It's time for a break ... and this week's newsquiz

Last week's highest solo scorer in the newsquiz was Liz Gerard with 15 and the top team score was 17.5 by The Penmans. Well done to both. As usual at Christmas, it has been a scrappy old newsweek but there is certainly plenty going on. I appreciate many of you will have not had the news agenda as your priority in the last few days but give this week's quiz a go and let me know how you get on. Happy New Year to you all ... let's hope 2017 is just as newsy without being quite so grim. 

Mother and daughter Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher who both died this week (Question 3)

1. What was announced by Russia and confirmed by Turkey?

2. The US expelled how many Russian diplomats as punishment for alleged interference into the presidential elections, giving them 72 hours to leave?

3. Debbie Reynolds’ son Todd Fisher posted an illustration depicting characters from two famous movies. Name the movies. 

4. BBC Four announced a schedule shake-up so that it could dedicate a whole night on Friday (tonight) to whom?

5. Jeremy Corbyn said Theresa May was behaving like which monarch over her refusal to commit to giving Parliament a say on Brexit?

6. According to Cabinet papers from the 1980s released this week Margaret Thatcher tried to ban which events - saying: 'If this is a new 'fashion' we must be prepared for it and preferably prevent such things from starting’?

7. Who turned down an OBE saying, among other things, that he could not accept an honour tied in name to the 'British Empire’?

8. Lawyers for 36 children launched a legal challenge claiming the British Government has reneged on the Dubs Amendment. Where did the children previously live?
9. A suspected killer who attempted to emulate the Berlin lorry attack went on the run after allegedly beheading a woman and her daughter in which country?

10. Which act topped the Forbes list of the highest paid European celebrities in 2016, bringing in £89.9million over 12 months?
11. Transport minister Andrew Jones said allowing learner drivers to do what would help make roads in Britain safer?

12. Who was taken to hospital with a broken skull and needed 11 stitches after being kicked down a staircase during a drunken row at a London hotel?

13. Kevin Crehan, 35, who was jailed for putting bacon on the doors of a mosque, was found dead in which prison?

14. Bradley Wiggins posted a statement on his Instagram page announcing his retirement saying: ‘Kids from ____ don't win Olympic Golds and Tour de Frances! They do now.’ What is the missing word?
15. He once admitted spending £1,000 a week on cocaine, another £500 on vodka and said that the drowning of his two-year-old daughter led to the breakdown of his first marriage. Who is he?

16. The Professional Footballers’ Association has called on the game’s authorities to consider banning children under ten from doing what?

17. Hundreds of drivers were give £30 parking tickets after an app wrongly told motorists they could park for free on Tuesday in which city?
18. A Government-commissioned review recommended that child criminals should be given what?

19. Alexis Ohanian, whose engagement to tennis star Serena Williams was announced this week, is co-founder of what?

20. Seventeen people were hurt when a coach veered off which motorway slip road and overturned in heavy fog?
21. What did the Queen not do on Christmas Day for the ‘first time in many years’?

22. What happened to Liverpool footballer Roberto Firmino in the early hours of Christmas Eve?

23. A report by Public Health England and Oxford University academics found that what percentage of people aged 40 to 60 are overweight, inactive or drink too much?

24. He was born in Newbury in 1920 and worked as a civil servant until age 52 when he suddenly became famous for publishing a story he told to keep his children entertained on long car journeys. Who is he?

25. The World Wildlife Fund announced which animal had been moved off the 'endangered’ list?

Answers here