News Quiz - No googling Please

1. In the wake of the Asian tsunami, humanitarian agencies have warned that foreign countries often fail to deliver their aid pledges. Of the $1.1bn promised to help rebuild the Iranian city of Bam after the 2003 earthquake, how much was actually sent?

a. $570 million
b. $75 million
c. $17.5 million

2. What did an angry Italian bricklayer throw at prime minister Silvio Berlusconi on New Year's Eve?

a. A panettone cake
b. A camera tripod
c. A can of hairspray

3. Turkey dropped how many zeroes from its currency when it launched the new Turkish lira on January 1?

a. Four
b. Five
c. Six

4. The US gives less than 1% of its gross national income in aid to poor countries. But a recent poll found that most Americans believe their country gives how much?

a. 7%
b. 16%
c. 24%

5. Japan has formed a task force of scholars and legal experts to look at changing the country's law of royal succession to allow what?

a. Women to ascend the throne
b. The abdication of an emperor
c. A foreigner to marry the heir to the throne

6. Spain is planning a series of celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary in 2005 of which famous literary character?

b. Don Quijote
c. Don Juan
d. Don Diego

7. House of Flying Daggers is the latest critically acclaimed movie by Zhang Yimou. Which of the following films is among his previous works?

a. The Ice Storm
b. Hero
c. The Medallion

8. China is likely to be one of the main beneficiaries of the lifting of all quotas on textile imports by the World Trade Organisation on January 1. How much of the world's clothing is already supplied by China?

a. 5%
b. 20%
c. 35%

9. A hotel in Mexico is offering the world's most expensive weekend break. What does the $8.5m package NOT include?

a. A round of golf with Jack Nicklaus
b. A bedside concert performance by Elton John
c. A one-to-one aerobics session with Elle MacPherson

10. The Anglo-Dutch multinational Unilever has announced plans to develop a new range of slimming products based on what?

a. The fruit of the Brazilian jacaranda tree
b. An African cactus
c. Edam cheese