FISH
The Nile perch has been named as the most destructive of 100 invasive species worldwide.Since it was introduced to Africa's Lake Victoria in 1954, the perch has contributed to the extinction of more than 200 endemic fish species. Other deadly animals in the Top 10 include the crazy ant, small Indian mongoose, feral pig, grey squirrel and giant African snail. The plant species include the water hyacinth, Dutch elm disease and Japanese knotweed.
COOKING
Every year, about 1,000 cookbooks are published in the United States, with the majority of those titles being released in the fall for holiday shopping. If you add the self-published cookbooks as well, the number can double or triple.
SAFETY
A major Canadian food producer is adopting a method for tracking its pork products with DNA, a safety system that it recommends should be adopted by the meat industry as a whole. The Canadian processing industry can differentiate itself from its largest competitors in the U.S. by putting its focus on producing safe meat, at a time when consumers are worried about food safety. The system will allow the company to trace a piece of pork from the grocery shelf back to the live animal production chain.
CALLING
The global average for talking on a cellphone is 27 minutes daily. Canadians speak on their cells an average of 49 minutes daily, second only to U.S. citizens who average 63 minutes a day. Users in Britain talked for 32 minutes each day, while those in Italy and China round out the top five at 30 and 27 minutes respectively. In 2004, 63 per cent of Canadians owned a cell phone and that figure is expected to grow to 69 per cent in 2005.
BRANDING
Royal Bank of Canada is the country's most valuable brand, worth an estimated $4.4 billion according to a recent study. Next on the list are Bell Canada ($3-billion), Loblaws ($3-billion), TD Bank ($2.7-billion) and CIBC ($2.6-billion). The complete report listing the top 25 brands is available at www.brandfinance.com.
CHEESE
Record cheese prices are eroding profits at Canadian pizza manufacturers as the cost of mozzarella has surged 58 per cent in the past two years. Global stockpiles are the lowest since 1971 as rising incomes have boosted demand in Russia and the Middle East and drought eroded milk output in Australia, a major exporter. Cheddar prices have risen 81 per cent since November 2002, boosting the estimated value of global cheese output (about 16 million tons last year) to about US$45-billion from $25-billion two years ago.
TRADE
Last November, the Bush administration announced that it intended to negotiate trade agreements with Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. is now working on bilateral trade accords with 12 countries and has already finished deals with another dozen. America is just the latest fan of a broader global trend. As a new World Bank report points out, bilateral trade deals are all the rage. Almost 230 such agreements exist today, up from just 50 in 1990, and a further 60 or so are being negotiated. The average African country belongs to four different trade agreements and the average Latin American country belongs to eight.
CHILE
After the U.S., Japan and China are Chile's largest export markets. In the first nine months of last year, sales to Asia were up by 64 per cent. Much was owed to the high price of copper, Chile's main export, but it is now selling products like farmed salmon and wine. However, Chile interest in Asia goes beyond exports, it also sees itself as a potential bridge for trade and investment between Asia and other South American countries. Chile's many trade pacts give businesses based there zero or low-tariff access to a market of almost 1.3 billion consumers.
SQUIRRELS
Some U.S. power companies blame squirrels for up to 30 per cent of their outages.. Other sources claim that as many as 25 per cent of unexplained house fires can be blamed on intrusive squirrels.
RAIN
Australia is not only the driest inhabited country on earth, but also the greatest consumer of water per capita. The country has been suffering a dry spell dating back to the 1970s. Experts believe that in 17 years The Murray River, one of the county's foremost river systems, will be too salty to drink. The Murray, along with the Darling River, are responsible for irrigating 40 per cent of the country's crops. The growing of European-style crops is one of the main reasons for the degradation of the fresh water.
BRAINS
Taking advantage of new genetic information, plant scientists have discovered a surprising level of what looks like brainy behaviour in the vegetable world. Some plants can solve math and logic problems of a sort. They can calculate the ratio of two different hues of red light to decide when there's too much shade and they need to grow taller. To make smart choices, plant genes must take in multiple cues from their environment; light temperature, moisture, gravity etc, and assemble them into a meaningful whole.
CZECH REPUBLIC
The Czech Republic's economy grew at a healthy pace in 2003 year. In the latest OECD report, it forecasts GDP growth of 3.9 per cent and 4.2 per cent in 2005. Consumer price inflation is expected to remain below three per cent through the end of 2005. However, government spending is rising creating a big budget deficit and the need for higher taxes.
AGING
The American Association for over 50s (AARP) states that the Netherlands looks after its old people better than any other country. The survey takes note of policies that are of special interest to the elderly, such as age-discrimination laws, mandatory retirement ages and health care coverage. Australia was second and Sweden third in the survey. Canada came in at 10th and the U.S. 13th.
TEENS
Pollsters have found that Canadian teens, who once could not be prised off the family telephone, are turning instead to Internet communications. They found that the home phone and instant messaging are virtually tied as teens' favoured means of communications at 45 per cent and 44 per cent respectively. Only six per cent of teens reported that e-mail was their favourite way to communicate with friends and four per cent reported that they preferred their cellphone.
MARKETS
Canada is launching a massive trade push on China in 2005: an all-out effort to boost business relations and bilateral ties with the growing economic juggernaut. The country is currently the destination for only about one per cent of Canada's trade exports though it is Canada's second largest trading partner with two-way merchandise trade in 2003 of $23.3 billion Besides China, the government is also targeting India and Brazil fearing that Canada could be left out of these giant emerging markets.
INFORMATION
The Economist reports that Denmark leads the world as the country most open to information technology. Sweden is second, the U.S. third and Canada fifth. The top Asian country is South Korea in eighth place with China 44th and India 51st.The ratings are based on an index which compares the use of computers, the internet and telecoms and also takes into account social factors that make countries open to IT.
SWEATSHOPS
An advisory group on sweatshops created by Canadian retailers says that factories in poor countries rarely pass their first inspection when outsiders check on how they treat employees. However, retail companies generally continue to buy from such factories, except in extreme cases, while pressing them to improve conditions. Most companies surveyed expressed a zero tolerance for certain things including child labour, forced labour, physical abuse and serious health violations.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Ireland is the world's largest net exporter of medicines but spends far less than the rest of Europe on pharmaceuticals. Thirteen of the world's 15 largest drug firms have major manufacturing operations in Ireland attracted by low corporate tax rates and a pool of skilled workers. While expenditure on health care in Ireland has more than trebled from 1996 to 2004, total expenditure on drugs is still low. Ireland exports medicines worth about $21-billion each year. Its net exports were more than double those of France, the nearest biggest net exporter.
ETHNICITY
Asian women born in the U.S. outstrip all their sisters in terms of earning power. The average hourly wage for American-born Asian ladies in 2001 was $19.30 with American-born whites next at $18.80. At the bottom came American-born Latinas at $15.1 The reason for the ethnic disparity is education. In California, 55 per cent of American-born Asians have at least a batchelor's degree. By contrast, only 14 per cent of American-born Hispanic women have a batchelor's degree.
OWNERSHIP
Harper's Index reports that the percentage of the value of all foreign-owned U.S real estate that is owned by Japanese companies is 15. The percentage of the value of all foreign-owned U.S. real estate that is owned by Canadian companies is 26.
THE BLIND
Equipped with a tiny camera, a high tech device that recognizes the white stripes of a pedestrian crosswalk and reads traffic lights, could tell a blind person when it's safe to cross a street, researchers say. The electronic eye, being developed at the Kyoto Institute of Technology, could one day be adapted for broader use to help the blind or visually impaired to get around without a walking stick or seeing-eye dog.
VEGGIES
Many vegetable and some fruits have declined in quality in the past 50 years as crop breeders put size ahead of nutrition. The University of Texas at Austin analyzed 43 common garden crops and found widespread declines in their content of vitamins B and C, iron, calcium and other nutrients The scientists say this reinforces earlier findings from Britain and raises questions about the wisdom of modern farming practices that focus too much on size.
BIKES
Folding bikes are common in Europe, Japan and China but have been slow to catch on in North America despite design advances that have made them lighter, more compact and easier to ride. Among the young and fashion-conscious, they are being touted as accessories to the chic urban lifestyle.. However, their future may lie with commuters. Sales have surged in England since a "congestion charge" of $11.00 was imposed last year on drivers entering central London.
GOLF
A New York company has come up with a golf ball that can correct its own flight path so it flies straighter than conventional balls. Its ability derives from the unusual properties of designer molecules measuring less than 100 nanometres.
TOURISM
The Afghan government is to promote Osama bin Laden's Tora Bora mountain hideout as a "must-see" tourist destination.
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