Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
The NHS celebrated its 75th birthday this week amid growing concerns about whether the health service can make it to 100.
People across the nation celebrated the milestone anniversary, yet the NHS’s future is looking more uncertain than ever.
As demoralised medics quit in droves, Rishi Sunak’s government has announced “historic” commitments to boosting the workforce, and will allow pharmacists to write prescriptions for common health conditions, in a bid to ease pressure on GPs.
But with the health service still struggling to clear Covid-era backlogs, commentators are calling for more measures to boost the fight to save the NHS.
In other great battles for the ages, tensions continued to escalate between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg after the Twitter CEO challenged the Meta guru to a cage fight.
The wannabe gladiators are also locked in a digital chokehold after Zuckerberg this week launched a Twitter rival, Threads, that already appears to be winning more fans than his metaverse.
As Musk faces flak for putting temporary limits on the number of tweets that users can view each day, some commentators are asking whether Twitter’s demise might bring down its billionaire owner.
To find out how closely you’ve been paying attention to the latest developments in the news and other global events, put your knowledge to the test with our Quiz of The Week.
1. Scotland’s Orkney islands are considering proposals to become a territory of which country?
- Denmark
- Sweden
- Norway
- Finland
2. Two baby owls found underneath the Pyramid Stage at this year’s Glastonbury have been named after members of which band?
- Arctic Monkeys
- Guns N’ Roses
- Foo Fighters
- Hot Chip
3. Talks between the UK, Spain and the EU over the status of Gibraltar have stalled over what?
- An airport
- Football results
- Fishing rights
- A shipwreck
4. What was the total value of 180,000 cannabis plants seized by police in recent raids across England and Wales?
- £60 million
- £95 million
- £130 million
- £145 million
5. The daughter of late NHS fundraiser Captain Sir Tom Moore was ordered to demolish what unauthorised structure in her garden?
- Home office
- Spa pool complex
- Fountain
- Tennis court
6. What type of eco-friendly funeral option is becoming available in the UK this year?
- “Boil in the bag” water cremations
- Human composting
- “Cannibal” funerals
- “Burn to earn” energy-generating cremations
7. The Commons standards committee this week recommended suspending which MP?
- Boris Johnson
- Chris Pincher
- Nadine Dorries
- Nigel Adams
8. Scotland’s former first minister Alex Salmond turned down an invitation to which event?
- Fourth of July fireworks
- SNP special conference on independence
- Nicola Sturgeon’s leaving party
- Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication for King Charles
9. Vietnam has banned the new Barbie movie over a scene showing what?
- A map of disputed Chinese territory
- “Made in Vietnam” labels on shoddy clothing
- Memorabilia from the Vietnam War
- A Vietnamese arch-villain
10. Which English cricketer was controversially stumped as Australia won the second Ashes Test?
- Ben Stokes
- Jonny Bairstow
- Joe Root
- Jimmy Anderson
1. Norway
Orkney could leave the UK and become a territory of Norway under new proposals to explore “alternative forms of governance” that could provide more economic opportunities. The islands were under Norwegian and Danish control until 1472
2. Guns N’ Roses
The owls have been named Axl, after frontman Axl Rose, and Slash, in honour of the band’s guitarist, after being found under the stage during the band’s headline set at the festival. For more odd and unexpected news, sign up to the Tall Tales newsletter.
3. An airport
Downing Street has dismissed Spain’s demand to oversee control of Gibraltar’s airport, which is technically on an RAF base despite lying on a narrow stretch of land between Gibraltar and the Spanish frontier. The EU is considering allowing the British overseas territory – which voted to remain in the bloc – to join the Schengen common travel area.
4. £130 million
Police arrested almost 1,000 people in the UK’s largest ever crackdown on organised crime. A total of 20 firearms, £636,000 in cash and 20kg of cocaine were also seized during the nationwide raids in June, the National Police Chiefs’ Council announced this week.
5.Spa pool complex
Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband were granted permission to build an office in the grounds of their Bedfordshire home, to be used partly “in connection with the Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives”, but then added a pool building and applied for retrospective permission. They have now been ordered to demolish the pool spa complex after the retrospective application was denied.
6. “Boil in the bag” water cremations
The alternative to traditional cremation and burial will become the UK’s first new legal method of corpse disposal since the Cremation Act of 1902. The process involves dissolving a body in a bag in 160C water treated with an alkali and has a lower carbon footprint than gas-fired cremation.
7. Chris Pincher
The MP for Tamworth faces an eight-week suspension following a Standards Committee report into sexual assault allegations. The recommendation could trigger a recall petition in Pincher’s constituency, paving the way for a by-election.
8. Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication for King Charles
Salmond snubbed what was dubbed the “Scottish coronation” of the new monarch and predicted that Charles would be the “last King of Scots”.
9. A map of disputed Chinese territory
Vietnam has banned commercial screenings of the Barbie film, out on 21 July, over a map that appears to show Beijing’s “nine-dash line” in the South China Sea that marks disputed territory. Find out more with The Week Unwrapped podcast.
10. Jonny Bairstow
The stumping by Australia’s Alex Carey triggered uproar among fans, who argued that while allowed under cricket rules, the move was not in the “spirit of the game”. Critics including Geoffrey Boycott have called on Australia to apologise, while the rival team complained of “aggressive and abusive” behaviour by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) members following Bairstow’s dismissal in Sunday’s second Ashes Test at Lord’s.
