Farewell to 'young lions' of the Daily Telegraph

A post course drink with the Telegraph trainees: From my left - Donna, trainer Mike Watson, Raf, Sarah with the Champagne, Matthew and Emily. Josie escaped early. 

How daunting is this? As a trainee journalist, you have three days to come up with three ideas for new Daily Telegraph sections, write them, design the publications, the websites and the apps, make them profitable, deliver a marketing strategy and present it all in the boardroom to the paper's senior executives. That's what the Telegraph's trainees did this week as a culmination of their seven-week course with Press Association Training.  And what a professional job they did too. Donna Bowater, Josie Ensor, Emily Gosden, Matthew Holehouse, Sarah Rainey and Raf Sanchez are now off to PA and regional papers in Liverpool, Cardiff and Glasgow to get down to their day jobs as reporters. Next year, their training complete, they will be back at the Telegraph. Before they left they had one more daunting task - the final newsquiz. Well done to Matthew Holehouse for an impressive weekly total of 17 points. Sarah Rainey was the star, though, winning the champagne for consistently brilliant results over the seven weeks and finishing with 98 points, 14 ahead of Matthew in second place. Good luck to them all. See how you do. Seventeen out of 23 to beat.

Newsquiz October 22

1. What is the name of the charity offering £200 to drug addicts if they have a vasectomy?

2. Chilean President Sebastian Pinera gave David Cameron a piece of rock and in return Cameron gave the president 33 bottles of Real Ale and a book. What was the title of the book?

3. What is the real name of the stately home where Downton Abbey is filmed?

4. Which airport was blockaded as part of the ongoing French protests?

5. Britain currently has two operational aircraft carriers. One is Ark Royal, name the other.

6. Name the two aircraft carriers that will be built to replace them (one point for each).

7. Which RAF base is to close after the Government cancelled orders for the new Nimrod aircraft?

8. Which British wildlife animal is back from the brink of extinction with its numbers increasing tenfold in 30 years. For a bonus point name the only English county where this creature has not returned.

9. What discovery has spurred Japan's foreign ministry to order a round of belt-tightening? 

10. The TV licence has been frozen for 6 years, how much does it cost?

11. To which hospital was Margaret Thatcher admitted?

12. The pension age for men and women is to go up to 66. In which year will the changes take effect?

13. The outgoing director general of the CBI, Richard Lambert, described the Government's cuts as painful but essential. Before joining the CBI which newspaper did Lambert edit?

14. The TUC was less than enthusiastic about the Government's cuts ... who is the TUC General Secretary?

15. Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, has been denied a residence permit by which country?

16. What has been credited with helping poetry make a comeback in schools?

17. A product favoured by country folk is in short supply following a lorry hijack on the M62. What is it?

18. Why did seven secret servicemen burst into Nigella Lawson's kitchen?

19. Why were A-Team characters BA Baracus, the Face and Murdock in the news?

20. Who won best newcomer in the Mobo awards? And, for a bonus, what does Mobo stand for?

Answers

Hardest news quiz yet?

The Mail and Telegraph trainees thought the newsquiz was difficult this week ... and it was reflected in their scores. No problem for the Telegraph's Sarah Rainey, though, who won again with 14. Jennie Agg was the top Mail trainee with 11.5. See if you can do any better.

David Miliband and his wife (see question 6)

1. What is the nickname of the cage specially built to help rescue the 33 trapped Chilean miners?

2. Who is the Defence Secretary?

3 Why was the name Gordon Bennett in the news?

4. Who is sixth in line to the throne?

5. In Round 4 of the Labour leadership election what percentage of the vote was won by Ed Miliband? You must give exact figure to nearest decimal point.

6. Name David Miliband's wife (must get both names for a point).

7. What is Ed Miliband's constituency?

8. The Ryder Cup started this week. Who is the captain of the American team?

9.  Who has fallen foul of the law and has had to take down a giant advertising banner erected at the Ryder Cup?

10. What is ITV's new Sunday night drama series called?

11. What were barrister Mark Saunders's last five words?

12.  Kelsey Martinovich was wrongly announced as the winner of Australia's Next Top Model  - who was the host of the programme?

13. David Cameron chose Dulce et Decorum Est  as his favourite poem. Who wrote it?

14. Fearne Cotton, Denise van Outen and Alexandra Burke are tackling a charity trek in aid of breast cancer in which country?

15. Prof Martyn Evans was fined £155 for getting off a train, a stop early.  Where did he get off?

16. Blackberry has unveiled its version of the iPad, what is it called?

17. Fraser Nelson writes a column for the News of the World but also edits which magazine?

18. This is a spelling question. When your pet is ill you take it to the vet. Spell the word that vet is short for.

19. How much did it cost to clean the Queen's chandeliers?

20. In which river did Segway millionaire Jimi Heselden die?

Answers

This week's newsquiz: an impressive 16 to beat

Well done to Sarah Rainey from the Telegraph who was the clear winner in this week's Newsquiz with an impressive 16 out of 21. The top Mail trainee was Fiona Roberts with 14, the same score as Telegraph trainee Josie Ensor. It's the second consecutive week the Telegraph has pipped the Mail ... but the Mail will no doubt point to their victory in the White Horse quiz on Thursday. It wasn't just about quizzes this week. The Mail subs have been doing feature subbing with Brian Page and advance InDesign and Photoshop with Alison Trueman. The Telegraph's trainees have been honing their writing skills, working from the wire and learning video with Andrew Glover.

While I am handing out the bouquets, well done to Telegraph trainee Raf Sanchez who completed the Great North Run in 1 hour 49 minutes and 20 seconds. See how you do in the quiz; 16 to beat.

The Miliband brothers - see question 16

1. According to Business Secretary Vince Cable .............  and ............. "did more harm to the British economy than Bob Crow." Fill in the gaps (half point for each).

2. Liverpool FC suffered one of the worst  defeats in their recent history on Wednesday by which League Two team?

3. Madonna launched her clothing line at Macy's in New York this week. What is the fashion range called?

4. At which court is the inquest into barrister Mark Saunders being held?

5. What date are the beleaguered Commonwealth Games due to begin?

6. What is the name of the magazine that David Beckham is suing over allegations  that he slept with a prostitute?

7. Who is the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport?

8. Six men were arrested for setting light to the Koran in which Northern town?

9. What was the name of the woman executed in Virginia?

10. Which song and dance man is reuniting with Andrew Lloyd Webber to take the role of the wizard in the Wizard of Oz?

11. President Ahmadinejad of Iran caused a stir at The United Nations General Assembly this week. Which City is hosting the Assembly?

12. The mystery over which song by Kate Bush was supposedly solved after her first boyfriend put a love note from the singer up for sale?

13. Who, with a fortune of £4.4 billion, rose to 35th in the Forbes list of America's wealthiest people?

14. Steve Finn, Tim Bresnan and Chris Tremlett were on which list announced this week?

15. Who owns the Evening Standard?

16. Give the ages of both Miliband brothers. (full point for each)

17. The result of the Labour leadership vote be declared at the Labour party conference tomorrow (Sat). Where is the conference being held?

18. Who is Dave McCabe and why he is in the news.

19. The Chilean miners have now been underground for how many days?

20. The website Ask Jeeves compiled a list of the Top Ten most asked questions which it could not answer. What was the most asked  'unanswerable question?

Answers