Last newquiz before Christmas

The top solo scorers in last week’s newsquiz were Janet Boyle and Tim (still totally unremarkable) with 23, ahead of George Mann on 21 and Robert Rea on 18.
The top team was Tim Humphrey and Global's Newsroom with 23, ahead of Maura and Phil Parsons and Adam Batstone and Lucy Thorpe on 20, The Broad Oak Boozers of Tim, Craig, George, Danny and Thom on 19 and Our Peter and Jackie and Nick Turner and Georgia Harland on 18. Here is this week’s newsquiz. As usual there are 25 questions about the week. Why not give it a go and let me know your score. Have a great festive break but don't forget the newsquiz will still go up on Friday (Boxing Day) so don’t miss it. 

Today's front pages

1. Following the Bondi Beach shootings, Naveed Akram was charged with 59 offences, including how many murders?
2. What was the first name of the youngest victim of the Bondi Beach shootings?

3. While recovering in hospital Ahmed Al-Ahmed, who disarmed a gunman during the Bondi Beach attacks, was given a cheque for how many Australian dollars?
4. Australian police are investigating a trip taken by the Bondi Beach gunmen to which country for military-style training last month?
5. After the Bondi beach attack, police in London and Manchester pledged to arrest anyone chanting the slogan ‘globalise the __’. What is the missing word?
6. Paul Doyle was jailed for how many years for ploughing his car into 134 Liverpool football fans?
7. Rob Reiner, who died aged 78, made his debut as a director, with which 1984 mockumentary that followed the fortunes of a heavy metal band?
8. US President Donald Trump came under fire after blaming the death of Hollywood director Rob Reiner on an 'incurable affliction with a mind-crippling disease known as __ Derangement Syndrome’. What is the missing word?
9. US President Donald Trump described the release of what as ’no big deal’?
10. Two students were killed and nine injured in a shooting at which university in Providence, Rhode Island?
11. Interest rates were cut to what per cent, the lowest level in almost three years?
12. More than 30 people were treated for suspected carbon monoxide poisoning in which store in Charlton, London?
13. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told MPs that who must pay £2.5billion to Ukraine or face court action?
14. NHS data showed what percentage of births in the UK were now by C-section, the highest ever?
15. The Duke of Marlborough, a relative of Sir Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales, was charged with three counts of intentional what?
16. A 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of stabbing to death a nine-year-old girl at a house in which English town?
17. Who said that a health check, to get insurance for a tour of Australia and New Zealand, revealed he had prostate cancer?
18. Richard Davies and Faye Stevenson-Davies from Wales beat the odds of 24-trillion-to-one to do what?
19. After an outcry over pricing, FIFA announced more affordable tickets for next year's World Cup with a limited number on offer as part of a 'Supporter Entry Tier’ at how much (in British pounds)?
20. Who landed a job with OpenAI to lead the ChatGPT developer’s relationships with governments around the world?
21 Warner Brothers asked shareholders to reject Paramount Skydance’s £81billion takeover offer, preferring a rival bid by which company?
22. England were denied a crucial Australian wicket in the Ashes because of an error by technology called what?
23. Which Scottish football team beat Celtic to win the Premier Sports Cup for only the second time in the club's 148-year history?

24. Former Love Island star Laura Crane, 30, from Devon, is waiting to hear if she made it into the record books for riding the biggest wave ever surfed by a woman during the Nazare challenge in which country?

25. Golfer Rory McIlroy was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year but who won the Lifetime Achievement award?

Answers here

Have a crack at the newsquiz

The top solo scorer in last week’s newsquiz was Tim (still totally unremarkable) with 24, ahead of the Rev Leon and George Mann on 22, Robert Reay on 21 and Janet Boyle on 20. The top team was the French Christmas market gang of Peter, Stacey, Kevin and Mand and Maura and Phil Parsons both on 22. Peter, Jackie and the Baptism crew scored 20, the Gainford Twosome of Bill and Sue and Adam Batstone and Lucy Thorpe 19, Trevor, Carole and the Smith gang and the Harrow Inn hooligans 17. Here is this week’s newsquiz. As usual there are 25 questions about the week’s news. Why not give it a go and let me know your score.

Today's front pages

1. What did US President Donald Trump denounce as a ‘decaying' group of nations led by ‘weak’ people?
2. US President Donald Trump criticised UK immigration and branded who as 'horrible, vicious, disgusting' and suggested he had done a 'terrible job’?
3. Under a proposal by US officials, tourists from dozens of countries including the UK could be asked to provide what as a condition of entry to America?
4. Ukraine's President Zelensky held talks in Downing Street with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and which other European leader?
5. Prime Minister Keir Starmer paid tribute to 28-year-old Lance Corporal George Hooley, 28, who was killed where?
6. A report by the Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner said that how many billions of pounds in taxpayer money was lost to fraud and error in Covid support schemes - with much of it 'beyond recovery’? 
7. The chief executive of NHS Providers, Daniel Elkeles, was accused of causing confusion after saying people with flu or cold symptoms must do what?
8. The Government was urged to name the Army’s top spy in the Provisional IRA - who had which codename - after an independent investigation into his activities?
9. Armed forces minister Al Carns said: 'The shadow of __ is knocking on Europe's door once more. That's the reality. We've got to be prepared to deter it.’ What is the missing word?
10. Around 50 pub landlords put signs up banning which group of people in a protest over business rates increases?
11. Twenty-one people, including a three year-old girl, were injured by pepper-spray during a robbery where?
12. Former footballer Joey Barton was given a suspended jail sentence for 'grossly offensive' social media posts about football pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko and which broadcaster?
13. Two men were found guilty of murder and manslaughter after killing a mother and her three children by setting their house, in which city, on fire?
14. Sophie Kinsella, who died aged 55, was the author of nine best-selling novels that all included what word?
15. Bestselling author Joanna Trollope, who died 82, was nicknamed the 'Queen of the __ Saga’. What is the missing word?
16. How old was Glaswegian comic actor and impressionist Stanley Baxter who died this week?
17. An 86-year-old man claimed he was fined £250 by litter enforcement officers after doing what in Skegness?
18. Thousands of what washed up on Sussex beaches after falling from a cargo ship off the Isle of Wight?
19. A Boom Radio survey found that two-thirds of men and three-quarters of women see it as bad manners to call someone what?
20. The six contenders for the 2025 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award include England footballers Hannah Hampton and Chloe Kelly, rugby union player Ellie Kildunne, F1 driver Lando Norris, golfer Rory McIlroy and who else?
21. Which rock band’s frontman was awarded a knighthood by the Prince Of Wales for services to charity and music?
22. Who responded to criticism of his dirty kitchen by posting a video of him scrubbing his oven clean?
23. Lando Norris won his first Formula 1 Championship on Sunday after finishing in what position in the deciding showdown in Abu Dhabi?
24. Scotland were in the World Cup draw for the first time in 28 years and will play Morocco, Haiti and which other country?
25. Influencer Angry Ginge won I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here but who was runner-up?

Answers here

What next for the teasing headline?

Newspaper headlines have always been written to tease. The idea was to persuade the reader to pick up a newspaper or turn to the article underneath. But in the digital world have we teased too far? Have we put algorithms ahead of the reader? The Pope, who has chastised the media over 'degrading clickbait’, is not the only one who thinks so. But now things are changing again. Some algorithms are prioritising quality, AI summaries mean people don’t have to click, readers are resisting the tease and more and more titles are heading towards a subscription model. So, what’s the next stage in the ever-evolving headline journey? I asked senior editors at the digital coal face. Here is my article in InPublishing magazine on what they said.

Have a crack at the newsquiz

The top solo scorer in last week’s newsquiz was Tim (still totally unremarkable) with 23, ahead of Janet Boyle on 22, Robert Rea and George Mann on 20, Toby Brown on 18 and the Rev Leon on 16. The top team was Tim Humphrey and the LBC newsroom with 24. King’s Head drinkers Peter and Stacey scored 23, the Broad Oak Boozers with Thom, Danny, Tim, Craig, George, Anna and Dale 22, Adam Batstone and Lucy Thorpe 19 and Maura and Phil Parsons 17. 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.

Today's front pages

1. Richard Hughes resigned as chairman of which organisation, saying he took 'full responsibility’ for the 'worst failure’ in its 15-year history?
2. Justice Secretary David Lammy said jury trials would be scrapped in England and Wales for crimes that carry a likely sentence of less than how many years?
3. Which organisation did Health Secretary Wes Streeting call ‘moaning Minnies’ and 'juvenile delinquents’?
4. Labour MP Tulip Siddiq was sentenced, in her absence, to how many years in jail for corruption in Bangladesh?
5. The Independent Office for Police Conduct’s report into what incident said that police had been guilty of 'deep complacency', 'fundamental failure' and a 'concerted effort’ to blame others?
6. King Charles hosted the president of which country, on a state visit for the first time in 27 years, at a banquet at Windsor Castle?
7. An inquiry concluded that who was 'morally responsible' for the death of Salisbury mother Dawn Sturgess in 2018?
8. Four people, including an eight-year-old child, were killed, and 11 others were wounded by a gunman, at what gathering in Stockton, California?
9. NHS figures showed that patients in hospital suffering from what had hit a record high in England over the last week?
10. A major incident was declared, 200 houses were evacuated and two Polish nationals were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences in which English city?
11. Thousands of homes were without water, and schools and businesses were forced to close, after South East Water added the wrong chemicals to the tap water supply in and around which town?
12. At its first conference, held in Liverpool, the left-wing political party founded by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana voted to call itself what?
13. Which playwright, who died aged 88, became famous in 1967 for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, won an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love and was knighted in 1997?
14. Which organisation announced with 'sincere regret’ it would no longer offer membership to transgender women?
15. Prada acquired which other fashion brand for just over £1billion?
16. Who was fined £1,653 after admitting driving without due care and attention when her car collided with a moped, injuring the rider, in Richmond, South London?
17. Footballer Billy Bonds, who died aged 79, was the longest-serving player, making 799 appearances, for which football club?
18. What item, decorated with 4,500 diamonds, that once belonged to Russia's imperial family, sold for a record £22.9million in an auction at Christie's in London?
19. Who collapsed live on ITV while presenting England women's friendly against Ghana in Southampton?

20. After it was announced that Israel would take part in next year’s Eurovison which country did NOT say it would withdraw in protest? a) Malta b) the Netherlands c) Spain d) Ireland
21. Which two-word phrase won the title of Oxford University Press's phrase of the year?
22. What animal was Buddy, who escaped from Santa's Enchanted Forest in Formby, Merseyside, prompting armed police, the coastguard and Royal Marines being called in to track him down?
23. The Duke of Sussex appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and made a joke with the punchline: 'Really? I hear you elected a __’. What is the missing word?
24. In the second Ashes Test in Brisbane what did Joe Root do for the first time on Australian soil?
25. Kelly Brook, Aitch and Angry Ginge caused controversy in I’m A Celebrity by eating what instead of sharing them with the camp?

Answers here