Thursday news quiz: Feral paws, language laws and a public Ariana pause

This cat has got some questions for you … Photograph: Amrita Chandradas/The Guardian

No Andy Burnham questions this week because – Shock! Horror! – a man with a family has taken a summer holiday with his family. But the Thursday quiz has done no such thing. Fifteen new questions await you on topical news, general knowledge and popular culture. There are no prizes, but you can boast about your score in the comments. Please do! Allons-y!

The Thursday news quiz, No 259

1. 

   Who has scored the longest running UK No 1 single in history with Rein Me In, beating a record that has stood since 1953?

   1. Sam Fender and Olivia Dean

   2. Declan McKenna and Nectar Woode

   3. George Ezra and Corinne Bailey Rae

   4. Ron from Sparks with Kate Bush ft the 30-50 feral hog chorus

2. 

   Which space company has had debris from one of its launches slam into the lunar surface

   1. Arianespace

   2. Blue Origin

   3. SpaceX

   4. Planet Express

3. 

   The Pacific Island country of Nauru has changed its name to what, to match the spelling and pronunciation in the national language?

   1. Republic of Ekaiairũ

   2. Republic of Puaka Kaivao

   3. Republic of Onawero

   4. Republic of Naoero

4. 

   Which video game publishing company, which makes games such as The Sims, Madden NFL and Battlefield (not pictured), has been bought by Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund and a group of investors for $55bn (£41bn)?

   1. Rockstar Games

   2. Electronic Arts

   3. Ubisoft

   4. Ultimate Play The Game

5. 

   Which country has just voted to make English one of its three official languages?

   1. New Zealand

   2. South Korea

   3. Rwanda

   4. Singapore

6. 

   Thursday quiz favourite Ariana Grande is to take a step back from public life, which means she has pulled out of appearing with Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey in a new London production of what?

   1. The Music of Erich Zann

   2. A Little Night Music

   3. The Light in the Piazza

   4. Sunday in the Park With George

7. 

   This week's guest canine is Margot, who the Thursday quiz met in a pub in Gosport. She wants to know in which country a university has ordered 58,000 students to resit their entrance exam in person after abnormally high online test results raised suspicions of widespread cheating. Tell her …

   1. Canada

   2. Malaysia

   3. Mexico

   4. Syldavia

8. 

   Where has an anti-corruption activist in a white elephant costume been sworn in as a senator?

   1. Colombia

   2. El Salvador

   3. Chile

   4. Borduria

9. 

   Farther or nearer with Geordie Alan Shearer! This week we imagine the England soccer legend wants to know, if he leaves his hometown of Newcastle upon Tyne, which – as the crow flies and according to freemaptools.com – is farther or nearer – Athens, Greece or Arrecife, Lanzarote?

   1. Athens, Greece is nearer to Newcastle upon Tyne than Arrecife, Lanzarote

   2. Arrecife, Lanzarote is nearer to Newcastle upon Tyne than Athens, Greece

10. 

    Tarona Taafaki (not pictured) made history by doing what at the 2026 Commonwealth Games?

    1. Becoming the oldest person ever to secure a medal while competing in para bowling

    2. Being selected for the Tuvalu national team via a nationwide raffle ticket draw

    3. 'Walking' the slowest ever time recorded in the women's 10,000 metres walk at a Commonwealth Games

    4. Winning a bronze medal in the boxing competition without winning a single bout

11. 

    What was the name of the feral cat (not pictured) that was finally captured in New Zealand after terrorising the local rare bird population for three years?

    1. Lucky

    2. Nine Lives

    3. Hunter

    4. Derek

12. 

    A happier cat story was in Utah. What was the ridiculously appropriate name of the feline (pictured) who survived a devastating fire that gutted an apartment complex by hiding in a closet – and then safely endured a days-long wait before being rescued?

    1. Toast

    2. Crispy

    3. Sparks

    4. Cinder

    5. Smokey

    6. Ash

    7. Scorcher

    8. Flambé

13. 

    Who thrilled fans at the weekend with a surprise rooftop gig in Brighton?

    1. PJ Harvey

    2. Nick Cave

    3. Raye

    4. Chappell Roan

14. 

    On this day with Brian May! And his badger! 6 August is the anniversary of the release of files describing the idea of the world wide web. The Thursday quiz imagines Queen's legendary guitarist wants you to tell him – and his badger – who wrote them?

    1. Jeremiah Kettlewell

    2. Vannevar Bush

    3. Tim Berners-Lee

    4. Douglas Engelbart

15. 

    And finally … where have refuse collectors helped a woman recover a binned €1m lottery ticket?

    1. Spain

    2. Italy

    3. Greece

    4. Portugal

Solutions

1:A - Released in June 2025, the new version of Rein Me In took 36 weeks to reach No 1, and has been on and off the top spot since February, 2:C - It will be the second dead rocket known to crash into the moon accidentally. A Chinese rocket segment created a pair of craters on the lunar far side in 2022, 3:D - The country’s international code will change from NRU to NRO and its people will be known as dei-Naoero instead of Nauruan. Commonly known abroad by the pronunciation of Now-roo, the new name is spoken as Now-ero, 4:B - On Monday, EA reported lower than expected revenues in the last quarter, blamed on a decline in engagement with its latest Battlefield game, 5:A - The English language bill became law on 30 July giving English, which is spoken by 95% of the country, the same official status as te reo Māori (Māori language) and New Zealand sign language, 6:D - The Thursday quiz wishes her all the best, 7:C - The National Autonomous University of Mexico (Unam) said the exam would take place in person after its first attempt at a fully remote online version led to a debacle and thousands of annulled results, 8:A - Luis Carlos Rúa, 34, revealed himself as the person behind Elefante blanco just three days before the election for his own safety, 9:A - Athens, Greece is only about 2,680km away from Newcastle upon Tyne, whereas Arrecife, Lanzarote is about 3,050km away, a difference of about 777,000 ancient Sumerian cubits. Top bins!, 10:D - She got a bye through to the semi-finals and then lost that, guaranteeing a bronze medal, 11:B - It certainly reached the end of its nine lives as once they caught it they killed it, which isn't the feel-good kind of animal story the Thursday quiz usually enjoys. It was estimated to have killed dozens of New Zealand’s rarest mainland duck – or 1% of its population – plus a host of kiwi chicks, native geckos and other native wildlife during the three years it was known to be roaming the Purerua peninsula, 12:A - Toast’s death-defying story provided a slight measure of glad tidings surrounding a blaze that ultimately displaced hundreds of residents and took more than 60 hours for firefighters to extinguish, 13:B - He was warming up for his massive show at Preston Park, which the Thursday quiz very much enjoyed, 14:C - And the rest, as they say, was all cat gifs, 15:B - The instant win ticket was 'miraculously still in one piece' after garbage workers combed through mounds of rubbish on their truck in Italy’s southern Puglia region

Scores

1. 0 and above.

   We hope you had fun! Let us know how you got on in the comments

If you really do think there has been an egregious error in one of the questions or answers – and can show your working and are absolutely 100% positive you aren’t attempting to factcheck a joke – you can complain about it in the comments below. Why not watch Throw Over Your Man by The Anchoress ft James Dean Bradfield instead?

Throw Over Your Man by The Anchoress ft James Dean Bradfield