In Zambia, say, a poor person is defined as someone who cannot afford to buy at least two to three plates of nshima (a kind of porridge), a sweet potato, a few spoonfuls of oil, a handful of groundnuts and a couple of teaspoons of sugar each day, plus a banana and a chicken twice a week.

ECONOMIST: Has ��a dollar a day�� had its day?

Twenty percent of the world's earthquakes take place in Japan, which sits on the boundaries of at least three tectonic plates.

BBC: Japan profile

Just because you have only six plates and three glasses is no reason why you can't invite 12 people to dinner.

NPR: Making It Up as I Go Along

One scene saw May forced to reverse on a tight road after being hemmed in by three cars with learner plates.

BBC: Top Gear admits staging a traffic jam scene

Most of us have more on our plates than any two or three people would want to handle.

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The three-part menu starts with cicchetti (tapas-like plates served in Venetian bars) and moves on to primi and secondi.

NEWYORKER: Caff�� Storico

Former Kodak researcher Albert Filo said the uranium was alloyed with aluminum in plates sealed in sleeves that were not moved for three decades.

CNN: SHARE THIS

Debbie, who is extremely familiar with the art of wine-making, also prepares snack offerings such as ham and cheese croissants, fine cheese plates, fresh baguettes and gourmet chocolates to pair with wines that age two or three years in French oak barrels.

CNN: Finding fine wines in Virginia

With over 600 pages of good-quality paper, his is a massive three-decked battleship of a book, in general handsomely produced, but let down by some poorly designed colour plates, including a number of reversed images.

ECONOMIST: British naval history