What News? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Iran

Qasem Soleimani was an Iran major general who headed up the Quds Force, one of the five branches of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Quds Force specialised in military intelligence and unconventional warfare. He was assassinated by drone strike ordered by US president Donald Trump.

The car he was traveling in was struck near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. Nine others died with him, including five Iraqi nationals. It was seen as a strong response to recent Iranian-backed attacks against American bases in Iraq, however, there were also questions regarding the legality of the strike.

Answer: South Korea

Jeju Air was the largest of South Korea's low-cost airlines. The flight was returning from Thailand to Korea when it suffered a bird strike affecting both engines near the airport. The landing gear failed to deploy, amongst other system failures. A belly-landing followed and the aircraft overshot the end of the runway at speed before hitting a concrete structure buried within an earth berm.

It was concluded that, but for this wrongly-placed structure, the passengers would have survived. As it was, only two crew members in the tail plane section did.

Answer: El Salvador

In 2021 El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt the cryptocurrency bitcoin as legal tender. This was driven by Nayib Bukele, the then president of El Salvador, but the decision was criticised both in-country and abroad. A partial retreat followed in 2024 as part of an International Monetary Fund agreement and in 2025 the decision to make it legal tender was rescinded. Bitcoin's volatility, the environmental impact associated with its use and the lack of transparency involved were some of the arguments against its adoption.

It was not extensively used for day-to-day transactions in-country during this period.

Answer: Sudan

Darfur is a region in the African country of Sudan. Nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, the War in Darfur began in February 2003. Two rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement, began fighting against government forces due to the oppression of Darfur's non-Arab population.

The government then pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing in the region, leading to the indictment of the president by the International Criminal Court. The death toll was unclear, but likely was hundreds of thousands, mostly in the civilian population. A comprehensive peace agreement was signed on 31 August 2020. A civil war between the two main military factions of the Sudan's government then started in 2023.

Answer: Barbados

It is not clear which European nation first discovered the inhabited Caribbean island of Barbados, however it was the English who, in the 17th century, were the first Europeans to settle on the island. Barbados remained one of Britain's overseas territories until it gained full independence in 1966. Barbados opted to remain within the Commonwealth of Nations with the UK's Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Barbados, represented locally by a governor-general.

Barbados announced its decision to replace the monarchy and become a republic in 2020. This was completed on 30 November 2021 with a president being elected in the role formerly performed by Queen Elizabeth II.

Answer: Colombia

Gustavo Petro joined the guerrilla group 19th of April Movement (or M-19) as a 17-year-old, believing that guerrilla struggle was the way to achieve political and economic change in the country. He changed his tune over the years, believing that public backing was not possible through armed resistance. He was released from prison after M-19 reached a peace deal with the government at one point.

He has formed various political parties over the years and made his way towards the presidency via the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate with a couple of spells as mayor of the capital, Bogotá. He was elected president on his third attempt in 2022. Drug cartels, threats from paramilitary groups and political controversies have complicated his political life.

Answer: Japan

A heavy metal fan and seasoned politician, Sanae Takaichi became the first woman in Japan to hold be the office of President of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 2025. When the LDP-Komeito coalition government failed, she formed a coalition with the Japan Innovation Party and then was elected prime minister by the National Diet (the Japanese national legislature), becoming the first woman in Japan to hold that office as well.

Sometimes described as an ultra-conservative, she has drawn comparisons with the UK's former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and, indeed, has been quoted as seeing Thatcher as a role model. She called an early election in 2026 and the LDP was returned with a landslide victory.

Answer: Brazil

A former army officer, Brazilian politician Jair Bolsonaro was the 38th president of Brazil during the period 2019 to 2023. Prior to this, he had served in the Chamber of Deputies from 1991 to 2019. He lost the 2022 presidential election and left the country one day before the end of his term. In his absence, supporters attempted a military coup d'état to reinstate him. He returned to Brazil in March 2023.

Various court processes ensued and he was one of 27 found guilty of involvement in the attempted coup. The convicted were classed in various categories: Leadership and Command, Management of Operation Actions, Execution of Actions, and Production and Dissemination of Disinformation.

Answer: Lebanon

Used primarily as a high-nitrogen content fertiliser, a cargo of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was confiscated in 2014 from a cargo ship after it was declared unseaworthy and abandoned at Port of Beirut, Lebanon. The ship sank in 2018. Unfortunately the fertiliser was not stored safely and in 2020 when a fire broke out in a neighbouring warehouse, there was a catastrophic explosion.

This ranked amongst the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded and caused over 200 deaths, 7,000 injuries and displaced around 300,000 people.

Answer: Libya

The two dams were built in the 1970s to control flooding, provide irrigation water and supply local communities with water. Maintenance was sporadic with the 2011 civil war not helping. Storm Daniel was the trigger and proved to be the deadliest Mediterranean cyclone in recorded history. The collapse of the first dam appeared to trigger the second collapse with the downstream city of Derna being partially destroyed.

Estimates of the death toll ranged from over 5,000 to more than four times that figure. Some victims were found floating in their cars in the Mediterranean Sea with one survivor found some 18 km (11 mi) off the coast of Derna.