Juncker’s perks

The European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker complained that he doesn’t have an official residence, unlike the ambassadors who frequently entertain him, and has to live in a hotel room. What are the perks of his job?
— He receives a salary of €306,655 (£271,000), untaxed in his home country and subject only to a low EU tax.
— He gets a residence allowance of €46,000 p.a., equivalent to 15 per cent of his salary.
— He is also eligible for a family allowance equivalent to 2 per cent of his salary.

The free world

Was Donald Trump’s state banquet the most appropriate to boycott? Countries whose leaders have been treated to a state visit in the past decade, ranked by their position on the Human Freedom Index:

HIGHEST


Netherlands
6

Ireland
8

USA
17
Singapore
25

Spain
25
South Korea
27

South Africa
63 LOWEST Mexico
75

Qatar
103

Turkey
107
India
110

UAE
117

Kuwait
124

China
135

Atheist beliefs

Percentage of people describing themselves as atheists who ‘strongly’ or ‘somewhat’ agree with the existence of:

Life after death
19%

Reincarnation
13%
Astrology
14%

Objects with mystical powers
11%
‘That significant events
are meant to be’
29%
Supernatural beings
20%
Universal spirits of life force
19%
Underlying forces of good and evil
30%
Karma
7%

Source: Understanding Unbelief Project, University of Kent

Football vs cricket

How do audiences for the Cricket World Cup and the Football World Cup compare?
— According to Fifa, last year’s Football World Cup final in Russia attracted an estimated 1bn viewers around the world. The matches were attended by a total of 3m fans.
— The most-watched match in the last Cricket World Cup in 2015 was not the final but a group game between India and Pakistan, which drew 313m TV viewers worldwide. That, however, was dwarfed by the 558m who watched the 2011 final between India and Sri Lanka.

As for game attendance, the 2015 Cricket World Cup attracted 1.02m ticket sales.