20/12/2025 - What in the World?
Free catch-up on the News Cycle
Have you been paying attention?
A wrap up of things in the news lately! These are just things caught my attention, over a variety of topics.
Quizzers are often beset by question setters who watch the news. They see a cool fact, and add it to their quiz - but if you’ve been busy that week you’ll never get it correct!
I don’t have a wide network of friends to keep me up to date! I don’t have a newspaper subscription! I don’t keep up with all the politics and sports stats - I get my news how the powers that be intended... Youtubers giving me their half-baked opinions two weeks after the event occurs.
If only someone could read all the news and distil it for me into discrete chunks of important information. Et Voila! A niche!
The quizzing community at large likes using a tool called WikiQuiz. Here is a link below. If you think you are a news watching guru, try your hand at a competitive quiz by following the link below. This link will only last a day!
If you’d like to just learn the news in a quiz format - or you’re viewing this more than a day after it was published - scroll down.
Now the goal of this is to get more people into the quizzing community and to share a lot of knowledge. I don’t want your money! I want you to enjoy trivia! But, these questions take a surprising amount of man-power and caffeine to write. So if you have cash to burn, want to learn more, get access to the full 20 questions, and to compare your score with those around the world - feel free to shout me a coffee.
QUIZ: WHAT’S NEW IN THE WORLD? 20/12/2025
Before we begin, one of the most notable news stories this week - and close to home - was the tragic mass shooting in Bondi, Australia. I wont be asking a question on it, but if you wish to donate to the victims, head here to this gofundme link:
and make sure to donate blood as often as you can if you are able.
Now, quiz responsibly, and enjoy a wrap up of the global news this week. Did you catch any of these?
CULTURE: Which country is about to host their annual Harbin Ice Festival through till February, with its official grand opening usually on January 5th? It will be featuring massive ice castles, sculptures, and lantern displays at various venues like Ice and Snow World and Sun Island, continuing until the weather melts the creations.
SCIENCE: Our little solar system has had three recorded interstellar visitors since we started looking for them. Interstellar means that they originated far far outside our solar system, and came into our scanning range at high speed.
The first was called 1I (one-I) in 2017, the second is called 2I in 2019, and the third called 3I - which makes its ‘closest to Earth distance’ at a range of roughly 168 million miles on Friday the 19th of December!
Because 1I, 2I, and 3I are boring names, they also have fun ones! 1I was named Oumuamua after ‘scout’ in Hawai’ian. 2I was named Borisov. What is the Greek godly name for 3I? It’s also the name of the topmost vertebrae of the spine... which holds your whole brain up on its mighty shoulders!
TELEVISION: The Epstein files will be released by Friday by the Department of Justice of the USA. Coincidentally, Donald Trump suspended television and addressed the nation during prime-time two days prior. Fans of the finale of the 49th season of which show - filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji - were outraged at the interruption?
GAMING: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was a clear favourite in this years videogame awards, winning a record 9 with Best Art Direction, Best Indie, Best Narrative, Best Direction, Best score, and Best Game of the Year! However, it missed out on Best Action Game, and Best Action/Adventure Game.
Name either of the two games, both sequels, that won these prestigious awards.
One is named for a Greek God and the main antagonist of the player character Zagreus in the first of the series. (Gameplay pictured here)
The other game’s name refers to the powerful, mystical material produced by the spider-like Weavers and their god, Grandmother ____, which drives the central conflict (the “Haunting”) in Pharloom, and also relates to the music, bells, and melodies used in the kingdom, particularly to keep Grandmother ____ pacified within the Citadel of Song.
NOTABLE DEATHS: Which series of novels were written by the recently deceased UK author Sophie Kinsella, who also wrote under her real name Madeleine Wickham. The books follow protagonist Rebecca Bloomwood, an idealistic but intelligent and hard-working financial journalist through her adventures in shopping and life. The book spawned into a 2009 movie for Isla Fisher - whose only previous Hollywood roles were Scooby Doo, Wedding Crashers, and Wedding Daze.
FILM: Taking advantage of recency bias, using public momentum, and tying in with a memorable date - it turns out the best date to release an oscar winner is Christmas Day! Timothée Chalamet must be gaming the system. On my first day of Christmas, 2023 (actually Dec 8th internationally), Chalamet came out as the lead in Wonka. In 2024, on Christmas, Chalamet starred in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. This Christmas, he’s making headlines playing fictional Marty Mauser in Marty Supreme - directed by Josh Safdie. What sport is Marty Mauser a champion in?
NATURE: Sweetings pond, a landlocked body of water in the Bahamas, was filled roughly 7,000 years ago. Bahamian sea-monster folklore has prevented locals from diving in willy-nilly - but this little lake is a key point of study for scientists and conservationists. This is because Sweetings pond is the source of the largest concentration of which animal, with binomial name Hippocampus erectus?
After being designated as a National Park in 2023, it has opened for excursions this week, and will more widely open to the public in 2026. Soon - you will be able to swim with these biofluorescent creatures all night long!
MUSIC: The top five songs on Billboards Hottest 100 this week are Christmas themed - with Mariah Carey still topping the list. Name any of the next 4 artists and song pairs in the top 5. Sixth is Golden by HUNTR/X, then The Fate of Ophelia by Taylor Swift.
GLOBAL POLITICS: While independently corroborated, this news story is still developing. Which group have begun withdrawing from the eastern Congolese town of Uvira after making large territorial advances in North and South Kivu? Also called the Congolese Revolutionary Army (Armée révolutionnaire du Congo), the Congolese Rwandan-backed rebel paramilitary group in question is most known by a letter and a two digit number. It is made up primarily of Tutsis and opposes the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) - a Rwandan Hutu rebel group, as well as Mai-Mai militias—local community-based armed groups supported by the Congolese government.
SPORTS and ENTERTAINMENT: John Cena ended his 24-year WWE tenure at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. this week. He did so by doing what he hadn’t done in more than 20 years: He tapped out! But to who? The one-named prominent heel is also a one-named regular character in Friends.
ANSWERS! NO PEEKING
CULTURE: Which country is about to host their annual Harbin Ice Festival through till February, with its official grand opening usually on January 5th? It will be featuring massive ice castles, sculptures, and lantern displays at various venues like Ice and Snow World and Sun Island, continuing until the weather melts the creations.
CHINASCIENCE: Our little solar system has had three recorded interstellar visitors since we started looking for them! This means that they originated far far outside our solar system, and came into our scanning range at high speed.
The first was called 1I in 2017, the second called 2I in 2019, and the third called 3I - which makes its ‘closest to Earth distance’ at a range of roughly 168 million miles on Friday the 19th of December!
Because 1I, 2I, and 3I are boring names, they also have fun ones! 1I was named Oumuamua after ‘scout’ in Hawai’ian. 2I was named Borisov. What is the Greek godly name for 3I? It’s also the name of the topmost vertebrae... which holds your whole world up!
ATLASTELEVISION: The Epstein files will be released by Friday by the Department of Justice. Coincidentally, Donald Trump suspended television and addressed the nation during prime-time two days prior. Fans of the finale of the 49th season of which show - filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji - were outraged at the interruption?
SURVIVORGAMING: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was a clear favourite in this years videogame awards, winning a record 9 with Best Art Direction, Best Indie, Best Narrative, Best Direction, Best score, and Best Game of the Year! However, it missed out on Best Action Game, and Best Action/Adventure Game.
Name either of the two games, both sequels, that won these prestigious awards.
One is named for a Greek God and the main antagonist of the player character Zagreus in the first of the series. (Gameplay pictured here)
The other game’s name refers to the powerful, mystical material produced by the spider-like Weavers and their god, Grandmother ____, which drives the central conflict (the “Haunting”) in Pharloom, and also relates to the music, bells, and melodies used in the kingdom, particularly to keep Grandmother ____ pacified within the Citadel of Song.
HADES 2 or Hollow Knight: SILKSONG respectivelyNOTABLE DEATHS: Which series of novels written by the recently deceased UK author Sophie Kinsella, who also wrote under her real name Madeleine Wickham. The books follow protagonist Rebecca Bloomwood, an idealistic but intelligent and hard-working financial journalist through her adventures in shopping and life. The book spawned into a 2009 movie for Isla Fisher - whose only previous Hollywood roles were Scooby Doo, Wedding Crashers, and Wedding Daze.
CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLICFILM: Taking advantage of recency bias, using public momentum, and tying in with a memorable date - it turns out the best date to release an oscar winner is Christmas Day! Timothée Chalamet must be gaming the system. On my first day of Christmas, 2023 (actually Dec 8th internationally), Chalamet came out as the lead in Wonka. In 2024, on Christmas, Chalamet starred in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unkown. This Christmas, he’s making headlines playing fictional Marty Mauser in Marty Supreme - directed by Josh Safdie. What sport is Marty Mauser a champion in?
PING PONG / TABLE TENNISNATURE: Sweetings pond, a landlocked body of water in the Bahamas, was filled roughly 7,000 years ago. Bahamian sea-monster folklore has prevented locals from diving in willy-nilly - but this little lake is a key point of study for scientists and conservationists. This is because Sweetings pond is the source of the largest concentration of which animal, with binomial name Hippocampus erectus? After being designated as a National Park in 2023, it has opened for excursions this week, and will more widely open to the public in 2026. Soon - you will be able to swim with these biofluorescent creatures all night long!
SEAHORSE - Hippo for horse.MUSIC: The top five songs on Billboards Hottest 100 this weeek are Christmas themed - with Mariah Carey still topping the list. Name any of the next 4 artists and bands pairs in the top 5. Sixth is Golden by HUNTR/X, then The Fate of Ophelia by Taylor Swift.
5: Santa Tell Me, Ariana Grande.4: Jingle Bell Rock, Bobby Helms.
3: Last Christmas, Wham!.
2: Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, Brenda Lee.
GLOBAL POLITICS: While independently corroborated, this news story is still developing. Which group have begun withdrawing from the eastern Congolese town of Uvira after making large territorial advances in North and South Kivu? Also called the Congolese Revolutionary Army (Armée révolutionnaire du Congo), the Congolese Rwandan-backed rebel paramilitary group in question is most known by a letter and a two digit number. It is made up primarily of Tutsis and opposes the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) - a Rwandan Hutu rebel group, as well as Mai-Mai militias—local community-based armed groups supported by the Congolese government.
M23 - March 23 MovementSPORTS and ENTERTAINMENT: John Cena ended his 24-year WWE tenure at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. this week. He did so by doing what he hadn’t done in more than 20 years: He tapped out! But to who? The one-named prominent heel is also a one-named regular character in Friends.
GUNTHER
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Thank you for reading, and see you tomorrow.
Hi Alex, not sure if the link is for last weeks? Appreciate it’s lots to keep up with!