Take a break from listening in on world leaders' phones and take our Week to Week news quiz.
Here are some random but real hints: She is very verärgert; GOP has already announced it's DOA in 2013; shifting sands; no, not on eBay. Answers are at the bottom of the quiz.
1. Who complained directly to President Obama and called the American ambassador on the carpet to protest U.S. eavesdropping on their cellphone?
a. Russian President Vladimir Putin
b. UK Prime Minister David Cameron
c. German Chancellor Angela Merkel
d. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
2. About what long-simmering issue did President Obama say "this is the moment we should be able to finally get the job done"?
a. Closing Guantanamo
b. Fixing the Obamacare websites
c. Comprehensive immigration reform
d. Campaign finance reform
3. Recent American foreign policy moves have led to what longtime ally pledging a "major shift" in relations with the U.S.?
a. Germany
b. Canada
c. Saudi Arabia
d. South Korea
4. In a Twitter criticism of the health care law, what did Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus call President Barack Obama?
a. #BadNewsDoctor
b. #PresidentShamWow
c. #KenyanPresident
d. #ObamaScarerInChief
5. What did a CNN post-shutdown poll find that more than 63 percent of respondents want done?
a. Replace John Boehner as House speaker
b. Switch to a parliamentary legislative system
c. Raise the national debt ceiling permanently
d. Elect Ted Cruz president
6. What happened during President Obama's speech on Monday about the troubled rollout of Obamacare?
a. The service's websites finally started working
b. A cat ran across the stage
c. A woman standing behind him almost fainted
d. His wife Michelle called his cellphone and he answered
7. The BART labor dispute took a turn for tragedy this past weekend when what happened?
a. The union's strike fund ran empty, forcing striking members to take out loans to survive
b. The union and management agreed on a deal, but the contract they wrote up was lost when a computer failed
c. The mediator got food poisoning and had to be taken to the hospital
d. Two workers were killed when they were hit by a train
8. The U.S. Navy no longer has its first "supercarrier," the USS Forrestal. What happened to it?
a. The Navy sold the ship for one penny
b. It was sunk 20 miles off Diego Garcia in a training exercise
c. The U.S. gave the ship to the Egyptian military
d. It has disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle
9. During testimony before Congress, the contractors who built the Obamacare websites blamed whom?
a. Ted Cruz
b. Microsoft
c. WikiLeaks
d. The Obama administration
10. Why have photos of Doug Gansler surrounded by drinking, partying teens become a problem for him?
a. He had told his employer, the National Security Agency, that he was home sick that day
b. He's Maryland's attorney general and he's running for governor
c. He's the president of the San Francisco chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous
d. Police used the Facebook photo to track him down and arrest him for a string of robberies in suburban Dallas
BONUS. Why are the top French football (soccer) clubs going on strike?
a. They no longer wish to play games on the sabbath
b. They are objecting to France's 75 perecent tax on income above one million euros
c. ObamaCare
d. They are protesting racist chants in the stadiums
The news and the quizzes don't stop there! Join us Friday, November 8 in San Francisco for our next live Week to Week political roundtable with a news quiz and a social hour at The Commonwealth Club. Panelists include Larry Gerston, Carla Marinucci, and Debra J. Saunders.
ANSWERS: 1) c. 2) c. 3) c. 4) b. 5) a. 6) c. 7) d. 8) a. 9) d. 10) b. BONUS) b.
Explanations of the hints She is very verärgert: that's a German word for upset or angry, as the German chancellor reportedly is over the spying; GOP has already announced it's DOA in 2013: word is that the House Republicans won't put immigration reform to a vote this year; shifting sands: sorry, we went for the easy one -- Saudi Arabia, desert, sands; no, not on eBay: the carrier was sold for all of one penny.