Numbers

$3.7 billion Bill submitted to Louisiana last week to cover roughly 9% of what FEMA spent there in posthurricane aid

$8 billion Typical annual expenditures by the state, which is also facing loss of tax revenues in Katrina's wake

15 Number of days' notice the U.S. Labor Department agreed to give Wal-Mart stores before inspecting for child-labor violations, a move criticized by Labor's inspector general

$135,540 Amount the settlement--sparked by 85 violations--made Wal-Mart pay, without an admission of wrongdoing

3.7% Increase in the share price of Merck the day a jury found its Vioxx drug had not caused a postal worker's heart attack, in the second Vioxx case to reach trial; Merck lost the first in August

2,900 Estimated number of Vioxx cases still pending, each of which the drugmaker has vowed to fight individually

5 Number of years that people have inhabited the International Space Station

29 Number of people who have lived there for as long as six months; almost 100 others have visited

Sources: USA Today (2); Washington Post (2); NASA (2)