Final Newsquiz: Ollie wins the Champagne

The trainees outside the Manor at Howden. From left: Alex Finnis, Jack Crone, Tom Burrows, Jennny Awford, Kieran Gill, Charlie Scott, Ollie Gillman, Olly Todd, Jen Smith, Melanie Sisson, Chris Waugh, Khaleda Rahman and Aby Dunsby 

The Daily Mail trainees have now completed their training and are heading off to their regional newspaper placements. This week they had three days in Howden with me and a visit on Tuesday by Andy Gregory, deputy editor of Mail Plus. At the end of the week they had a fascinating two days in the Mail offices in Kensington. On Thursday there were sessions with the legal team Lindsay Warwick, Hilary Kingsley (the former Mirror columnist now turned lawyer) and Tim Ross. Chief reporter David Williams and senior reporter Christian Gysin told them inspirational stories and former trainees Kieran Corcoran, Lizzie Edmonds and Adam Shergold gave them a heads-up on what the next year will bring. Night editor Elizabeth Hammond finished off the day with a real insight into life on MailOnline. Yesterday there were high-grade sessions with publisher Martin Clarke, assistant editor Hugh Dougherty, deputy news-editor Mariana Partasides, reporter Harriet Arkell and a practical briefing by editorial manager Lucy Jones. 

Ollie celebrates winning the quiz ... and the Champagne 

We finished as always with the news quiz. This week’s top scorers were Jenny Awford and Tom Burrows with 15 points each. Well done to both. The big prize, a bottle of Champagne, went to Ollie Gillman for being the top scorer over the four weeks with 62.5 points, overtaking his closest rival Chris Waugh at the final hurdle. Well done to both. Good luck to the trainees on the next stage of their training. Stay enthusiastic, committed, accurate and, of course, charming …

Here’s the final quiz for you to test your current affairs knowledge. There are 20 questions, with five bonuses so a possible 25 points. Jenny and Tom’s 15 to beat.

An Oscars-style selfie: See question 5      

1. How much will it cost to send a first class letter when prices go up at the end of this month?

2. A Paddy Power advert was withdrawn after it became the most complained about advert of all time. What was it offering?

3. David Beckham’s aftershave, Intense Instinct, has been the top selling male celebrity fragrance since 2006 … but which celeb's fragrance has now knocked him off the top spot? 

4. The director general of the BBC has announced plans to take BBC Three to online only, who is he?

Bonus, presenter Mark Lawson is leaving Radio Four. Which programme did he host?

5. Cate Blanchett won best actress in a leading role at the Oscars. For which film?

Bonus, Ellen DeGeneres orchestrated the selfie that was the talk of the Oscars, but who took the picture?

6. England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland all played friendly internationals on Wednesday - and only one of them lost. Which one?

Bonus, England have recruited Steve Peters to their World Cup squad in Brazil. What will his role be?

7. Why was 13-year-old Jamie Edwards in the headlines?

8. The Ukranian flag was briefly replaced by the Russian flag over the Donetsk regional headquarters this week. What two colours are on the Ukranian flag?

Bonus, which prominent American figure compared Vladmir Putin’s actions in Ukraine to those of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s?

9. Who did MP Robert Halfon say were ‘akin to Nazis’?

10. Whose wife has deleted her Twitter account after her family received online abuse from sci-fi fans? 

11. Why did judge Thokozile Masipa not address the jury in the Oscar Pistorious trial?

12. Which newspaper ran a correction to a story published in 1853?

13. Name two of the three finalists in the last ever Dancing on Ice (half point for one correct name).

14. Unknown singer songwriter Mollie Smitten-Downes will represent the UK in this year’s Eurovision song contest. What is the name of the song she will sing? 

15. According to research, British women spend 339 minutes a day on leisure - the second most of any Western country. But in which European country do the women relax the most?

16. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said he did not have the power to bring back what ‘fundamental right’?

17. Rebekah Brooks denied in court that she was like which Dickensian character?

18. The owner of which British football club has been jailed for six years for money laundering.

19. The Metropolitan Police’s undercover unit SDS has come under fire over allegations that it routinely lied to the courts. What does SDS stand for?

Bonus, the review of the SDS by Mark Ellison, QC, may now be referred to the Attorney General. Who is the Attorney General? 

20. What did Maj General James Cowan, who has led British forces fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, ban from the officers' mess? 

Answers here.