The largest truffle found in Italy this year was sold for USD200,000 at a charity auction that was held simultaneously in Abu Dhabi, Macau, London and Rome on November 29.
Stanley Ho and his winning piece
(Image via
Xinhuanet)
Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho was the highest bidder for the 1.08-kg white truffle. The tycoon was also the highest bidder for last year’s largest truffle, a 1.5-kg piece that fetched a record $330,000.
Truffle is a precious ingredient in Italian and French gourmet for its pungent aroma and taste. White truffle is considered the best truffle; a kilogram of normal size white truffle could cost over $5000.
A total of $284k were raised from this auction event, with a few smaller truffle being sold as well. The money will be donated to selected charities in the cities that held the synchronised auction.
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Singapore tops the Asian ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009 conducted by the World Economic Forum (and partners) using both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey.
The annual report assesses the ability of countries to provide high levels of prosperity to their citizens, which in turn depends on how productively a country uses available resources. Thus, the index measures the set of institutions, policies, and factors that set the sustainable current and medium-term levels of economic prosperity.
The top 10 overall ranking are USA, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Singapore, Finland, Germany, Japan and Canada.
The top 10 Asian economic entities are Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China and UAE.
The Burj Dubai has become the tallest man-made structure in the world.
Burj Dubai as of early March 2008 (Image from
Wiki)
According to developer Emaar Properties PJSC, the Burj Dubai has surpassed the height of KVLY-TV mast, a 628.8 metres television transmitting mast in North Dakota, USA.
The Burj Dubai is expected to be over 700m in height upon completion. The developer is still keeping the final height as classified to avoid competition from other tallest-buildings-wannabe currently in construction.
