November 2006 Edition
AIRLINES
The CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has suggested that with over 1,000 airlines, the skies are filled with far too many airplanes. Restrictive foreign-ownership rules and lack of progress in reaching an open skies agreement between Europe and the U.S. are seriously hindering the ability of the industry to slash overcapacity and reshape itself as a healthy business. A Europe-U.S. open skies deal would set the stage for a global liberalization of air transport and generate an estimated annual profit of US$12-billion.
DRINK
For the first time, wine sales have surpassed spirit sales in Canada according to Statistics Canada. Last year, national wine sales reached C$4.2-billion compared with $4-billion for spirits. There is a growing preference among many Canadians for premium-priced vintages as well as widely hyped research attributing certain health benefits from modest wine consumption. Beer however, remains Canada's alcoholic beverage of choice with sales of $8.4-billion in 2005.
PARTS
Canada is joining the U.S. and the European Union in launching a trade complaint with the World Trade Organization against China arguing that this Asian economic power is slapping on unfair tariffs when importing Canadian car parts. Canada is a significant supplier of auto parts to China, having shipped about C$265-million on average to China between 2003 and 2005. These tariffs are giving Chinese car parts producers an unfair advantage.
NUTRITION
U.S. consumers are purchasing an unprecedented amount of sports nutrition products having spent nearly US$4-billion on this category last year with spending poised to grow to $4.8-billion by 2010. For many consumers, sports nutrition items represent a hoped-for short cut to better health. Sports bars, drinks and gels make up the largest share of the market with sales of over $3-billion in 2005.
SPEED
Computer giant IBM will build the world's most powerful supercomputer at a US government laboratory. The machine, codenamed Roadrunner, could be four times more potent than the current fastest machine, also built by IBM. The new machine will be able to achieve "petaflop speeds," says IBM. One petaflop is the equivalent of 1,000 trillion calculations per second. Running at peak speed, it will be able to crunch through 1.6 thousand trillion calculations per second.
TRENDS
Britain's biggest supermarket chain has started stocking imported Polish foods like pickled cabbage and vodka to cash in on the wave of workers from Poland since the country joined the European Union. Between May 2004 and June 2006, 265,000 Poles applied successfully for work in Britain, often employed in low-paying sectors such as agriculture and factory work. Some estimates suggest that the real number of Poles working in Britain could exceed one million.
DEVELOPMENT
U.S. golf courses are being ploughed under in record numbers to make way for residential and commercial development. Course openings fell from a peak of 398 in 2000 to 125 last year. During the same period, course closings soared from 23 to 93 in 2005. When courses temporarily closed for renovation are included, the U.S. had fewer golf courses open at the end of 2005 than a year earlier, the first year-to-year drop since 1945.
LIGHT
A Japanese scientist who invented environmentally friendly sources of light has been awarded the Millennium Technology Prize, worth over US$2-million. The award recognizes his inventions of blue, green and white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and the blue laser diode. Blue LEDs are used in flat screen displays and blue lasers will be in the next generation of DVD players. White LEDs could provide a sustainable, low-cost alternative to lightbulbs, especially in developing countries.
FOOD
The Independent reports that food supplies are shrinking around the globe. New figures show that this year's harvest will fail to produce enough to feed everyone on earth for the sixth time in the last seven years. Humanity has so far managed by eating its way through stockpiles built up in better times, but these are now below danger levels. Both the UN's FAO and the U.S Department of Agriculture estimate that this year's grain harvest will fall for the second successive year.
HOBBIES
Across the U.S., an obscure new hobby is emerging, racing golf carts. People buy old carts for peanuts and bring them up to speed with lift kits, oversized tires, more powerful engines and roll bars. It is estimated that as many as four million Americans may own these vehicles, capable of speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. They are particularly popular in Arizona, California, Georgia and Florida.
STRIPPERS
Five people in China have been detained for running striptease sendoffs at funerals. The once-common events are held to boost the number of mourners as large crowds are seen as a mark of honour.
GLARE
Samsung Electronics has developed a new technology to help solve the problem of bright light keeping cellphone users from seeing the display screen. A device senses the brightness of the ambient light and adjusts the image so that viewers can see what is being shown more easily while outdoors. When indoors, the sensor dims the display's backlight to save power.
FISH
Nearly half the fish consumed in the world are now farmed rather than caught in the wild according to the United Nations. Only nine per cent of the fish consumed in 1980 were farmed, while 43 per cent is farmed today. Farmed fish now amounts to 45.5-million tons a year, worth US$63-billion. Currently, freshwater and marine capture fisheries produce 95-million tons annually of which 60-million tons is destined for human consumption.
CHIPS
Since the 10th century, travellers to Cornwall in the UK have been helped by hundreds of distinctive Celtic crosses carved from rough hewn granite which mark the route. But a recent wave of thefts, fuelled by Cornish nationalism, has prompted officials to adopt a 21st century solution to protect the ancient signposts. They are now being fitted with microchips about the size of a grain of rice which are glued to the crosses before being smeared with dirt to disguise them. If found, a scanner can reveal where the cross came from.
WINE
Organic wines in the U.K are fast gaining more space in wine racks across the country as demand increases from environmentally aware consumers. One chain has seen a 49.3 per cent increase in sales of organic wine in the past year. These wines are being imported from countries such as Chile, France and South Africa.
WEIGHT
The number of overweight people in the world has now overtaken the malnourished for the first time.
COKE
Faced with a slumping demand for its flagship soft drinks, Coca-Cola Co. is stepping outside the cooler and into the hot beverage market, launching a new line of brewed lattes, teas and coffees. Canada is serving as a global test market for Coke's foray into the premium coffee category. The company will sell its coffee concept through existing food service and entertainment customers such as restaurants and movie theatres. Two thirds of Canadians consume coffee daily.
DRIVING
A Chinese women's attempt to teach her dog how to drive proved a costly error as her car crashed into an oncoming vehicle. The lady from inner Mongolia had noticed how fond the dog was of crouching at the wheel and thought it should have a turn at steering while she operated the accelerator and brake.
BUSINESS
Singapore has taken first place as the easiest country to do business in the World Bank's Doing Business 2007 report with Turkey and Hong Kong in second and third places. The report measures the number of days it takes to start a business. The Republic of Congo is the hardest place followed by Brazil and Venezuela. Reform has allowed Georgia to leap from 112th place last year to 37th this year. China has become one of the top-ten reformers by improving investor protection, cutting red tape and establishing credit history for loans.
CONCESSIONS
Canada's largest theatre chain reports that moviegoers spent an average of C$3.72 at concession stands in the first six months of 2006. This represents an eight per cent increase over last year and a 22 per cent jump from 2002. The addition of fast-food kiosks such as frozen yogurt, pizza and specialty coffee shops has driven the trend. Rising concession sales are the fast growing part of the business.
CONNECTIONS
By September of this year, the total number of worldwide cellular connections had reached 2.5-billion, just 12 months after passing the 2-billion mark. Growth is currently running at more than 40-million new connections per month. A quarter of the growth is coming from China and India. Other growth areas include Russia, the U.S., Pakistan, Ukraine, Brazil and Indonesia. It is predicted the next 500-million connections will take 16 months.
NORWAY
So many Norwegians call in sick to work that the government has decided that employers will have to pay a greater share of sick leave costs. In the first quarter of this year, 7.4 per cent of the work force was on sick leave on any given day. Under current rules, employers pay for the first 16 days of sick leave per year, the government welfare system pays the rest.
WASTE
The government of China admitted recently that its water is unfit for drinking and has announced plans to spend US$150-billion over five years on sewage and water treatment facilities. By the end of last year, a total of 278 Chinese cities still had no waste water treatment facilities and pollutants in industrial discharges were often above permitted national standards.
FOOTBALL
Five National Football League teams, led by the Washington Redskins have franchise values above US$1-billion according to Forbes magazine The Redskins have led the list for seven years and are worth $1.423-billion. The New England Patriots are second followed by the Dallas Cowboys, the Texans and the Philadelphia Eagles.
SUGAR
Americans stir, slurp and swallow an average of 45 pounds of sugar and 42 pounds of high fructose corn syrup each year. This works out to a total of 26 teaspoons or 390 calories per day, much of it hidden in carbonated soft drinks.
BRANDS
According to a recent study, private label food and grocery items will make up 28.6 per cent of the market across Europe within the next four years and be worth US$549-billion a year, an increase of 45 per cent from the current $380-billion. Currently, the top private label markets in Europe are the U.K., Germany, France Spain and Italy. The future growth will come from Russia and the rest of Eastern and Central Europe.
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