While Ted Cruz pauses long enough to catch his breath, take our Week to Week news quiz and see if you know what's been going on.
Here are some random but real hints: She's in the family business; it's a kiwi letdown; unilaterally assured destruction; and in real estate, possession is nine-tenths of the law. Answers are at the bottom of the quiz.
1. Who is the "white widow"?
a. A Britain who converted to Islam and is connected to the recent terror attack in Kenya
b. A 16th-century queen whose body was found buried in a suburban London parking lot last month
c. Esther Malis, who is seeking her late husband's Massachusetts congressional seat
d. The newest species of spider, discovered in an Azerbaijani gas mine
2. Oracle Team USA won the America's Cup. Who lost?
a. Brasilia Intercontinental
b. SAP das Boot
c. Emirates Team New Zealand
d. Mondo Rossa Challenge
3. Where did Kenyan security forces stage an attack to end a hostage crisis?
a. An upscale shopping mall
b. A mosque in a working class neighborhood of Nairobi
c. A nuclear power plant
d. The headquarters of the country's main opposition party
4. Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI broke his self-imposed silence in order to address what topic in a letter to an Italian newspaper?
a. Pope Francis' remarks regarding atheists and homosexuals
b. The historical role of the rosary
c. Whether he had covered up sex abuse within the church
d. The fortunes of AC Milan
5. What did the government reveal had almost destroyed Goldsboro, North Carolina?
a. Hurricane Louie destroyed 90 percent of its buildings
b. Sinkholes have gobbled up more than half of its downtown, forcing a complete evacuation
c. NC Governor Pat McCrory pushed to unincorporate the community after 70 percent of its voters cast their ballots for Obama in 2012
d. A hydrogen bomb accidentally was dropped (and automatically armed) over the city in 1961
6. What did German hacker group Chaos Computer Club claim about Apple's latest iPhone?
a. Users are being overcharged for iTunes purchases
b. It had snuck past Apple's gatekeepers an app that records your security information and sends it to the NSA
c. It had successfully hacked the new fingerprint-based security system
d. It could use the iPhone to control any garage door opener
7. What book did Texas Senator Ted Cruz read during his 19-hour talkathon on the Senate floor to protest Obamacare?
a. Heather Has Two Mommies
b. Statecraft As Soulcraft
c. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
d. Green Eggs and Ham
8. Who is trying to settle investigations into its mortgage business with a possible $11 billion settlement?
a. Deutsche Bank
b. Fannie Mae
c. JPMorgan Chase & Co.
d. Golden Fortune Home Trust
9. Wendy Davis, who held a filibuster against a Texas anti-abortion bill in June, has reportedly made plans to seek what office?
a. Ted Cruz's U.S. Senate seat
b. CEO of Planned Parenthood
c. U.S. President
d. Texas governor
10. What did Iranian President Hasan Rouhani not say this week?
a. He denounced the Holocaust
b. He said Israel should sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
c. He declared that all countries should get rid of nuclear weapons
d. He repudiated his country's Guardian Council for its rulings on women's rights
BONUS. What did singer Olivia Newton-John do so she could sell her Florida home?
a. Autographed a wall in each room with a permanent marker
b. Brought in a priest to perform an exorcism on the property
c. Pretended it was owned by Justin Bieber
d. Filled the swimming pool with Champagne for the open house viewings
The news and the quizzes don't stop there! Join us Monday, October 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. Panelists include Lisa Vorderbrueggen and Debra J. Saunders.
ANSWERS: 1) a. 2) c. 3) a. 4) c. 5) d. 6) c. 7) d. 8) c. 9) d. 10) d. BONUS) b.
EXPLANATIONS OF THE HINTS: She's in the family business: Her husband reportedly took part in the 2005 London bombings; it's a kiwi letdown: that'd be the New Zealanders, who lost to Oracle; unilaterally assured destruction : at the height of the Cold War, a U.S. bomber broke up over North Carolina, dropping two hydrogen bombs, one of which nearly detonated; and in real estate, possession is nine-tenths of the law: she reportedly held an exorcism after at least one well-heeled potential buyer backed off upon learning of the suicide of someone on the property.