England manager Roy Hodgson is listed in the acknowledgements of Sebastian Faulks’s novel A Week in December.



The Independent, 13th June 2012

 

Snowflakes on Mars are the size of a red blood cell.


Daily Mail, 20th June 2012

 

Use of Skype carries a 15-year jail term in Ethiopia.


The Atlantic, June 2012

 

By some estimates, around 400,000 people travel to the United States for medical treatment every year.


“Priceless: Cutting the healthcare crisis,” by John C Goodman (2012)

 

This year’s US elections will be the most expensive in history. The total cost of presidential, state, congressional and municipal campaigns is estimated at $8bn.


Policymic.com, May 2012

 

Brazil will reduce prisoners’ sentences by four days for every book they read.


Chicago Tribune, 25th June 2012

 

Portuguese footballer Ronaldo is named after Ronald Reagan.


The Observer, 8th June 2008

 

Ernest Hemingway wrote 47 alternate endings to A Farewell to Arms; F Scott Fitzgerald wrote 48 endings to The Great Gatsby.


Slate, 6th July 2012

 

Black markets account for 22.67 per cent of world GDP.

Freakonomics, 25th June 2012