It's time for gift-giving and year-end celebrations, so take our latest Week to Week news quiz and see who's giving what to whom.
Here are some random but real hints: And eat your borscht at your desk; they should try jiggling the ethernet cord; that's going to be one awkward office Christmas party; and Sunday drivers can be terrifying. Answers are below the quiz.
1. What holiday message did Russian President Vladimir Putin have for his cabinet ministers?
a. Start planning for war in Eastern Europe in 2015
b. The country can not afford them to take holidays off
c. They should get out of the office and spend more time among the people and in the wild with the animals
d. They will all be expected to march in the triumph he holds in Sevastopol, Crimea
2. Why are Wall Street traders happy this holiday season?
a. Bonuses at major Wall Street financial institutions are reportedly up 90% from last year
b. As of midnight on December 30, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform legislation expires
c. The Dow broke the 18,000 barrier for the first time
d. They get Christmas week off to spend more time with their families
3. What reciprocal Christmas gift did North Korea receive this week?
a. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un exchanged Christmas cards with President Obama, as the two countries' leaders have done every year since Billy Graham first visited North Korea in 1992
b. North and South Korea traded rocket fire across the DMZ
c. After an attack on Sony believed to have been carried out by North Korea, the hermit kingdom was completely knocked off the internet
d. Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un announced they would visit each other's capitals before the end of 2014
4. What did The New York Times editorial board declare should be given to Dick Cheney, George Tenent, John Yoo, and others?
a. The National Medal of Honor
b. A Justice Department investigation of their roles in torturing terrorism suspects
c. Deportation
d. Congressional hearings into mismanagement of the Iraq occupation
5. How does New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio hope protestors will behave over the holidays in the wake of the murders of two city police officers?
a. A temporary end to protests over police conduct
b. Demand the resignation of New York's police chief
c. Acknowledge "the gift of good police protection"
d. Join with the police to jointly protest violence on our streets
6. Whom did Pope Francis blast in a harsh statement to a Christmas gathering of Vatican bureaucrats?
a. Global financial institutions
b. Gay activists
c. The government of China
d. Vatican bureaucrats
7. After a tough year, President Obama got a gift from the American people. What is it?
a. A giant teddy bear, signed by residents of all 50 states
b. The final two U.S. Senate seats that were still in dispute from the November elections ended up as Democratic wins
c. Polls show up to 64 percent support his reestablishment of diplomatic ties with Cuba
d. The economy grew by an annualized six percent in the fourth quarter
8. After celebrating its 100th anniversary, what did the staff of The New Republic do next?
a. Quit
b. Vandalized the offices of National Review
c. Ceased publishing the print edition and went digital-only
d. Accepted a buyout by new owner Rupert Murdoch
9. Sony announced an unexpected Christmas gift. What is it?
a. Tickets to all Sony movies were half-priced on Christmas Eve and Christmas
b. It is remaking "It's a Wonderful Life" as a millennial tone poem
c. Its controversial film The Interview got limited release on Christmas day
d. After a successful buyout from a Korean-based conglomerate, Sony will now produce films that honor the working class and its glorious leader
10. Who was just hours away from becoming a lay chaplain when he was killed?
a. French Marshal Michel Ney
b. New York City police officer Rafael Ramos
c. U.S. Representative Tracy Macreesh
d. The communications director of the Islamic State
BONUS. Who will be tried by a special Saudi Arabian court for terrorism cases?
a. The leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
b. The 17-year-old leader of Occupy Riyadh
c. An Iranian Shia activist accused of spying for the Tehran regime
d. Two women who defied the ban on female drivers
Want the live news quiz experience? Join us Wednesday, January 14 in downtown San Francisco for our next live Week to Week political roundtable with a news quiz and a social hour at The Commonwealth Club of California. In this special edition of Week to Week, we'll have the exclusive unveiling of a new Hoover poll of California residents. Panelists include Lanhee J. Chen, Carson Bruno, and Bill Whalen.
ANSWERS:
1) b.
2) c.
3) c.
4) b.
5) a.
6) d.
7) c.
8) a.
9) c.
10) b.
BONUS) d.
Explanations of the hints: And eat your borscht at your desk: Putin told them the country couldn't afford them to take the traditional long holiday time off this year; they should try jiggling the ethernet cord: North Korea was knocked off the internet by someone, no one has claimed responsibility; that's going to be one awkward office Christmas party: the pope criticized his own bureaucracy; and Sunday drivers can be terrifying: apparently the terror courts are the only institutions capable of handling the existential threat posed by women drivers.