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What an indictment. 1.2 billion people in the world have less than $1.25 a day to live on

It says something about our world, and its priorities, when one sees the huge sums spent in wars and the money spent on armaments yet 1.2 billion people on our small planet have less than $1.25 a day to live on. And things are getting worse as BBC News reports on a World Bank report which says that food prices have risen 36% in the last year.

"The World Bank has warned that rising food prices, driven partly by rising fuel costs, are pushing millions of people into extreme poverty.

World food prices are 36% above levels of a year ago, driven by problems in the Middle East and North Africa, and remain volatile, the bank said.

That has pushed 44 million people into poverty since last June.

A further 10% rise would push 10m more below the extreme poverty line of $1.25 (76p) a day, the bank said.

And it warned that a 30% cost hike in the price of staples could lead to 34 million more poor.

The World Bank estimates there are about 1.2 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day."

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