Numbers

1/3 Portion of the 150 species of fish once found in China's Yellow River now believed to be extinct from the effects of industrial pollution and overfishing

155 million Number of people who depend on the Yellow River as their major source of water

400,000 Number of employees that the government of Libya plans to lay off to trim the budget and gin up private enterprise

3 Years each worker will continue to get paid, or he can take up to $40,800 in loans to start a business

$3 billion Cost of the Libyan government payroll in 2006

345,000 Number of people worldwide who died of measles in 2005, down 60% from 1999, beating a goal set by the United Nations

16-c- Cost of a measles vaccine, which is often unaffordable in the Third World without underwriting from charities and foreign governments

$2.14 Price of a bottle of Kwispelbier, a beef-flavored beer created for dogs by a Dutch pet-shop owner who wanted to have drinks with her Weimaraners after a hunt

4 Number of Heinekens she could buy for the same price

Sources: Xinhua (2); Reuters (3); World Health Organization; New York Times; AP (2)