The News Quiz

1) What did Jeremy Paxman, Sarah, Duchess of York, and Chris Evans all start this week (see pictures, right)?

2) It's been a good week for all four of the following people. Why?

a) Michael Heseltine

b) AJ Hackett

c) Lawrence Dallaglio

d) John Howard

3) Who's looking forward to a big sleep after Christmas, and why?

a) Sarah, Duchess of York

b) Ann Widdecombe

c) Denise Van Outen

4) Which West Ham United footballer was embroiled in a training pitch incident?

a) John Hartson

b) Ian Wright

c) Neil "Razor" Ruddock

5) It's been a bad week for

all four of the following people (see pictures,

right). Why?

a) Jean-Marie Le Pen

c) Will Carling

d) Damien Hirst

e) Terence Conran

6) Who is the odd one out here, and why (see pictures, right)?

a) Jack Nicholson

b) Warren Beatty

c) Peter Sellers

d) Tony Curtis

7) Whose party went horribly wrong this week?

a) The Young Tories' bash in Bournemouth

b) Caroline Young of

Devon

8) Which of the following are you probably not allowed to take into school any more, and why?

a) Boggle

b) Yo-Yo

c) Yatzee dice

9) Who was claimed to have suffered from an eating disorder this week,

according to psychiatrists? And what set them off on

the road to unhappy mealtimes?

a) William Wordsworth

b) Lord Byron

c) Mary Shelley

d) John Keats

10) Who was rumoured to be offered a "job swap" providing British-style spin for President Clinton (see pictures, left)?

a) Max Clifford

b) Alastair Campbell

c) Peter Mandelson

11) Chemical corner: first Viagra, then Xenical. What came next? And what does it treat?

12) Which boss, who made an appearance in court this week, could hardly have been said to have started his career as a fat cat?

13) Who, following in the footsteps of a predecessor, said that if she kept on coming in to work it was going to make her ill?

14) Why did Lady Thatcher get compared to a naff Seventies pop group, and

who by?

Answers

1. New programmes. Paxman with Start The Week; Sarah, Duchess of York, with Sarah - Surviving Life; and Chris Evans with a broadcast of his Virgin Breakfast Show.

2. Michael Heseltine was appointed chairman of the UK-China Forum; AJ Hackett beat his own bungee-jumping record; Lawrence Dallaglio was re- appointed England Rugby Union captain; John Howard was re-elected as Prime Minister of Australia.

3. Van Outen, who isn't renewing her contract at the Big Breakfast.

4. John Hartson.

5. The European Parliament lifted Le Pen's immunity from prosecution, opening the way for him to be tried for his disregard of the Holocaust; Carling's testimonial at Wembley was cancelled; Hirst's art pieces Alone Yet Together failed to sell at a Christie's sale; a survey of London diners found that one in six thinks part of Conran's food empire is "overrated".

6. Beatty didn't have a daughter on the catwalks of Milan during this week's fashion shows.

7. Caroline Young, who planned a quiet sleep-over while her parents were on holiday, and ended up with 150 gatecrashers.

8. Yo-Yos, the latest kid craze, now banned from many schools.

9. Byron, a fat child badly treated by an obese mother, feared weight gain all his life.

10. Alastair Campbell.

11. Seroxat, a pill for shyness.

12. Bruce Springsteen, aka The Boss, who revealed that he used to survive on $10 hand-outs from his manager.

13. Judy Grahame, resigning from the Royal Opera House for the same reason as Genista McIntosh did last year.

14. Michael Portillo said Tony Blair was to Baroness T as Bjorn Again are to Abba.