All eyes were on Boris Johnson once again this week as the Commons privileges committee delivered its long-awaited verdict on Partygate.
In a 30,000-word report published yesterday, the cross-party group of MPs concluded that the former prime minister deliberately misled Parliament about lockdown-busting parties. And his repeated denials were “so disingenuous that they were deliberate attempts to mislead the committee”, the report said.
Italy has been mourning the passing of its populist former leader Silvio Berlusconi. The death of the media tycoon-turned-prime minister on Monday has also kicked off a real-life Succession drama, amid speculation about how his five children will carve up his business empire.
To find out how closely you’ve been paying attention to the latest developments in the news and other global events, put your knowledge to the test with our Quiz of The Week.
1. What is the title of the new Banksy exhibition opening at Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art this weekend?
Home & Dry
Cut & Run
Spray & Spring
Graffiti & Go
2. China has reportedly reached a secret deal to build a spy base in which country?
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Honduras
Cuba
Nicaragua
Venezuela
3. Novak Djokovic’s victory in the French Open final on Sunday takes his total tally of grand slam wins to how many?
21
22
23
24
4. The Commons privileges committee would have suspended Boris Johnson from Parliament for how long over Partygate if he were still an MP?
10 days
30 days
90 days
120 days
5. Revellers pelted each other with more than 10,000kg of what food at a festival in the Colombian town of Sutamarchán?
Tomatoes
Rice
Bananas
Cooked pasta
6. Who won the 2023 Tony Award for best leading actress?
Sheridan Smith
Jessica Chastain
Jodie Comer
Laura Linney
7. Poland’s bus route 666 will now be known as what?
699
111
999
660
8. Which US author is pulling a novel set in Russia from publication?
Sue Monk Kidd
Elizabeth Gilbert
Helen DeWitt
Rachel Cusk
9. Activists from Just Stop Oil halted an opera performance at Glyndebourne by doing what?
Setting off a confetti bomb and blasting air horns
Spraying the performers with champagne
Loudly singing songs from “Phantom of the Opera”
Doing cartwheels across the stage while naked
10. What percentage of people in the UK have a strong interest in the news, according to a new study?
26%
43%
51%
71%
1. Cut & Run
Banky’s first official solo exhibition in 14 years will feature stencils used to create many of the graffiti artist’s most iconic works from across his career.
2. Cuba
China has agreed a multibillion-dollar deal to build an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island that could allow Beijing to eavesdrop on US communications, according to The Wall Street Journal. The US and Cuban governments cast strong doubt on the report.
In a report published on Thursday, the privileges committee said that had Johnson not already resigned, he should have faced a three-month suspension for deliberately misleading MPs over Partygate.
5. Tomatoes
The Gran Tomatina festival celebrates the end of the harvest season. The annual food fight was cancelled during the pandemic but returned for a 15th staging on Sunday.
6. Jodie Comer
The Liverpool-born star scooped the Tony Award for her Broadway debut in the one-woman play “Prima Facie”. Comer also won an Olivier Award earlier this year for the West End version of the production.
7. 699
The operator of the bus route, which terminates at the Polish seaside resort of Hel, is making the name change following pressure from religious groups. For more odd and unexpected news, sign up to the Tall Tales newsletter.
8. Elizabeth Gilbert
The best-selling author of “Eat, Pray, Love” asked her publishers to postpone the publication of her novel “The Snow Forest”, which is set in 20th century Siberia, following a backlash from Ukrainian readers. Find out more with The Week Unwrapped podcast.
9. Setting off a confetti bomb and blasting air horns
Three Just Stop Oil protesters interrupted a performance on Thursday of Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues des Carmélites” at the opera festival, in East Sussex. The performance restarted after a 20-minute delay following the removal of the activists, who were not arrested.
10. 43%
A global study by researchers at Oxford University’s Reuters Institute found that worldwide, 48% of people were very or extremely interested in the news – down from 63% in 2017. The proportion was even lower in the UK, as audiences “cut back on depressing news” to protect their mental health, said the study authors.
Harriet Marsden is a senior staff writer and podcast panellist for The Week, covering world news and writing the weekly Global Digest newsletter. Before joining the site in 2023, she was a freelance journalist for seven years, working for The Guardian, The Times and The Independent among others, and regularly appearing on radio shows. In 2021, she was awarded the “journalist-at-large” fellowship by the Local Trust charity, and spent a year travelling independently to some of England’s most deprived areas to write about community activism. She has a master’s in international journalism from City University, and has also worked in Bolivia, Colombia and Spain.
