22 per cent of the world's population claims no religious affiliation- 4 per cent fewer than 15 years ago. [Financial Times, 15th June 2002]
By late 1967, the 5,000 workers at Egypt's El Nasr automotive plant were producing an average of two vehicles a week.[Six Days of War, Michael Oren, OUP]
Street lighting is seven times more effective than CCTV cameras in cutting crime. [The Times, 15th August 2002]
In the first six months of the second intifada, which began in September 2000, the ratio of Palestinian to Israeli deaths was 5.1:1. But since March 2001 and largely because of increased use of suicide bombs, 298 Palestinians and 177 Israelis have been killed; a ratio of 1.7:1. [Washington Post, 18th August 2002]
General Motors pays pensions to 451,000 Americans-more than twice as many as it employs.[Wall Street Journal, 17th July 2002]
Americans spend $40m on their lawns each year-roughly equal to the entire federal tax revenues of India. [New York Times magazine, 9th June 2002]
If current demographic trends continue, Denmark will be a majority Muslim country within 60 years. [Partisan Review, Vol 69, number three]
Vladimir Putin's salary is around $2,000-?1,300-a month. [Washington Post, 15th July 2002]
There are only five black musicians in Britain's 12 symphony orchestras [Evening Standard, 7th August 2002]
In 2001, 30 per cent of British households received more than half their income from the state. [Family Resources Survey, 2002]
Half of London's households are ex-directory. [Financial Times weekend edition, 17th-18th August 2002]
Nearly one in six Iraqis live in exile. [The Guardian, 16th August 2002]
