Ten things which raised an eyebrow this week

EP brings you a brief round-up of some of the news items which were perhaps as surprising as they were enlightening

1. “Saucegate” was instigated in Scotland after one consumer took his complaint about being charged 25p for ketchup with his fish’n’chips to the trading standards offices, citing “racial discrimination” because of a condiment!
2. Britain’s Competition Commission ordered Ryanair to cut its 29:8% stake in Aer Lingus to just 5%
3. As road fatalities in the US increased for the first time in 7 years, the American AA reports that drivers are becoming less concerned about dangerous driving and more people admit to driving tired and running red lights
4. Burnley was named the "Most Enterprising Area in the UK"
5. A poll by the CBI has shown the strongest 3 months of growth for pubs, hotels, restaurants, accountants and legal firms since the start of the economic downturn
6. As many as 54% of Brits questioned have admitted to experiencing "nomophobia" – the (irrational) fear of possibly losing phone signal, running out of battery or that the handset itself may be misplaced
7. Facebook has published its first Transparency Report revealing the extent to which governments request information about the site’s users. The figures show the combined number of requests from the UK, France, Germany, Italy & India were equal to that of the US.
8. 165,000 people have so far applied for one of the four spots on a one-way Mission to Mars in a private endeavour to colonise the Red Planet
9. The government of New Zealand has passed a new Patents Bill effectively outlawing software patents, much to the chagrin of US government and big business
10. Over the last two and a half years employees at the MoD have spent more than £40,000 calling the speaking clock!

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