Numbers: May 2, 2005

$81 billion: Amount Congress approved to fund military efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, in its fifth such emergency spending bill since Sept. 11

$300 billion: Estimated total, including last week's cash infusion, Congress has allocated for combat and reconstruction in these two countries

26: Number of states whose population of residents ages 65 and older is expected to double by 2030, according to Census Bureau projections

6: Number of states in which more than 1 in 4 residents will be 65 or older by 2030: Florida, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota and Wyoming

8: Number of school districts in three states--Michigan, Texas and Vermont--that sued the Department of Education over lack of federal funding for the No Child Left Behind Act

$76 million: Amount the department has said it may withhold from Utah if the state allows local districts to ignore parts of the federal law

11 to 2: The odds, early last Tuesday, on Joseph Ratzinger becoming Pope, as issued by an Irish bookie at paddypower.com

10,000: Estimated number of bets Paddy Power received in connection with the Pope's election; the site is already accepting bets on the new Pope's successor

Source: AP (2); U.S. Census Bureau (2); New York Times (2); AFP (2)