Numbers

SPYING

2,370 Number of requests approved in 2007 by the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to search or eavesdrop on suspected terrorists--a record. Annual warrant requests have more than doubled since 9/11

3 Number of requests denied by the FISC during the same year

PRIVACY

40 million Number of Italians whose 2005 tax returns were posted online by the outgoing government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi. Italy's treasury department eventually shut down the site following privacy complaints

$29 million Amount paid in taxes by Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who filed one of the largest tax returns that year

WILDLIFE

92% Estimated drop in king-salmon yields from California's Sacramento River from 2002 to '08

160 Years since the U.S. government last banned West Coast salmon-fishing. This year's ban came after authorities declared the region's king-salmon fisheries a federal failure

AVIATION

8 Minutes added to a Northwest Airlines transatlantic flight by flying 10 m.p.h. (16 km/h) slower, saving 162 gal. (613 L) of fuel during the flight

$42 million Projected savings in fuel costs that Southwest Airlines expects this year by reducing speeds, adding 1 to 3 min. to its flights

Sources: ABC News (2); New York Times (2); AP; San Francisco Chronicle; AP (2)

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HANS MONDROW, East Germany's last communist prime minister, on the East German soldiers who ignored orders to shoot to kill those crossing into West Germany and made the decision to open the border on Nov. 9, 1989
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Quotes of the Day »

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HANS MONDROW, East Germany's last communist prime minister, on the East German soldiers who ignored orders to shoot to kill those crossing into West Germany and made the decision to open the border on Nov. 9, 1989

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