenting on the expulsion of Alastair Campbell for voting Lib Dem, said: 'It is ____ to resort to expulsions when the NEC should be listening to members’. What is the missing word? 
5. The Brexit Party won 31.6 per cent of the votes and how many seats in the European elections? 
6. Who said he was not quitting, adding: 'I do feel that now is a time in which momentous events are taking place and there are great issues to be resolved and in those circumstances, it doesn't seem to me sensible to vacate the chair.’?
7. Former MP Michael Spicer, who died age 76, was the founder of which political group?
8. Who was criticised by London mayor Sadiq Khan for tweeting that the UK capital was 'not really an English city any more’?
9. A Government-commissioned review recommended cutting annual fees for university courses from £9,250 to what figure from 2021?
10. At least seven people were killed when a pleasure boat collided with another boat on which river?
11. After viewers commented on technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones on BBC Breakfast on Thursday, he tweeted that he had been diagnosed with what?
12. A seven-year-old boy was airlifted to hospital after falling off the Twister rollercoaster at which amusement park?
13. An investigation by the website Pulse revealed that in the last six years 583 premises had closed … 138 of them last year. What are they?
14. Sarah Barrass appeared at which crown court accused of murdering her 14 and 13-year-old sons?
15. After special counsel Robert Mueller reiterated that his inquiry did not exonerate Donald Trump of obstruction of justice, the President tweeted that the inquiry was: 'The Greatest Presidential ____ in history. ‘ What is the missing word?
16. The inquest into the deaths of the victims of the London Bridge attacks heard that the terrorists used 12-inch pink kitchen knives which had been bought from which store?
17. Which chain store is reviewing its portfolio of nearly 2,500 shops in the UK as its US parent company attempts to cut $1billion (£790billion) in costs?
18. Where did Robin Haynes Fisher, 44, from Birmingham and 56-year-old Irishman Kevin Hynes die?
19. Arsenal forward Henrikh Mkyhitaryan chose not to play in the Europa League final in Baku because of fears for his safety due to his nationality. What country is he from?
20. A knifeman murdered a 12-year-old girl, a 39-year-old man and stabbed 18 people, mostly schoolgirls, on a school bus in which country?
21. England won the opening game of the Cricket World Cup by beating which country by 104 runs?
22. A jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court unaminously cleared singer Oritse Williams, formerly of which boyband, of rape?
23. It was revealed that who earned £7,768,448 in prize-money by winning 534 horse races from 3,205 runs over the last 31 years? 
24. What was the name of the Banksy artwork on a garage wall in Port Talbot that was moved by lorries to an art gallery?
25. Which act was withdrawn from the Britain's Got Talent live semi-finals for health and safety reasons after they refused to reveal the content of their act?


Answers here

Friday 24 May 2019

The newsquiz: 25 questions about the week

Congratulations to Oliver Milne who scored an astonishing 23 in last week's newsquiz, the joint top score of all time. Well played also to Janet Boyle who, on any other week, would have been the winner with 20.5. Other good scores were Liz Gerard with 19. Toby Brown 17 and Gavin Devine 16.5. Andy Drinkwater recorded a PB of 16, the same score as Dan Williams. The top team was Bruce and Sarah Hayward with 17.5. Here is this week's quiz. As usual there are 25 questions about the week. Give it a go and let me know how you get on. 


Today's front pages - before the PM's resignation announcement
1. Theresa May announced today (Friday) that she will resign from the position Conservative party leader on what date?
2. In her resignation speech Theresa May said humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton told her: 'Never forget that ____ is not a dirty word. Life depends on ____.’ What is the missing word?
3. Bookmakers have made Boris Johnson the favourite to succeed Theresa May as Tory party leader but who, with odds ranging from 7/2 to 5/1, is second favourite?
4. In her letter to the Prime Minister, resigning as leader of the Commons, Andreas Leadsom said: ‘I no longer believe that our approach will deliver on the referendum result, for the following reasons’. How many reasons did she then list?
5. Tory peers Lord Heseltine and Lord Cooper had the party whip suspended after saying they would do what on Thursday (yesterday)?
6. Who claimed that Nigel Farage's Brexit Party was a private company, made up of shareholders, adding: 'You can pay to this party in Russian roubles, American dollars, Malaysian ringgit and, of course, probably to his disdain, euros as well’?
7. What two flavours were in the milkshake thrown over Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage in Newcastle? Half a point for each flavour.
8. What is the name of the private equity group that owns British Steel which has been put into complusory liquidation?
9. Royal Mail announced it is launching 1,400 what in 32 towns and cities across the UK?
10. Why did Anderton Park Primary School in Birmingham close at noon today?
11. Which company reported a £1.5billion loss for the half-year, saying there is 'little doubt that the Brexit process has led many UK customers to delay' their plans for this summer?
12. Former Formula 1 champion Niki Lauda, who died age 70, was read the last rites after a crash in 1976 while competing in which country’s Grand Prix?
13. How many of Jamie Oliver’s 25 UK restaurants closed, with the loss of 1,000 jobs, this week?
14. Nurse Sarah Kuteh lost her appeal against dismissal from Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, Kent, for gross misconduct. What was the misconduct?
15. Steve Clarke, 55, was appointed to which job?
16. Sir Rod Stewart said he was donating £10,000 to what?
17. Manchester City became the first team since Bury in 1903 to do what?
18. Nan Winton, who died age 93, was the first woman to do what?
19. The Queen visited Sainsbury’s in Covent Garden, London, and when introduced to self-service check-outs said to the manager 'You can’t ____ then?’ What is the missing word?
20. A Unesco report, called I’d Blush if I Could, said that what is enforcing gender stereotypes?
21. Which group launched a rescue plan which includes closing 23 UK stores and halving the annual payments to the company's pension scheme?
22. Writer and illustrator Judith Kerr, who died age 95, was well-known for her book The Tiger Who Came to Tea and another series about the cats which started with which 1970 book?
23. More than a million people signed a petition started by a 30-year-old analyst from Texas calling for what?
24. Why was former care worker Jordan Adlard Rogers, 31, in the headlines? 
25. Michael Rice's song Bigger Than Us came last in Eurovision with 16 points but later this was revised to what score?

Answers here

Friday 17 May 2019

The newsquiz - 25 questions about the week

Last week's top scorer in the newsquiz was Jake Hurfurt with 19, narrowly ahead of Liz Gerrard on 18 and Steve Silk on 17. The top team was the Three Legs drinkers - Peter, Stacey, Melinda, Bryan and Tony - with a best ever score of 19, just ahead of the Roberts family on 18. 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.  



1. A fourth vote on Theresa May's Brexit will be held on the week beginning what date?
2. Who told the British Insurance Brokers' Association conference in Manchester: 'I'm going to go for it. Of course I'm going to go for it.’?
3. Defence secretary Penny Mordaunt promised an amnesty on offences committed more than ten years ago by veterans who served anywhere in the world with one exception? Where is it?
4. What is being put back in the public sector after the National Audit Office said part-privatisation, introduced in 2014 by then Justice Secretary Chris Grayling, had cost taxpayers nearly £500million?
5. Whose long-delayed autobiography For The Record will be released on September 19 – days before the Tory Party conference?
6. Jeremy Kyle’s show, cancelled after the death of a participant, was ITV's highest rating daytime show and ran for how many years?
7. Following the cancellation of Jeremy Kyle’s show, Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairman Damian Collins said: 'There needs to be an independent review of the __ __ __ TV companies have to participants in reality TV shows’. What are the three missing words?

8. Five banks were fined €1.07billion (£935million) by the European Commission after they clubbed together to rig the foreign exchange market. Name any two of them. Half a point for each.
9. Arts minister Michael Ellis placed an export ban on what book, temporarily stopping it from leaving the UK?
10. Which two teams will compete for the final Premier League spot in the Championship play-offs. Half a point for each. 
11. Twenty five white male Republicans voted to ban what in Alabama?
12. Simon Armitage, a 56-year-old former probation officer, was appointed to which role?
13. Why was nurse Helen Kennett in the headlines?
14. The deepest dive ever made by a human inside a submarine, descended nearly 35,853ft (10,927 metres) in which trench in the Pacific Ocean?
15. Who accepted substantial damages and an apology at the High Court from the Splash News agency that took aerial photographs of his home, forcing him and his wife, to move out?
16. Manchester City won the Premier Leage title, just one point ahead of Liverpool, with how many points in total?
17. US president Donald Trump declared a national economic emergency that empowers the government to ban technology and services to 'protect America from ___ ___’. What are the two missing words?
18. The founder of which company is handing over 60 per cent of his business to employees and giving the 500 staff a shared bonus of £3.5million?
19. What was the name of the professional wrestler who died after collapsing in the ring during a bout at the Roundhouse in Camden, London? 
20. A painting of haystacks by which artist was sold for $110.7million (£85.7million), at Sotheby’s in New York, to become the ninth-most expensive work ever sold at auction?
21. When Bob Hawke, who died at 89, was Australian Prime Minister he replaced what song with Advance Australia Fair? 
22. Who was banned from his local pub, the George and Dragon, after the landlord accused him of walking away from a head-on car crash on a country lane in Kent?
23. Doris Day, who died at 97, was best known as an actress but also had 15 top 40 singles in the UK charts, including two number ones. Name either of her No 1 hits.
24. Who won the leading actor and actress awards at the Baftas? Half a point for each.
25. Diners at Hawksmoor Manchester who ordered a bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol for £260 were apparently mistakenly given a bottle worth how much?

Answers here

Friday 10 May 2019

Time to tackle the newsquiz

The top scorer in last week’s newsquiz was Toby Brown with a huge 21.5. Other good scores were Gavin Devine with 19.5, Janet Boyle 19, Jaymes Bryla 17.5, Liz Gerard and Steve Silk 17 and Ginger Elvis 16. The best teams were Bruce and Sarah Hayward with 20, the Roberts family with 19 and Adam Batstone and Lucy Thorpe with 18.5. Here is 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. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's son is called Archie Harrison ... and what other name?
2. What weight was the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby at birth?
3. Who said this week: ‘It was one of those moments when I wanted the ground to open and swallow me up. It was extremely embarrassing … it was a brain freeze, like for an actor on stage’?
4. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo urged the UK not to do a deal with Huawei, saying: 'Ask yourself, would the ___ ___ be silent when China violates the sovereignty of nations through corruption or coercion?’ What are the two missing words?
5. Lib Dem leader Vince Cable defended his party’s Euro-elections slogan, saying: 'There is also something called humour, okay maybe as a country we have lost our sense of humour but it is an attempt to put in a more pungent way, what an awful lot of people think’. What is the slogan?
6. At Prime Minister’s Question Time Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told Theresa May to 'take some tips' from who 'on how to get a good result in Europe.’ 
7. Forty-one people were killed when a plane owned by which airline made an emergency landing at a Moscow airport after being struck by lightning?
8. An inquest into those killed in the London Bridge terror attacks heard that Spaniard Ignacio Echeverria was stabbed to death after hitting one of the three terrrorists with what?
9. According to research, published in the British Medical Journal, the 'sheer pace of modern life’ may be responsible for a fall in what?
10. What did 89-year-old Robert Phillips, who lives in Florida, send back to the UK after 60 years?
11. Rachael Warburton, 33, of Leigh, Greater Manchester, called for what Netflix drama to be banned after her 12-year-old daughter killed herself after watching it?
12. Israel said it will block activists, protesting against its treatment of the Palestinians, who plan to disrupt what event due to be held next weekend?
13. Guinness World Records apologised for an earlier decision and awarded Jessica Anderson with a world record for doing what?
14. Holland & Barrett is set to become the first UK high street retailer to stop selling what?
15. Why was ex-Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona fined almost £1,000, including costs, by Brighton Magistrates Court?
16. Spanish newspapers ran headlines that translate as ‘Embarrasing,’ ‘Historic failure’ and ‘The biggest farce in history’ this week. What event were they referring to?
17. He was born Frederick Leslie Fowell, was lead singer with Liverpool pop group the Midniters, had a television career after appearing on Opportunity Knocks and was the subject of one of the best-known tabloid newspaper headlines. Who was he?
18. Why was 14-year-old Oakley Cannonier hailed a hero in Liverpool?
19. Australia's latest 50 dollar note has an embarrassing typo. What word is misspelt?
20. The court crest from Westminster Magistrates was taken in an Argos carrier bag to where?
21. Which company was valued at $82billion (£63billion) ahead of its share listing in one of the biggest stock market flotations of the year?
22. Who described his sacking this week as 'a masterclass of pompous faux-gravity’?
23. Marks & Spencer introduced a controversial sandwich based on the traditional BLT - bacon, lettuce and tomato - called the LGBT. What does the G stand for? 
24. Who scored a hat-trick for Tottenham Hotspur to beat Ajax in the European Champions League semi-final?
25. Why did a takeaway cup from a coffee shop in Banbridge, Northern Ireland, go viral this week?

Answers here

Friday 3 May 2019

Test your news knowledge with the quiz

The top solo scorer in last week’s newsquiz was Jamie Johnson with 20, just ahead of Jake Hurfurt, Toby Brown and Janet Boyle on 19. The top team was the Penmans with 19, narrowly ahead of Dora Allday and Miles Dilworth with 18.5. 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. 

Farewell to Gavin Williamson: Thursday's front pages (Questions 1 and 2)
1. Sacked Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson denied leaking information on Huawei, saying: 'I absolutely promise, hand on heart, I did not leak this. I realise my ____ will say I did, but I swear on my children’s lives I did not.’ What is the missing word?
2. Penny Mordaunt replaced Gavin Williamson to become the first ever female UK Defence Secretary. What was her previous Cabinet position?
3. The leader of which party made an early declaration that it was 'the big winner’ in yesterday’s local elections?
4. Labour MP Fiona Onasanya became the first politician to lose her seat in the Commons by voters using a recall petition, meaning a by-election will be held in which constituency?
5. MPs passed a Labour Party motion which made the UK parliament the first in the world to declare what?
6. English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson had milkshakes thrown over him in which two Northern towns? Half a point for each. 
7. What began in London on Tuesday, will hear witnesses in Belfast, Leeds, Edinburgh and Cardiff, and is expected to last three years?
8. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was jailed for 50 weeks after being found guilty of what charge?
9. Which two football teams confirmed their promotion to the Premier League? Half a point for each.
10. Two men were charged with preventing lawful burial after two bodies were discovered in what in a house in Canning Town, London?
11. Which city became the first in the UK to report a drop in childhood obesity after introducing a programme to help parents set boundaries for their children?
12. Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya lost her case against new rules by the International Association of Athletics Federations which restricts what in female runners?
13. Politician Juan Guaidó was stripped of his parliamentary immunity in which country?
14. Actor Peter Mayhew, who died aged 74, played which role in five different films?
15. What is the full eight-word title of the Queen's highest award that was given to the Duchess of Cambridge? 
16. What did Marc Marshall, 54, do in the dock of Inner London Crown Court after being jailed for fraud?
17. Musician Pete Doherty needed hospital treatment after being injured by what animal?
18. Who made his first public appearance since 2014 in an 18-minute video?
19. What verdict did the Southwark coroner record at an inquest into the death of 37-year-old burglar Henry Vincent?
20. Norwegian marine experts believe that a white beluga whale they found wearing a harness was doing what?
21. Why was Tottenham Hotspur fan Neil Markham of Banbury in the headlines?
22. John Singleton, who died aged 51, was the youngest film-maker and the first African American, to be nominated for a best director Oscar. What was the name of the film?
23. Marks & Spencer removed what from the recipe of its Percy Pig sweets in response to consumer demand?
24. Lukas Bates, 30, got stuck as he crossed the finish line of the London Marathon as his ten-foot outfit was too tall. What was he dressed as?
25. Ed Sheeran's Supermarket Flowers, You Raise Me Up by Westlife and Over The Rainbow by Eva Cassidy were all included in which top ten?

Answers here