Last newsquiz of 2023

The top scorers in last week’s newsquiz were Nick Turner and George Mann both with 21, ahead of Toby Brown and Marion Fountayne on 20, Janet Boyle on 19.5, Robert Rea on 19 and Gavin Devine on 17. The top team was Maura and Phil Parsons with Alexandra who scored 23 just ahead of Simon, Sue and Will Cole on 22. Others on the leaderboard were the Waterworks squad of Pete, Stacey and Franki who scored 20, the same score as Adam Batstone and Lucy Thorpe, and Jack Elsom and Monica Greep and Bruce and Sarah Hayward. Our Peter, Jackie, Sam and Anna scored 17. Here is the last newsquiz of 2023. Give it a go and let me know your score. I have put the quiz together a little later today as I was visiting the place photographed below. A bonus point if you can tell me where it is. Have a happy New Year and may all your news in 2024 be good news. 

1. In his Christmas Day speech, King Charles said: 'At a time of increasingly tragic conflict around the world, I pray that we can also do all in our power to __ each other’. What is the missing word?
2. Which religious figure is to be knighted by King Charles for his 'personal service' to the Crown?
3. Who attended the Royal family's Christmas church service at Sandringham for the first time in more than 30 years?
4. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced he will set out a spring budget on what date in March?
5. Figures showed that visitors to where in England paid £146 million for car parking, up from £96.7 million the year before?
6. More than 100 flood alerts were issued for parts of the UK and police in Scotland declared a 'major incident' as a storm with what name hit the country?
7. Former European Commission president Jacques Delors, who died aged 98, is remembered in the UK for which famous three-word front page headline published in The Sun in 1990?
8. Turkish President Erdogan compared Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to which historical figure?
9. Six fire engines, a drone, and a rope rescue team were called to a 'fire' at Blackpool Tower that turned out to be what?
10. Which state became the second, after Colorado, to rule that Donald Trump cannot run for president next year?
11. The Government announced that people will soon be able to buy what by the pint?
12. Released state papers showed that former prime minister Tony Blair backed proposals for Wimbledon FC to move to which city?
13. Two men were arrested on suspicion of theft after the removal of what from a junction in Peckham, south-east London?
14. What was the name of the Australian chef, known the godfather of avocado toast and the king of breakfast, who died aged 54?
15. Jewellery and watches worth £1million were reported stolen from which Premier League footballer’s house in Cheshire?
16. South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun, 48, who was found dead in his car gained worldwide fame following the release of which Oscar-winning film?
17. A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder after a car hit a crowd of people outside a property in which city?
18. British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe agreed to buy a 25 per cent stake in which football club for more than £1billion?
19. Former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan was charged with trespassing where?

20. Henry Sandon, who died on Christmas Day aged 95, was an expert on which BBC TV programme?
21. Sam Allison became the first black person in 15 years to do what?
22. A bronze 21-foot statue of which singer was unveiled in her hometown of Barranquilla?
23. ITV announced that Holly Willoughby will return to television to present what show with Stephen Mulhern in January?
24. Actor Chris Gascoyne left Coronation Street after playing which character for 23 years?
25. Despite a campaign supporting Fairytale of New York, in tribute to Pogues singer Shane MacGowan, what song was the UK’s Christmas No 1?

Answers here

Try the Christmas-week newsquiz

The top solo scorer in last week’s newsquiz was Amelia Cox with 21, ahead of Marion Fountayne on 20, George Mann and Robert Rea on 19, Andy Reed on 18, Jayme Bryla on 17, Toby Brown on 16 and Gavin Devine on 15. The top team was the Queen’s Head squad Pete, Stacey, Nicky and Les with an impressive 24. Also on the leaderboard were Maura and Phil Parsons and Tom Savage with his ma on 21, Bruce and Sarah Hayward on 20, Adam Batstone and Lucy Thorpe on 17.5 and Jack Elsom and Monica Greep on 17. Thanks to those of you who take part in the quiz each week. It started as a way of ensuring my journalism trainees were keeping up to date with the news and then it grew online. We haven’t missed a week since 2014. I hope you enjoy it and that it helps keep you sharp on a Friday night/Saturday morning. Have a great Christmas but keep an eye on what's going on. We will be here as usual next Friday. Here is this week’s newsquiz. As usual there are 25 questions about the week. I look forward to receiving your scores.

A selection of today's front pages

1. The Hamas health ministry in Gaza said more than how many people had been killed since Israel began its retaliatory operation on October 7?
2. What is the name of the university in Prague where a 24-year-old student shot dead at least 14 people and injured another 25?
3. A junior doctors' strike, from Wednesday to Saturday, is part of a long-running dispute with the BMA demanding a pay rise of what per cent?
4. What did Prime Minister Rishi Sunak say the Government was taking 'incredibly seriously’, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer say was a 'shocking disgrace from top to bottom’ and led Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf to call for the 'undemocratic' House of Lords to be scrapped?
5. Peter Bone, suspended as an MP over bullying and sexual misconduct claims, lost his seat after being removed by constituents in a recall petition, meaning a by-election will be held in which constituency next year?
6. The Government published its long-delayed guidance for England’s schools on what?
7. The Department for Education announced that secondary school pupils will be able to take a GCSE in what language from 2025?

8. The Office for National Statistics announced that the latest inflation figure for the UK is what per cent, making it the lowest for more than two years?
9. The Nuffield Trust think tank said which service had been cut back so much it was at the most perilous position in its 75-year history in England?
10. Oil giant BP announced it would pause what because of the 'deteriorating security situation’?
11. A judge at Manchester Crown Court ruled that the two teenagers who killed 16-year-old Brianna Ghey could be named … but not until when?
12. Christmas travel plans were disrupted as a storm named what battered the northern half of the UK?
13. After the High Court ruled that Prince Harry was the victim of phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers and awarded him £140,600 in damages, who reacted by saying the royal wouldn't know the truth if it 'slapped him around his California tanned face’?
14. Which US state’s Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump could not run for president next year in the state because he had engaged in an insurrection over the US Capitol riot?
15. Who was ordered by a Washington DC court to pay $148.1million to two election workers after falsely accusing them of trying to steal the election in Georgia?
16. North Yorkshire businessman Colin Armstrong, 78, was rescued four days after being kidnapped by 15 armed men in which country?
17. Why was Bournemouth’s home fixture against Luton Town in the Premier League abandoned?

18. British teenager Alex Batty, who was missing for six years, was back in the care of his grandmother in which English town?

19. Broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen, 83, revealed she has joined what organisation?
20. Premier League side Nottingham Forest sacked manager Steve Cooper and replaced him with who?

21. Lioness goalkeeper Mary Earps was voted BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year but who was second and third? Half a point for each name.
22. The BBC axed which show, blaming inflation and dwindling ratings, which had been running for more than 50 years?
23. Why was 16-year-old Luke ’The Nuke’ Littler in the headlines?
24. A row erupted after 20-year-old Eve Gilles became the first contestant with what to win the 100-year-old Miss France contest?
25. During the final of Strictly Come Dancing, Olly Alexander announced he would be doing what next year?

Answers here

Have a crack at the newsquiz

The top solo scorer in last week’s newsquiz was George Mann with 21, ahead of Janet Boyle with 19.5, Robert Rea and Jayme Bryla with 17 and Toby Brown and Gavin Devine with 15. The top team was Bruce and Sarah Hayward also with 21. Trev, Carole, Peter and Jackie scored 18 and Maura and Phil Parsons 16.5. Here is this week’s newsquiz. As usual there are 25 questions about the week. Give it a go and let me know your score. 

A selection of Wednesday's front pages

1. The Government saw off a revolt against its Rwanda safety bill with a majority of how many votes?
2. What is the name of the chairman of the Conservative ERG group which called on the Government to withdraw the Rwanda deportation bill and return with one that 'doesn't have all these holes in it’?
3. At the Covid Inquiry Rishi Sunak, when asked about No 10 officials referring to the Treasury as the ‘pro-__ squad’, said: 'I do not think it is a fair characterisation of the incredibly hard-working people that I was lucky to be supported by’. What is the missing word?
4. The Bank of England held interest rates at what per cent for the third time in a row?
5. Who announced he was standing down, saying: 'When I stood for the leadership, I said that, if elected, I would serve for five years. Exactly five years have passed since I was confirmed as first minister in 2018’?
6. At Cop28 all countries agreed, for the first time, on the need to 'transition away from __ __ in energy systems’. What are the two missing words?
7. Which retailer removed an advertising campaign from its website and social media channels after criticism that it resembled images of destruction in Gaza?
8. BBC presenter Gary Lineker reacted to being told to 'stick to football' by posting four pictures with a caption that read 'a tad rich coming from someone who can't even stick to one name'. The pictures were of Michael Green, Sebastian Fox, Corinne Stockheath and who else?
9. Scott Benton, MP for Blackpool South, was suspended from Parliament for how many days for reportedly offering to lobby ministers on behalf of the gambling industry?
10. The Refugee Council called for an independent review into what, saying that it was 'tragically not surprising'?
11. Divers searched a river in a park in which city looking for missing mother-of-three Gaynor Lord?
12. The High Court ordered Prince Harry to pay which newspaper more than £48,000 after he lost his attempt to strike out part of the paper's defence in a libel case?
13. Alex Batty, who disappeared in Spain aged 11, was found six years later near which French city?
14. Which EU country blocked €50billion in aid for Ukraine?
15. All professional football in Turkey was suspended after what happened?
16. Why did Northampton Town's DJ Matty apologise to fans after the game against Portsmouth?
17. Ryan O’Neal, who died aged 81, became a household name in which 1970 film, co-starring with Ali MacGraw and earning Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor?
18. Which company apologised after a video emerged of a security guard soaking a homeless man’s belongings with a water from a mop bucket in London?
19. What was the name of the British actress, who had starring roles in 1960s films including Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and Alfie, who died aged 87?
20. Nurse Catherine Hudson, who gave patients sedatives to keep them 'quiet and compliant' and make her life easier at a hospital in which town, was jailed for more than seven years?
21. Tesco recalled its Finest Apple & Cranberry Stuffing Mix (130g), with a best before date of September 2024 due to the 'possible presence' of what?
22. On Saturday December 23, 40-year-old Rebecca Welch will become the first woman to do what?
23. According to BabyCentre, what name retained its position as the most popular baby girl's name of 2023?
24. Barbie and Oppenheimer led the film nominations at the Golden Globe Awards but which drama led the TV list with nine nominations?
25. Made in Chelsea’s Sam Thompson was crowned King of the Jungle in I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here - but who came second?

Answers here

Time to tackle the newsquiz

There were some higher than average scores in last week’s newsquiz. The top solo scorer was Robert Rea with 22.5, just ahead of Tom Savage, George Mann and Toby Brown on 22, Damon Wake on 21, Marion Fountayne, Nick Turner and Liz Gerard on 20 and Johnny Jenkins on 17. The top team was Jack Elsom and Monica Greep with a massive 24, just ahead of the Boulogne boozers Pete, Stacey, Amanda and Kevin on 23. Others on the leaderboard were Adam Batstone and Lucy Thorpe, Bruce and Sarah Hayward and Neil and Jo Benson on 22, Maura and Phil Parsons on 21.5 and Thom and Tim on 21. Here is this week's newsquiz. As usual there are 25 questions about the week. Give it a go and let me know your score. 

Some of today's front pages

1. Robert Jenrick resigned as Immigration minister, telling PM Rishi Sunak that what was 'a triumph of hope over experience’?

2. Home Secretary James Cleverly unveiled plans to increase the minimum salary, for skilled workers from overseas who could be granted a visa, from £26,200 to what amount?
3. Former Prime Minister told the Covid Inquiry that he regretted suggesting what was 'bollocks' in a handwritten note?
4. At the Covid Inquiry former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was interrupted by four women, who were ordered to leave, holding pieces of paper that spelled out the message: 'The dead can't hear __ __.’ What are the missing two words?
5. Boris Johnson wore a hat showing his support for which football team as he arrived to give evidence to the Covid Inquiry?
6. Labour leader Keir Starmer was criticised for a Daily Telegraph article in which he named Margaret Thatcher, and which other two former PMs, as examples of how politicians can effect meaningful change? Half a point for each.
7. The Government announced that what will rise from £159 to £169.50 - an increase of 6.6 per cent? .
8. What is the name of the US Secretary of State who met Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron in Washington and then issued a warning to Israel to put a 'premium on civilian protection’?
9. Passengers were trapped for four hours and plunged into darkness on trains heading to and from which London railway station after damage to overhead cables?
10. A German nurse was stabbed to death and two other people, including a British man, were injured near which European landmark?
11. Which former teacher, who died aged 79, served as a Member of the European Parliament for 15 years, was minister of state for Europe and Africa in Gordon Brown’s government and became a life peer?
12. Prince Harry lost his legal challenge at the High Court in a bid to be allowed to do what?
13. At least 22 people died after a volcanic eruption on Mount Marapi in which country?
14. Writer and poet Benjamin Zephaniah, who died aged 65, appeared in which TV drama series as Jeremiah ‘Jimmy' Jesus, between 2013 and 2022?
15. Who was named Time Magazine's person of the year as someone who had 'found a way to transcend borders and be a source of light’?
16. Oslo's mayor Anne Lindboe said she was looking at ways of reducing the carbon footprint of what?

17. Golf's governing bodies announced changes to ball specifications which will shorten the distance professional golfers can propel tee shots by approximately how many yards?
18. Who became the oldest player to win the UK Snooker Championship, two days before he celebrated his 48th birthday?
19. The Lionesses failed to qualify for the Women’s Nations League and the Olympics despite a win over Scotland by what score?
20. Actress Brigit Forsyth, who died aged 83, made her name as Bob’s long suffering wife Thelma in which BBC television series?
21. Anchor Maryam Moshiri apologised for doing what at the start of a BBC news bulletin at noon on Wednesday?
22. Which word, slang for 'style, charm or attractiveness’ was named Word of the Year by Oxford University Press, publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary?
23. Why was faded Union Flag bunting, metal pedestrian barriers and old ring-binders in the headlines? 
24. Which former footballer was criticised for saying that women 'shouldn't be talking with any kind of authority in the men's game’?
25. Who was the first person to be evicted from this year’s I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here?

Answers here

Newspapers: The ever-changing image

The use of images in the media has changed colossally. Forty years ago newspapers were using a small selection of black and white photos, taken only by professional photographers. Today everyone with a mobile, that’s around 6.8billion people, is a photographer and videographer with instant access to publishing. Publishers can find pictures and videos of anything. Births, marriages, deaths, bomb blasts, altercations, crashes, celebrities, events, sport, sex, pranks … are all out there to be gathered. When I was editing a paper we might use 40 pictures in an issue. Today MailOnline can use 100 on a single story. I counted an astonishing 1,104 pictures and 74 videos on the UK home page. In my latest article for InPublishing I talk to MailOnline editorial director Ben Bailey, Metro editor Deborah Arthurs, Evening Standard editor Dylan Jones and photography consultant Ian Day about the changes, their impact and what happens next. Read it here.

Time to tackle the newsquiz ...

The top solo scorer in last week’s newsquiz was Chay Quinn with an amazing 24, ahead of Marguerite Turner on 22, Marion Fountayne, Toby Brown, George Mann and Janet Boyle on 21, Robert Rea, Liz Gerard and Jayme Bryla on 20 and Gavin Devine on 16. The top team was Maura and Phil Parsons with 22, ahead of Queen’s Head drinkers Pete and Stacey on 21, Bruce and Sarah Hayward and Neil and Jo Benson on 20 and Adam Batstone and Lucy Thorpe on 18. Here is this week’s newsquiz. As usual there are 25 questions about the week. Give it a go and let me know your score. 

Tributes to Terry Venables dominated

Monday's front pages 

1. A book by biographer Omid Scobie was pulled from the shelves in which country after a 'translation error' included the names of two royal family members who allegedly raised questions about Prince Archie's skin colour?

2. What is Omid Scobie's book called?
3. After Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cancelled a meeting with the Greek PM, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said at PMQs: 'Never mind the British Museum, it's the Prime Minister who has obviously lost his __’. What is the missing word?
4. World leaders are meeting at Cop28 which is being held where?
5. Ahead of the Cop28 summit, which country insisted that coal, which it depends on for almost three-quarters of its electricity generation, will remain its main source of energy for years to come?
6. Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the Covid Inquiry that what would have cut deaths in the first Covid wave by 90 per cent?
7. Former Cabinet minister Sajid Javid told the Covid Inquiry he felt Boris Johnson was 'not in charge' and that who was 'running the Government’ during the pandemic?
8. Two teenagers appeared at Manchester Crown Court accused of stabbing 16-year-old Brianna Ghey how many times in a 'sustained and violent attack' in a park near Warrington?
9. The family and friends of Israeli-Irish girl Emily Hand celebrated what birthday after she was released from captivity in Gaza?

10. The UK detected its first ever human case of H1N2, a strain of what disease, after a patient was tested by a GP in North Yorkshire?
11. Which English city's council issued a Section 114 notice, in effect declaring itself bankrupt?
12. Staff at Caversham Primary School told an inquest that there was a 'direct link' between head teacher Ruth Perry’s ‘deterioration' and ‘death’ and what?
13. How old was former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who played a polarising role in US foreign policy during the Cold War, who died this week?
14. Forty-one labourers were rescued after 17 days trapped in a collapsed tunnel under which mountain range?
15. Ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair said 'I never met anyone who didn't like him’, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he did 'the right thing for the country at a time of extraordinary turmoil’ and Boris Johnson described him as a ’towering figure’. Who were they talking about?
16. Which one of these football teams did Terry Venables, who died aged 80, not manage - Crystal Palace, Queens Park Rangers, Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur,
Chelsea, England or Australia?
17. Who used an appearance at Westminster to urge MPs to do more to meet the target of ending HIV transmissions in England by 2030?
18. Actor Dean Sullivan, who died aged 68, was best known for his portrayal of Jimmy Corkhill in which television series between 1986 and 2003?
19. The Government stepped in to potentially block a loan repayment that would have allowed a UAE-backed group to take control of which UK newspaper?
20. England rugby captain Owen Farrell made himself unavailable for the 2024 Six Nations ‘in order to prioritise' what?
21. Author Paul Lynch won the Booker prize for his fifth novel Prophet Song about the rise of a fascist regime in which city?
22. What is the name of the pub that made a £700 Christmas advert that racked up millions of views on social media and was shown on national TV?
23. Name the two I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here contestants who quit the show for medical reasons this week? Half a point for each.
24. Ladbrokes slashed the odds on what song to be No 1 at Christmas to 1/4?
25. Who said goodbye to Edinburgh as they prepared to return home to China after 12 years?

Answers here