Interesting facts, places, people..................

Britons get angry more often than anyone else in Europe.

According to a survey commissioned by TV comedy channel GOLD, Brits fly into a rage an average of four times a day by things like queue jumping, traffic jams, rude service in shops, foreign call centres and having to deal with ill-mannered neighbours. In contrast Italians only get angry three and a half times a day, the French three times and apparently those living in Sweden, Norway and Denmark said they get irate just once every five days.

China

According to the Global Times, officials in a county in central China have been told to smoke nearly a quarter of a million packs of locally made cigarettes annually.

The Gong'an county government in Hubei province, instead of banning cigarettes in the work place, has ordered its staff to puff their way through 230,000 packs of Hubei-produced cigarette brands a year, or risk being fined. I would look into the share holdings of the people making this ridiculous demand.

Eating

According to a study by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), the French devote nearly twice the time to meals than do Americans, Britons or Mexicans.

Of course the French take eating very seriously, and whatever you do, don't try to talk about work during lunch. That said, the credit crunch is having an effect. According to the Guardian newspaper, over 3,000 traditional French restaurants, cafes and bars went bust in the first three months of 2008.

Sleeping

According to a study by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), the French spend more time sleeping than their counterparts in economically developed countries.

On average, the French get 8.8 hours of sleep each night, enjoying more rest than Americans and Spaniards and a full hour more than South Koreans who rank last on the list with a mere 7.8 hours of sleep. Personally if I don't get 8 hours of sleep I'm like a bear with a sore head for the rest of the day.