Mark Brexit day by doing the newsquiz

The top scorer in last week's newsquiz was Jo Wadsworth with an impressive 22.  The best of the rest were Liz Gerard and Ed Mortimer who scored 20 (a PB for Ed), Cormac Connelly-Smith and Tom Savage on 19 and Alan Geere with 17. The top team was Adam Batstone and Lucy Thorpe with 22 followed by the Roberts Family and the Penmans who scored 20. Here is this week's newsquiz. As usual there are 25 questions about the week's events. What better way to mark Brexit day by giving it a go? Let me know how you get on.

The Brexit front pages

1. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was due hold a Cabinet meeting today (Friday) in which city?

2. What song did MEPs sing immediately after the withdrawal agreement was ratified in the European parliament?

3. The author of His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman, said the Brexit 50p coin should be boycotted for what reason?

4. British nationals returned home from Wuhan to RAF Brize Norton and are to be quarantined at a centre where?

5. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that anyone who returns from Wuhan will be 'safely isolated for ___ days, with all necessary medical attention’. What is the missing number?

6. How many people died in the helicopter crash that killed American basketball star Kobe Bryant?

7. Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash, played his entire 20-year career for which basketball team?

8. The BBC announced it is to cut how many jobs from its news operation as part of an effort to save £80million?

9. Rail franchise Northern will be put into public ownership and the Government-controlled OLR will take over the running of its services.What does OLR stand for? 

10. The presidents of which two countries laid wreaths together at the Death Wall to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz? Half a point for each.

11. Newsreader Alastair Stewart stepped down from ITV News following 'errors of judgement' on social media in which he quoted which Shakespearean play?

12. The Government told BBC’s Panorama that 38 people had been killed on what in the last five years?

13. Who flew into London to meet Boris Johnson and discuss the UK’s proposed relationship with Hauwei and warned that ‘the Chinese Communist Party presents the central threat of our times’?

14. Which famous 122-year-old British brand, that appeared in the James Bond film Spectre, went into administration threatening 100 jobs at its Castle Donington factory?

15. Former stock market trader Navinder Sarao, who was sentenced to a year of home detention for helping trigger a brief £770billion stock market crash, became known by what nickname?

16. Tate Britain defended its decision to advertise for a head of what on wages of almost £40,000 a year?

17. What was the name of the former deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, one of the key architects of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, who died aged 83?

18. US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said his lawyers and the FBI had asked to interview the Duke of York as part of their Jeffrey Epstein's inquiry but 'to date, Prince Andrew has provided ___ ___’. What are the two missing words?

19. Companies that carried out what were accused by lawyers of killing people 'as sure as if they had taken careful aim with a gun and pulled the trigger’?

20. Chartered Management Institute head Ann Francke called for what to be ‘moderated’ in the workplace?

21. Which two football teams will play in the Carabao Cup final? Half a point for each.

22. Whose Cheshire home was attacked by a group wearing balaclavas and chanting that he was 'going to die’?

23. Nicholas Parsons, who died age 96, presented Radio 4’s longest running programme fom 1967 to 2019. What was it called?

24. Billie Eilish swept the board at the Grammys, winning how many awards, including best new artist and song of the year?

25. Who won the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards?

Answers here

Test yourself with the newsquiz

Well done to Alan Geere who bossed last week’s newsquiz with 21. Hot on his heels were Janet Boyle, Andy Reed, Dora Allday and Yvonne Ridley who all posted scores of 20. Other good solo scorers were Toby Brown on 19, Becca McAuley 18 and Gavin Devine 17. The top team was the Roberts Family with 20. 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 Buckingham Palace statement said that, from this spring, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will no longer receive public funds for Royal duties, no longer formally represent the Queen and no longer use what?
2. Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, gave a speech to a private reception for which charity that he created in 2006 to honour his mother's legacy supporting those affected by HIV and Aids?
3. In his speech at the charity reception, where he gave his reasons for standing back from the Royal Family, what did Prince Harry call a ‘powerful force’?

4. The Duchess of Sussex’s father Thomas Markle told Channel 5 that he was ‘jealous’ of Prince Charles for doing something 'he really wanted to do’. What was it?

5. China suspended all outbound public transport from which city where the coronavirus is believed to have started?

6. The Government lost a vote in the House of Lords when Peers supported Lord Dubs' amendment to protect the rights of who?

7. Conservative party chairman James Cleverly confirmed that the Government is considering moving the House of Lords away from London – potentially to which city?

8. The GMB union, Chinese for Labour and Jess Phillips, who stood down, all said they would now be supporting which Labour leadership candidate?

9. More than 30 MPs, including former International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, signed a letter calling on Boris Johnson to deliver a 'key engine for growth that we must not waver from’? What was the letter referring to?

10. Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom introduced Jack’s Law which gives workers what legal right?

11. UN human rights experts demanded an investigation into allegations that whose phone was hacked via a WhatsApp message?

12. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said activist Greta Thunberg should go to college and study what subject?

13. Why will champions Saracens be relegated from rugby union's top flight at the end of this season?

14. Which company announced, after a disappointing Christmas, it was cutting 3,000 middle managers but creating 7,000 hourly-paid roles 'to improve customer service'?

15. The Prince of Wales warned that 'hatred and intolerance still lurk in the human heart’ at a speech marking the anniversary of what?

16. On the first day of his impeachment trial Donald Trump broke his presidential record by doing what 142 times?

17. The Home Office said it was urgently 'considering our options’ after a decision which it said ‘appears to be a denial of justice’? What decision was it referring to?

18. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced its symbolic 'doomsday clock' had moved forward to how many seconds before midnight - the closest to world catastrophe since the clock's creation in 1947?

19. Who was revealed to be promoting drinks from the Guangming Dairy?

20. Laurence Fox caused a stir when he told a member of the Question Time audience a week ago that ' to call me a ___ ___ ___ is to be racist - you're being racist.’ What are the three missing words?

21. What did television personality Michael Palin say was 'sort of like losing a limb?’

22. Rock star Ozzy Osbourne revealed he had been diagnosed with what disease after a fall?

23. Why was Welsh teacher Francis Elive, 55, in the headlines?

24. Victoria Derbyshire tweeted that she was 'absolutely devastated’ when she found out via which newspaper that her BBC show was being axed ?

25. Who made headlines when she replaced Hamish with Oscar?

Answers here

Time to tackle the newsquiz

The top score in last week's newsquiz was Joe Curtis with an impressive 22. Toby Brown and Dora Allday both scored 21, Yvonne Ridley, Andy Reed and Liz Gerard scored 20, Becca McAuley, 19 and Jaymes Bryla, Alan Geere and Tom Savage 18. The top team was the Three Legs Drinkers (Nicky, Les, Bryan and Laura) with 20. Bruce and Sarah Hayward and Adam Batstone and Lucy Thorpe scored 19. 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. 

The Royal story dominates Tuesday's front pages 

1. In the Queen’s six-sentence statement on Harry and Meghan stepping down as senior Royals she used which word seven times in the first three sentences?
2. Which newspaper, accused by the Duchess of Sussex of misusing her private information and breaching copyright, submitted documents to the High Court which suggested it could rely on evidence from Meghan’s father?

3. After video emerged of Harry talking to Walt Disney's chief executive, it was revealed Meghan had signed a voiceover deal in exchange for a donation to which charity?

4. Prince Harry broke his silence following his decision to step back as a senior member of the Royal Family by announcing plans for the 2022 Invictus Games in which city?

5. Who said that victims of an Iran-downed jetliner would still be alive were it not for a recent escalation of tensions partly triggered by the US?

6. Why did Iran say that it had detained 'persona non grata' British ambassador Rob Macaire?

7. Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote to Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon saying she and her 'predecessor had made a personal promise that the 2014 Independence referendum was a once in a ____ vote.’ What is the missing word?

8. Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said there was a need to 'weigh up the costs' involved in making Big Ben chime for Brexit, saying you are talking about £___ a bong’. What is the missing figure?

9. Health Secretary Matt Hancock hinted that the A&E waiting time target wasn’t working and could be scrapped. What is the target?

10. Who withdrew from the Labour leadership contest saying 'I’m standing aside in the spirit of pluralism, diversity and generosity that I’ve promoted throughout this campaign'?

11. Which country announced it is to hold a general election on a Saturday (February 8) for the first time 'to help parents, students and those living away from home’?

12. Which company filed a complaint to the EU arguing the UK Government's plan to defer some of Flybe's air passenger duty payments breaches state aid rules?

13. Presenter Samira Ahmed won an employment tribunal claiming she was underpaid by £700,000 for hosting which audience feedback show? 

14. Why were 60 people, many of them children, treated for skin irritation and breathing problems in Los Angeles?.

15. What is to become the last English county to have a McDonald's after councillors approved plans for a drive-through restaurant.

16. The Gambling Commission announced that people are to be banned from doing what from April 14?

17. The police chief of which city apologised to the children abused by grooming gangs and said he was 'personally disgusted' the children were not cared for?

18. A 71-year-old man, Piran Ditta Khan, was arrested in Pakistan in connection with the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky, who was shot at a travel agents in which city in 2005?

19. Who, in her role as the Chancellor of Aberdeen University, presented Princess Anne with an honorary degree for her charity work?

20. A study led by a former Bank of England economist pinpointed the exact age of peak unhappiness in the developed world as what? 

21. Which actor, who died age 82, found fame as a stooge to the puppet Basil Brush and went on to play Bernard Woolley in the BBC sitcom Yes Minister and Oscar Blaketon in Heartbeat?

22. A rare sovereign featuring whose head has been bought for £1million, setting a new record for the sale of a British coin.

23. Sergio Aguero’s goals in Manchester City’s 6-1 victory at Aston Villa meant that he broke which Premier League record which was previously held by Alan Shearer?

24. Who has recorded the title track for the new James Bond film, No Time To Die, to become the youngest artist to write and record a theme for the franchise?
25. Which film has the most nominations, 11, in this year’s Oscars?

Answers here

Time for this week's newsquiz

In a busy news week Harry and Meghan dominate most of today's front pages 

(Questions 4 and 5) 

The top scorer in last week's newsquiz was Tom Savage with an impressive 22 ... well ahead of Janet Boyle and Jayne Howarth who both scored 18 and Alan Geere with 17. The top team was Bruce and Sarah Hayward with 20, just ahead of the Roberts Family on 19. It's certainly been a newsy start to 2020. 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. 

The New York Post has fun with the Harry and Meghan story 

1. Sixty-three people who were killed on a Ukraine International Airlines plane which crashed after take-off in Tehran were from which country?

2. At least 56 people were killed in a stampede during a funeral ceremony for the Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani attended by hundreds of thousands of mourners in which city?

3. In a speech after the missile attack on US bases in Iraq, President Donald Trump insisted that Iran will 'never' be allowed to obtain what on his watch?

4. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a personal statement saying: 'We intend to step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family and work to become ___ ___, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen.’ What are the two missing words?

5. Which organisation said it was separating the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from other members of the Royal Family until it 'sees what the next chapter holds for them’?

6. Britain moved one step closer to leaving the European Union on January 31 after the Withdrawal Agreement Bill was passed unamended in the Commons by what majority?

7. Labour's National Executive Committee announced that the party’s new leader will be named at a special conference on what date?

8. Labour leadership candidate Rebecca Long Bailey, when asked by an ITV reporter, gave Jeremy Corbyn how many marks out of ten?
9. The British 19-year-old woman accused in the Cyprus rape case flew home after she was given a suspended prison sentence of how long?

10. Reynhard Sinaga, the worst rapist in British legal history, was found guilty in Manchester of how many sexual offences against 48 men?

11. Greta Thunberg changed her Twitter name to what after it was given as an answer on Celebrity Mastermind?

12. The Queen’s grand-daughter Zara Tindall was banned from driving for six months after she was caught at what speed in her Land Rover near her home in the Cotswolds?
13. Paula Nickolds, managing director of which company, is to step down after falling Christmas sales meant it might ditch the annual bonus to its 81,000 employees for the first time in 67 years?

14. Which company was Transport Secretary Grant Shapps referring to when he said: 'We cannot allow this situation to continue. Essentially, it's the end of the franchise’?

15. A judge threatened to lock up Harvey Weinstein for violating a court order by doing what while a jury was being picked for his rape trial in New York?

16. What did Elton John, Marvel actor Chris Hemsworth, F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, the heavy metal band Metallica and singer Pink all do this week?

17. England cricketers recorded their first test victory in which city since 1957?

18. Which company was forced to take its websites offline following a cyber-attack in which hackers demanded a $3million ransom or they would release 5GB of customers’ personal data?

19. Henry Long, 18, from Reading pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to whose manslaughter when he appeared by video link from Belmarsh prison?

20. Sports Minister Nigel Adams told the Commons that ‘we are very angry as a Government’ with the Football Association’s proposed arrangement with which company?

21. What is the name of the actor, who died age 78, who played the footman, chauffeur and butler Edward Barnes in Upstairs, Downstairs in the 1970s and a hapless debt collector in Last Of The Summer Wine?

22. What won the Best Film (Drama) Award at the Golden Globes?
23. Ricky Gervais, hosting the Golden Globes, said to the audience: 'You say you’re woke but the companies you work for, Apple, Amazon, Disney. If ___ started a streaming service, you would call your agent, wouldn’t you?’ What is the missing word?

24. Which celebrity was charged with 'simple battery’ after allegedly punching a security guard at a hotel in Florida?

25. A mystery golden Pharaoh who sang Walk Like An Egyptian on ITV’s The Masked Singer was revealed to be whom?

Answers here

The Northern Echo and my part in its history

Today The Northern Echo - the Great Daily of The North - published a supplement to mark its 150th anniversary. I played a small part in the paper's history and was its editor from 1990 to 1993. It was mostly fun ... but tough at times too. Here is my piece from today's supplement recalling the highs and lows from 30 years ago. Give it a read here.

I was driving to work when the radio told me that three people had been shot near Consett. I knew immediately what had happened. The story of Albert Dryden and his bungalow, built without planning permission in Butsfield, had been rumbling on for a year and today was the day it was being bulldozed. The media, including Northern Echo reporter Mark Summers and photographer Mike Peckett, were all there. Now three people had been shot - at least one of them was dead. It was a moment that hit me like a train. Had I sent two young men to their deaths? I drove to the Darlington offices trying to calculate the odds - how many people would have been there, how close would Summers and Peckett be to the shooting? I questioned whether I had done my due diligence. Dryden had given warnings - he said he had 'something in mind' and that he would ‘burn’ anyone who knocked down his house. In the office there was a long half-hour, where I came face to face with the real responsibility of editing. The relief, when Peckett rang from a callbox and spoke to news-editor Peter Barron, was huge. The journalism soon took over the day. Peckett’s pictures were shocking and we ran a sequence on page 1. It was June 1991 and I had been editing the Echo for a year and a half. It had been a whirlwind, working long hours, launching new supplements, shining lights in dark corners but this was the first big sobering moment of my editorship ... one that has shaped my approach to journalism ever since. 
The other life-changing event of my tenure came almost a year later with the General Election of 1992 (the one Neil Kinnock failed to win). The week began with a bang. Darlington was a marginal seat so I had commissioned a Mori Poll which said that the sitting MP Michael Fallon would lose with a seven per cent swing. We ran the results on the Monday. Fallon, later to be Defence Secretary, was unhappy and came into the office to tell me, in no uncertain terms, just how unhappy he was. The bigger moment, though, came on election night itself. The Echo had decommissioned its press in Darlington and had moved printing to our sister offices in York. The new press, which gave us much-needed colour, was simply not good enough for the Echo’s six-editions. There had been times when the paper was late and the pages blurred. I had crossed swords with the York management accusing it of a cavalier attitude and ‘vandalising my paper’. On election night our coverage had gone really well. By last edition we had all the results, reaction and graphics. We worked through the night - and then there was the inevitable printing problem. It was heartbreaking. I had organised breakfast for all the staff at the Golden Cock. I left the pub at 8.30am and went to the newsagents opposite and asked for an Echo. It wasn’t there … 'not coming out apparently'. They offered me a Teesside Gazette with all of the results. I went home, showered, returned to the office and wrote my resignation letter. I was persuaded to stay but that night was a catalyst in my career. I left the following year. Apart from those two landmark moments, editing the Echo was a dream. I regularly had to pinch myself to remember I was sitting in the same chair as Harold Evans, who had been my journalistic idol since I was a teenager. I inherited an Echo that was in great shape with a vibrant newsroom from Allan Prosser and I set about taking it to the next stage. The introduction of colour, despite the press problems, meant we could add supplements. Seven Days was a TV magazine, Echoes was aimed at our older readers and we did one-offs - not least for the Gulf War of 1991 - all graphic-heavy. Sometimes I got carried away with the ideas of ‘specials’. When Margaret Thatcher stood down as Prime Minister in 1990, she did so at 9am. Everyone headed into the office and I had the bright idea that we should do an afternoon edition. We threw all our efforts into a broadsheet paper with no advertising and no means of distribution to readers who weren’t expecting it. Once we had finished I thought 'now what do we do'? We had spent lots of money, used all our material and, on a huge story, we were starting the paper three hours later than usual. Still, I will perhaps go down as the only editor to publish an evening Echo!    The paper had a big campaigning tradition and I was determined to carry that on. We organised a charity football match at Ayresome Park to raise money for a girl who had lost her legs after being mown down by a drink-driver in South Bank. Kevin Keegan brought players from Newcastle to play a Boro all-stars team. We threw our weight, and a lot of cash, behind Durham’s successful bid for first class cricket status. We went to Romania with Convoy Aid along with supplies and a copy of the Echo printed in Romanian, we supported a leukaemia unit and fought for compensation for people infected by contaminated blood transfusions.I was also happy to take on the law, particularly when it put restrictions on naming criminals purely because of their choice of victim. Twice I was threatened with jail for contempt of court. The first time I missed my eldest son's first day at school in Gainford as I was at Newcastle Crown Court. The second time I was summoned to the Royal Courts of Justice in London accused of publishing the previous convictions of an IRA terrorist after he had been arrested for the murder of a special constable in Tadcaster. I am happy to report that I was found not guilty in both cases. For a working class lad from Tyneside, editing The Great Daily Of The North was an honour. It allowed me to do things I never dreamed would be possible. I was regularly on TV and radio. I even starred in a Tyne Tees version of Have I Got News For You which readers delighted in telling me was the worst half hour's television they had ever seen. I had lunch with Prime Minister John Major at 10 Downing Street, met Princess Diana who gave me an award for our coverage of disabled sport (and I got told off by an aide for chatting to her for too long) and had drinks with my then hero Kevin Keegan. The Echo won countless awards, including the National Design Award, and we overtook the Yorkshire Post as the country’s biggest selling regional newspaper. It was hard work. I met amazing people, including lifelong friends, and we had a lot of good times. In the end, with the press problems and our GP describing my wife as a one-parent family, I reluctantly took the decision to move on. It marked the end of a real adventure. I had turned up in Darlington as a 23-year-old single man just out of his traineeship and left in 1993 as a married father-of-three. It was a privilege, it was fun and it was 15 years that shaped everything I have since done … both personally and professionally. 

First newsquiz of 2020

Well done to those who were still paying attention to the news over Christmas. Top of the crop was Alan Geere who scored 20 in last week's newsquiz, just ahead of Alex Richman and Toby Brown on 19. Hannah Tomes and Gavin Devine both posted respectable scores of 17. The top team was Adam Batstone and Lucy Thorpe with 18, ahead of Bruce and Sarah Hayward on 17. Here is the first newsquiz of 2020. As always there are 25 questions about the week's events. Give it a go and let me know how you get on. Happy quizzing for the new year to you all. 

Australia burns: Question 6

1. What was the name of Iran's most powerful military commander who was killed by a US air strike in Iraq?

2. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab issued a statement after the Iraq air strike saying: 'Following his death, we urge all parties to ____. Further conflict is in none of our interests.’ What is the missing word?

3. Why did the Cabinet Office apologise to more than 1,000 celebrities, Government employees and politicians who received New Year Honours?

4. Who received a damehood in the New Year Honours for services to music, cancer research and charity?

5. A 19-year-old British woman, who claimed she was raped in Cyprus, was found guilty of what offence at a court in Ayia Napa?

6. Ecologists from the University of Sydney estimated that how many mammals, birds and reptiles had been lost in the Australia bushfires since September?

7. What is to rise by 6.2 per cent - four times the rate of inflation - from April?

8. Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings wrote a blog looking to recruit wild cards and weirdos and warned that ‘if you play office politics, you will be discovered and immediately ____.’ What is the missing word?

9. A YouGov poll of Labour Party members found Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey are the two early front-runners for the leadership but who came third?

10. An employment tribunal judge in Norwich ruled that what is a philosophical belief and therefore protected by law?

11. Three people in their 20s, who died after their car collided with a lorry on New Year’s Eve, all worked for which company?

12. Research published this week calculated that an average of 61 what closed every working day in 2019?

13. Campaigners Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan became one of the first couples who made history by doing what on New Year’s Eve?

14. Documents released by the National Archives revealed that Prime Minister John Major investigated the possibility in 1996 of renaming Heathrow airport after whom?

15. Pope Francis apologised for setting a ‘bad example’ after he was filmed doing what?

16. Which banking group’s customers were unable to gain access to their accounts through its websites and mobile apps for almost nine hours because of an outage?
17. From January 1 the Pacific nation of Palau became the first country to ban what?

18. Nissan’s former CEO Carlos Ghosn fled house arrest in Japan by reportedly hiding in what?

19. Councillors are set to ban private cars, with some exemptions, from which city centre by 2023?

20. What is the nickname of new world darts champion Peter Wright?

21. Which football manager returned to the same job he had left 18 months earlier?

22. Colin Weir died aged 71 this week, eight years after becoming what?
23. Twin brothers Billy and Joe Smith, aged 32, who were found dead together near Sevenoaks in Kent, appeared in which television programme?

24. Neil Innes, who died age 75, was a founder member of which anarchic pop group that had a chart hit with I’m The Urban Spaceman in 1968?

25. Who complained to the dating app Bumble that she had been blocked after her account was thought to be fake?

Answers here