Thursday news quiz: Stolen jewels, breakdancing fools and a car that’s breaking the rules

1. 

   Norway's king died. What was his name?

   1. Oscar II

   2. Frederick VI

   3. Olav IV

   4. Harald V

2. 

   Who has quit Kemi Badenoch's shadow cabinet for a fruitless run to be London mayor at the next election?

   1. Priti Patel

   2. Mel Stride

   3. James Cleverly

   4. Gary Barlow's giant son

3. 

   An Egyptian queen’s 673-diamond necklace was stolen in a smash-and-grab raid. Where?

   1. Rome

   2. Vienna

   3. Prague

   4. Klow

4. 

   Nasa has launched its latest space telescope. It is named after which Nasa luminary?

   1. Poppy Northcutt, one of Nasa's first female engineers

   2. Zoe Heriot, astrophysicist famed for calculating complex orbital trajectories

   3. Katherine Johnson, ground-breaking Nasa mathematician

   4. Nancy Grace Roman, former Nasa chief of astronomy

5. 

   This week's guest canine is this dachshund illustration by holybatpants. It wants to know which Aardman Animations character has been added to the list of potential storm names by the UK’s Met Office?

   1. Wallace

   2. Shaun

   3. Morph

   4. Gromit

6. 

   The Edinburgh TV festival is – gasp! shock! horror! – moving next year from Edinburgh to which English location?

   1. Manchester

   2. Birmingham

   3. London

   4. Gosport

7. 

   Who is the latest author selected to have a work stored unseen for 88 years as part of the Future Library project in Oslo?

   1. Meredith Monk

   2. David Byrne

   3. Laurie Anderson

   4. Jeffrey Archer

8. 

   For some reason Netflix has a documentary about the Australian breakdancer who stunned the Paris 2024 Olympics with her 'unorthodox' routine. The Thursday quiz wants to ask why, but instead will settle for: what is her performing name?

   1. Phaser

   2. Sonic

   3. Raygun

   4. Blaster

9. 

   Testing of a newly constructed Formula One circuit in Spain has been driving the locals loco with the noise. Where?

   1. Madrid

   2. Sevilla

   3. Valladolid

   4. Valencia

10. 

    A street artist has defended his mural of who in Sheffield after critics suggested it looked like a zombie?

    1. Jarvis Cocker, the singer of Pulp

    2. Michael Palin, comedian and national treasure

    3. Jessica Ennis-Hill, Olympic heptathlon gold medallist

    4. Ronnie O'Sullivan, the former snooker world champion

11. 

    Talking of street artists, what was the tag of the prolific artist who has died and famously defaced the 'Give peas a chance' graffiti on the M25 motorway bridge in Buckinghamshire?

    1. Bench

    2. Hench

    3. Helch

    4. Hulch

    5. Belch

    6. Bunch

    7. Mulch

    8. Derek

12. 

    Which company has inexplicably launched a £420 toothbrush that films 'live cleaning footage' inside your mouth?

    1. Apple

    2. Dyson

    3. Tesla

    4. The Sirius Cybernetics Corporation

13. 

    What is the name of the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that has been at sea for more than 270 days, sparking reports of poor conditions and mental health among personnel?

    1. USS Thomas Jefferson

    2. USS William Henry Harrison

    3. USS Abraham Lincoln

    4. USS Charles Dexter Ward

14. 

    On this day with Brian May! And his badger! Today is the anniversary of Richard I of England (also known as 'Richard the Lionheart') being crowned at Westminster. The Thursday quiz imagines Queen's legendary guitarist wants you to tell him – and his badger – in which year …

    1. 1089

    2. 1189

    3. 1289

    4. 1389

15. 

    And finally … which British politician has ended up being fined for an untaxed car that they don't own but which had been falsely registered in their name, presumably as a prank?

    1. Liz Truss

    2. Nigel Farage

    3. Sadiq Khan

    4. Jacob Rees-Mogg

Solutions

1:D - He died aged 89 and was succeeded by Haakon VIII, 2:C - Cynics might suggest he is actually positioning himself to lead the party after the next general election, 3:B - Unmasked men bought tickets to the exhibition before shattering a glass display case with a hammer during opening hours on Thursday afternoon and making off with the diamond necklace, which doesn't sound like the smartest modus operandi to be fair, 4:D - Searching chiefly for exoplanets and clues about planetary formation, it is set to join the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes, 5:B - The list is prepared in partnership with Ireland’s Met Éireann and the Dutch national weather forecasting service KNMI, although the storm season rarely gets as far through the alphabet as S, 6:A - Campbell Glennie, its chief executive, said the move was about 'exploring how we can reduce costs for delegates and make the festival open to more people' because having it during the Edinburgh fringe made accommodation very expensive, 7:C - Anderson joins Margaret Atwood, Han Kang, Ocean Vuong and other prominent authors to have written secret manuscripts that will be locked away until 2114, 8:C - The film explores how Rachael Gunn recovered from worldwide ridicule, by, apparently, putting herself up for more ridicule. Maybe she has the same PR people as Liz Truss?, 9:A - The circuit, which will allow cars to go round and round in circles very fast, has been built in the north-east of the Spanish capital at a cost of €83m (£71m), 10:D - Chris Ashmore was commissioned to produce the artwork featuring the seven-time world champion for the back wall of the Spot On snooker club, 11:C - The street artist’s identity has never been officially revealed, 12:B - In simpler times, a handle and bristles were enough, 13:C - It has been at sea for a record time because of Donald Trump's war on Iran, 14:B - It was 1189. He was king for 10 years and spent nine-and-a-half of those abroad taking part in crusades, massacres, wars, annoying other princes and nobles, getting captured, and generally being a bit of a 'dick', so it is unclear entirely to the Thursday quiz where the 'lionheart' bit comes into it, 15:C - A magistrate convicted Khan in his absence and ordered him to pay a £220 fine, £85 in costs and settle the £35.84 bill for unpaid tax on the Micra, which he has never seen, let alone owned

Scores

1. 0 and above.

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