Portugal scraps public holidays
Portugal has scrapped four of its 14 public holidays in order to boost economic activity. The debt-laden country, which is implementing a raft of other austerity measures, will suspend two Catholic festivals and two other public holidays for five years beginning in 2013.
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The busiest airline routes
The world’s busiest airline route last year, with 9.9 million passengers, was between Seoul and Jeju, a South Korean island that is increasingly popular with tourists. All but one of the top 15 busiest city-to-city routes were domestic; 11 were in Asia, and not one was in North America.
Economist.com
China's access to the Treasury Department
China can go straight to the Treasury Department when buying U.S. government debt. Since last summer, the U.S. has allowed the People’s Bank of China, which holds $1.17 trillion in U.S. debt, to bypass major Wall Street banks when purchasing U.S. Treasuries. No other central bank has similar access.
Reuters.com
Soda consumption drops
Last year, the average American drank just under two sodas a day, a drop in per capita consumption of about 16 percent since the peak, in 1998. Schools have been removing the drinks from vending machines for the past several years, and local governments are increasingly eliminating them from public offices as concerns about national obesity rates grow.
The New York Times
Home sales surge
U.S. home sales surged in April to 4.6 million, up 3.4 percent from March and 10 percent from April 2011. The median price for homes sold in April was also up 10 percent from a year earlier.
CNNMoney.com