The News Quiz

1) It has been a bad week for the following people. Why?

a) Kylie Minogue

b) General Pinochet

c) George Michael

d) Roy Hodgson

2) And it's been a good week for the following. Why?

a) Tim Henman

b) William Hague

c) Melanie Blatt

d) George Lucas

3) Which Hollywood actor, when referring to his seven-year battle with Parkinson's disease, said: "At times my left arm has shaken so violently I could mix a Margarita in five seconds"?

a) Michael Douglas

b) Robert Redford

c) Michael J Fox

d) Paul Newman

4) Which two television celebrities have been named "Rears of the Year 1998"?

a) Carol Smillie and "Handy Andy"

b) Denise Van Outen and Johnny Vaughan

c) Denise Van Outen and David Baddiel

d) Carol Smillie and Frank Skinner

5) Following the ITC's approval, when will ITV's News At Ten now be shown?

a) 10am

b) 6.30pm

c) 9pm

d) 11pm

6) How is Lady Haden-Guest better known?

a) Delia Smith

b) Jamie Lee-Curtis

c) Liz Hurley

d) Sharon Stone

7) Who, according to Playboy, is the sexiest woman this century?

a) Margaret Thatcher

b) Pamela Anderson

c) Brigitte Bardot

d) Marilyn Monroe

8) What 32-month ban did European Union ministers lift on Monday?

a) The ban on British eggs

b) The ban on British football teams in Europe

c) The ban on British beef

d) The ban on British comedy

9) Who designed Kate Winslet's wedding dress?

a) Her mum

b) Alexander McQueen

c) Vivienne Westwood

d) Herself

10) Who is the new Miss World?

a) Miss Israel

b) Miss Italy

c) Miss Australia

d) Miss Argentina

11) How did 3,503 musicians and Sir Simon Rattle earn a place in the Guinness Book of Records?

12) What saved England's cricketers in Perth, earning them a draw?

a) A 300-run last-wicket partnership

b) A freak thunder storm

c) A streaker

d) A floodlights failure

Answers

1 a) She was dropped by her record company, Deconstruction, after poor sales of her latest album;

b) the Law Lords delivered a 3-2 verdict that the former Chilean dictator was not immune from prosecution;

c) an American judge decided he could not work for his favourite Aids charity. George Michael had hoped to work in the kitchens of a hospice as part of his community service for "that" incident in Los Angeles earlier this year;

d) he was sacked as manager of Blackburn football club, after a string of bad results.

2 a) He got into the semi-finals of the ATP championships in Hanover;

b) he was voted Best Parliamentarian of the Year by political journalists;

c) the All Saints singer gave birth to a baby daughter, Lily Ella;

d) thousands of Americans have queued and paid to watch a five-minute trailer for next year's first Star Wars prequel.

3 c) He says the illness has also made him "a million times wiser and a more compassionate".

4 d) Carol Smillie is 37; Frank Skinner is 41 - proving there is no age limit on a good rear.

5 b) and d) The new schedule is intended to free the prime-time evening schedule for films and entertainment. It means the first programme will start 30 minutes after the BBC's News at 6pm, and the second programme will be two hours after the BBC's News at 11pm.

6 b) The star of A Fish Called Wanda is the daughter of Hollywood legends Vivien Leigh and Tony Curtis.

7 d) The star of Some Like it Hot was voted the winner, despite the fact that she has been dead for 36 years.

8 c)

9 b) He also designed her dress at this year's Oscars ceremony.

10 a) Miss France was second; Miss Malaysia was third.

11 They became the world's biggest-ever symphony orchestra.

12 b)