Thursday news quiz: A resigning boss, Buffy’s loss and a theatre getting cross

Thursday news quiz: A resigning boss, Buffy’s loss and a theatre getting cross

June 11, 2026 / Sarkiya Ranen /


The men’s Fifa World Cup starts today, and the challenge before the quiz master is to stay up all night every night watching tons of meaningless group matches between the likes of Syldavia and Borduria to keep up a record of not having missed a single World Cup game since 1978, while also continuing to function as a normal living member of society, rather than as an exhausted zombie.

The challenge before you, however, is simple: 15 questions on topical news, general knowledge and popular culture. There are no prizes, but equally you don’t have to stay up for a 3am kick-off. Have fun. Allons-y!

The Thursday news quiz, No 251

  1. 1.Record numbers of what found off the south-west coast of England last year have now spread as far as Scotland (pictured) and Wales?

  2. 2.Where has Starbucks faced a consumer backlash and senior executives resigning after it launched a marketing campaign called Tank Day that coincided with the anniversary of a massacre of a pro-democracy demonstration?

    A woman working on laptop computer

  3. 3.The Thursday quiz was immensely saddened by the death of Anthony Head, star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ted Lasso, Doctor Who, coffee adverts, and by all accounts an all-round good egg. What was the name of his character in Buffy?

    Anthony Head and Sarah Michelle Geller

  4. 4.More than a million people turned up to see the pope deliver an open air mass in which European capital city at the weekend?

    Pope Leo XIV

  5. 5.Which US city has voted for a year-long ban on new AI datacentres (not pictured)?

    Two girls wearing homemade robot costumes

  6. 6.Send Derren Brown today’s collective noun. Use your psychic powers to let him know the collective noun for chimpanzees.

    Derren Brown

  7. 7.It is Hugh Laurie’s birthday today. Happy birthday Hugh! What is the first name of his character in House?

    Hugh Laurie

  8. 8.This week’s guest superhero is a Fathers 4 justice-style Spider-Man spotted in Brighton recently. He knows there has been a brouhaha about some fake AI videos depicting Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, and Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, having a dust-up, but on the set of which BBC programme?

    A mural of an overweight Spider-Man in Brighton

  9. 9.Scores on the doors with Swindon’s Diana Dors! This week, with the tournament starting today, the Thursday quiz imagines the statue wants you to remind her of the score at the end of extra time of the last World Cup final.

    The statue of Diana Dors

  10. 10.Talking of the World Cup, organisers have made a U-turn on a proposed ban and will now allow what (not pictured – that’s just a Netherlands fan with a massive cheese on her head) into stadiums?

    A Netherlands fan

  11. 11.Whose company was named as the fastest-growing business in Britain?

    Money

  12. 12.Boffins who study people (the correct technical term) have discovered that on the whole we all prefer to walk which way?

    Very big clown shoes

  13. 13.The Shacklewell Arms is one of the Thursday quiz’s favourite small gig venues in London, where it has seen up-and-coming young bands such as Pit Pony, Deep Tan, Wych Elm (pictured) and Dream Phone. But which superstar unexpectedly played there at the weekend?

    Wych Elm at the Shacklewell Arms

  14. 14.On this day with Brian May! And his badger! 11 June is the anniversary of Diane Abbott being elected to parliament as the UK’s first Black female MP. The Thursday quiz imagines Queen’s legendary guitarist wants you to tell him – and his badger – in which year.

    Brian May and Bill the Badger

  15. 15.Audience members at a matinee performance of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production Tempest, starring Kenneth Branagh (pictured, left, not the other guy) as Prospero, complained it was ruined by what?

    King Charles speaks to Kenneth Branagh

If you really do think there has been an egregious error in one of the questions or answers – and can show your working and are absolutely 100% positive you aren’t attempting to factcheck a joke – you can complain about it in the comments below. Why not watch Dark Clouds by Night Swimming instead?

Dark Clouds by Night Swimming



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Sarkiya Ranen

I am an editor for Ny Journals, focusing on business and entrepreneurship. I love uncovering emerging trends and crafting stories that inspire and inform readers about innovative ventures and industry insights.

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