You only have five minutes before you head to the store to pick up your snacks for the World Cup final, so quickly take our Week to Week news quiz to freshen up your mind.
Here are some random but real hints: He's trading the "magic city" for "progress and prosperity"; maybe we wanted to find out their secrets to winning soccer games; he's trading the Big Easy for the big house; and they still haven't gotten over Team America: World Police. Answers are at the bottom of the quiz.
1. What have Israeli leaders said this week they haven't ruled out?
a. Joining the nuclear negotiations with Iran
b. Closing the border with the West Bank
c. Bombing Islamist camps in Syria
d. Making a ground assault on the Gaza Strip
2. Sports news took over the headlines Friday when Miami Heat player LeBron James announced plans to do what?
a. Retire
b. Become a Methodist pastor
c. Return to the Cleveland Cavaliers
d. Retire from basketball and take up baseball
3. What is Operation Protective Edge?
a. It's the Israeli military operation along its border with the Gaza Strip
b. It's the code name for the negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program
c. It's what Ukraine's government is calling its military offensive against pro-Russian forces
d. It's the border control program the federal government is implementing in response to the influx of undocumented children
4. This month, Germany uncovered two spies inside the German government working for what country?
a. Russia
b. Iran
c. Syria
d. The United States
5. For what did the White House request $3.7 billion?
a. Pay for a legal defense team to fight John Boehner's lawsuit against the president
b. Host the 2018 World Cup
c. Handle the immigration influx of undocumented child immigrants
d. Search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
6. The former mayor of what U.S. city was just sentenced to 10 years in prison for bribery, money laundering, and other corruption?
a. Chicago
b. New Orleans
c. New York
d. Dallas
7. Why did a jury award $18 million in damages to a San Francisco Giants fan?
a. The Giants reneged on an offer to draft him as an outfielder for the 2015 season
b. He was severely injured in a fight with Dodger fans after a game in Los Angeles
c. When he purchased a ticket, he was overcharged $17,999,945
d. He won an age discrimination suit against the league after he was fired as a fan club manager
8. In its 7-1 victory over host nation Brazil on Tuesday, which one of the following records was not set by Germany?
a. No team has ever before scored seven goals in a semi-final
b. It was the most-tweeted sporting event in history
c. German players received the most yellow cards in one game in World Cup history
d. German striker Miroslav Klose became the highest-scoring player in World Cup history
9. Why has North Korea complained to the United Nations?
a. It thought it was complaining to ASEAN
b. It is demanding that South Korea lose its membership in the organization
c. It calls a new comedy film from Seth Rogen and James Franco that mocks their leader "the most undisguised sponsoring of terrorism as well as an act of war"
d. It is demanding the same maritime exclusion zone that China has established
10. What did a Kentucky state legislator, who also owns a coal company, say about climate change?
a. "My coal company is the savior of the environment, not a danger to it"
b. "I think in academia we all agree that the temperature on Mars is exactly as it is here. Nobody will dispute that."
c. "We're wasting all of this time and money talking about climate change when we should be focusing on the real danger: Benghazi"
d. "Coal is a renewable energy form"
BONUS. Harry Potter is back in a new short story by J.K. Rowling. What has happened to him?
a. He's now 34, has greying hair, and works as an Auror
b. He and Hermione are divorced
c. He is mourning the death of best friend Ron Weasley in a tragic broom crash
d. He has been appointed the Minister for Magic
Want the live news quiz experience? Join us Monday, July 14 in 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. Panelists include Debra J. Saunders, Josh Richman, and Carla Marinucci.
ANSWERS: 1) d. 2) c. 3) a. 4) d. 5) c. 6) b. 7) b. 8) c. 9) c. 10) b. BONUS) a.
Explanations of the hints: He's trading the "magic city" for "progress and prosperity": those are the mottos or nicknames of Miami and Cleveland, respectively; maybe we wanted to find out their secrets to winning soccer games: the United States spies were caught in Germany; he's trading the Big Easy for the big house: former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is heading to the big house; and they still haven't gotten over Team America: World Police: when a country's chief movie reviewer is also its dictator-for-life, as in North Korea, subversive filmmaking is a bit difficult.