In Japan, fathers spend an average of 15 minutes per day with their children. Employed Japanese men aged 30-32 spend about nine minutes a day with their children, and five minutes a day doing household chores. [International Herald Tribune, 8th-9th May 1999]
In Britain, roads account for 1.5 per cent of all land area. [Transport: Necessity or Luxury?, Austin Williams]
In the US, suicide is the ninth leading cause of death. [Nature, 29th April 1999]
In China, 300,000 people die from air pollution-related diseases every year. [Foreign Affairs, March/April 1999]
Worldwide, there are 23,000 different Christian denominations. [Tower of Babel, Robert T Pennock]
In Britain, one woman in four prefers gardening to sex. The numbers are highest in East Anglia, where the ratio is one woman in three. [Neweden]
Only 5 per cent of a mature tree's mass is alive. [The Clock of the Long Now, Stewart Brand]
As of 1993, 80m-100m people were living outside their native country. [The Horizontal Society, Lawrence M Friedman]
At the Sellafield nuclear plant, 36 per cent of the plutonium generated is missing. [Journal of Environmental Radioactivity]
Each year, more than 2,000 Americans aged 14-17 use a gun to kill someone. [The Economist, 24th April 1999]
One American in 6,500 is injured by a toilet seat every year-most will be men. [Utne Reader, March/April 1999]
In Canada, an investment of $250,000 allows you permanent residency, compared to $365,000 in Australia and $1m in the US. [The Horizontal Society, Lawrence M Friedman]
In Turkey, 95 per cent of people feel that Greeks should not to be trusted, although only 7 per cent have ever met a Greek. In Greece, 73 per cent of people feel that Turks should not to be trusted, although only 30 per cent have ever met a Turk. [What are Journalists For?, April 1999]
