Hobson's choice

Estimated number of works of art in French museums which were stolen from their Jewish owners during the Second World War: 2,000

Estimated number of people still alive out of the 9 million used as forced labour by German firms during the Second World War: 200,000

Amount that Volkswagen and Siemens have each offered to a compensation fund for the victims of forced labour: DM20m

Number of "bombing raids and Auschwitzes", according to Gennady Zyuganov, head of the Russian Communist Party, which could possibly compare to the destruction caused by President Boris Yeltsin, the free-market reformers and their "liberal pogrom": 0

Difference between the number of refugees in the whole of Europe and the number of refugees in one camp in Tanzania: 0

Estimated balance of the domestic bank accounts of former Indonesian President, General Suharto: $2.8m

Number of journalists sent to Chile by the CIA after Salvador Allende's election in 1970, according to the recently opened National Security Archives at George Washington University: 23

Amount by which Britain's total jail population - now 65,435 - has risen in the last five years: 20,400

Number of residents of Hunstville County in East Texas - where 150 people have been put to death since 1982 - who work in Huntsville's eight correctional facilities: 6,700

Number of Huntsville's residents incarcerated in its eight correctional facilities: 7,000

Number of juveniles on Death Row in the US: 69

Percentage of Dutch teenagers who use contraception the first time they have sex: 50

Percentage of British teenagers who use contraception the first time they have sex: 20

Amount Nescafe spent on advertising in Britain last year: pounds 66.1m

Percentage of British consumers preferring hot beverage vending machines to display a brand name, "for reassurance and quality": 88

Compiled by Will Hobson

SOURCES: Le Monde , Irish Times, Asian Age, Guardian, Vibe, Amnesty International, Catering Update