[969] It’s time for the annual World News Quiz with 20 questions about some of the curious news stories of 2025. Stephen Devincenzi from the SEND7 podcast is the quizmaster. Can you I improve on my poor performance from last year? Can you beat me? Take a trip through some news highlights from this year. Full transcript available as usual.

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Quiz Questions (answers provided below)

January

1. Starting in the US, Donald Trump became president for a second time in January, and roped in his friend, the richest person in the world , Elon Musk, to run a new government agency. The aim of this new agency was to save the US government lots of money. What was the name of that new government agency?

2. Also in January, a Chinese artificial intelligence chatbot surprised the industry with how good it was, and AI tech stocks lost billions of dollars (although they’ve come back up since then). What is the name of the Chinese AI chatbot, or the company which creates it, which has the same name.

3. Throughout January massive wild fires destroyed homes and businesses in a coastal city in the United States, destroying over 18,000 homes and buildings, and causing an estimated 50 billion dollars worth of damage. Which city were the fires mostly based around?

April

4. On the 28th April, why did people have to be evacuated from trains in Spain and Portugal?

5.  Also in April, an all-female spaceflight took place using Jeff Bezos’s private space company, Blue Origin. Which pop star was on board?

6. Also on the 28th April, Canada had a general election. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau had resigned a couple of months after polls showed the Liberals way below the Conservative party in the polls. However, somehow the Liberals did win that election. What is the name of the leader that took over from Justin Trudeau, and is now Canada’s Prime Minister?

7. Which Asian city, overtook Tokyo to become the most populous city in the world, according to the United Nations?

May 

8. On the 8th May Pope Leo was chosen as the new pope after the death of Pope Francis. Which of these is NOT true about Pope Leo:



– He is the first pope from The United States

– He is the first pope to hold Peruvian nationality

– He is the first pope born in the Americas

– He is the first pope with modern English as a first language (second if you include old English)

July

9. In July, Switzerland held the women’s Euro football championship. Which teams were in the final?

10. In Australia, after months of a highly watched court case. A woman, Erin Patterson, was found guilty of killing three of her in-laws and the attempted murder of her estranged husband. The case received so much interest that many podcasts were made about it, and her sentencing was the first to broadcast live. How is Patterson accused of killing her in-laws?

August

11. In Sweden, something surprising happened to a 113 year old church in August. What was it?

September

12. In September, a painting which was stolen by Nazis during world war 2 was discovered in Argentina. How did a Dutch newspaper discover the painting?

October 

13. Continuing the church theme – a church in Spain’s Second largest city of Barcelona became the tallest church in the world this year, over 140 years after its construction was started. What is the name of that church?

14. What is the name that has been given to a series of protests around the world in 2025? The name was actually first used in Bangladesh in 2024, and the same name has been given particularly to anti-government protests in Nepal, Indonesia, The Philippines, Madagascar, Peru and some other countries.

15. In Paris thieves stole eight priceless pieces of the crown jewels from the Louvre in October. How did the thieves get into the building?

16. In October Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for her tireless work promoting demoractic rights for the people of ______________ and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition to democracy”. What country is she from?

17. Which of these countries has had their first ever female leader since October 2025?

• Japan
• Thailand 
• Taiwan 
• Malaysia

November 

18. What is the name of the brand of collectible dolls which originated in Hong Kong, that look like cuddly monsters, which became particularly popular all over the world in 2025?

December

19. This month, Australia has become the first country in the world to introduce one specific new rule about social media. What exactly is the new rule?

20. It was finalized in 2025 that on the 1st day of 2026 there will be a new country using the euro. Which country, will become the 21st member of the eurozone on the 1st January?

Answers

1. DOGE – Department of Government Efficiency. 
2. Deepseek
3. Los Angeles
4. Power cuts
5. Katy Perry
6. Mark Carney
7. Jakarta
8. He is the first pope born in the Americas
9. Spain and England. England won on penalties. Spain were the world champions and England were European champions form 4 years earlier.
10. Mushrooms
11. It was picked up and moved 5 kilometers away. A specially designed trolly with 224 wheels was used.
12. Found in a Real estate image / website selling the house
13. Sagrada Familia (reached 163 metres when a part of its central tower was lifted into place, passing the Ulm Minster church in Germany.)
14. Gen z / Generation z
15. Window / ladder 
16. Venezuela
17. Japan
18. Labubu
19. No under 16s
20. Bulgaria will become the 21st country
    Already using Euro – Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain

Luke’s scores so far

• 2022 – 15/20 (“a respectable score”)
• 2023 – 16/20 (apparently I beat my previous year)
• 2024 – 8.5/20 (I dropped below the “general dignity level of 50%” and into the “F range,” while Stephen admitted that he may have made the quiz more difficult than in previous years)
• 2025 (this year) – 12/20 (I scraped a pass with quite a lot of help from little clues from Stephen)