What seafood item from Hokkaido is becoming increasingly rare? And which 90-year-old spiritual leader recently won his first Grammy Award for Best Audiobook, Narration and Storytelling Recording – a top music industry accolade?

If you know the answers to these questions and others like them, an upcoming competition by The Straits Times might be right up your alley.

What’s The News? – ST’s current affairs competition for schools – returns in 2026, with registration opening from Feb 5 to March 5.

The contest is open to students aged 15 to 19 from local secondary schools or the equivalent, pre-university institutions, polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education.

Similar to the inaugural competition in 2025, participants meet in three rounds.

The preliminary round, from April 9 to 22, involves answering an individual 30-question quiz, on a digital platform. Schools that qualify for the semi-final on May 14 send teams of six to play arena-style games and take part in challenges, which involve answering current affairs questions.

Then, at the final on May 26, four teams of three show off their understanding of the news in a stage game show.

The champions take home $4,000, while the second-, third- and fourth-placed teams win $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 respectively.

In 2025, a team from Temasek Junior College beat 49 other schools

to claim the title

Comedian-host Rishi Budhrani reprises his role as game master in 2026.

Mr Jaime Ho, editor of ST, said: “Our first run of What’s The News? was a success that went beyond my wildest expectations. Having seen the joy and excitement of all the students who participated, from th...