in fact...

- 90% of the world's polio vaccinations are paid for by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

b

- 90% of China's and Russia's billionaires are children of communist party officials.

b

- The first year in which there was no recorded lynching of a black American was 1952. (Boston Globe, 2nd December 2007)

b

- Only 13 per cent of Japanese homes have ever been resold, compared to 89 per cent in Britain and 78 per cent in the US. (The Economist, 3rd January 2008)

b

- One third of all houses in Ireland were built in the last decade.

b

- 2006 is the first year in which more French children were born out of wedlock than to married parents. (Reuters, 15th January 2007)

b

- The average British commute is one hour and five minutes. In 2003 it was 35 minutes. (The Guardian, 21st January 2008)