Numbers

By Melissa August, Val Castronovo, Matthew Cooper, Daren Fonda, Ellin Martens, Benjamin Nugent, Julie Rawe, Eric Roston and Josh Tyrangiel

16 Iranian reform newspapers shut by conservative-leaning courts last week

7 Remaining Iranian dailies, all linked to hard-line religious parties

$21.3 million Amount raised by G.O.P. at a fund raiser last week, breaking the party's previous single-evening record by more than $7 million

$12.6 million The Democratic Party's highest single-evening fund-raising take

3 Immediate fatalities caused by the 1986 explosion inside Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant

3 million Children who currently require medical treatment for radiation exposure as a result of that accident

20 Porsche Boxsters promised to executives at Mercury Computer if the firm's stock price doubled from $21.25 in 1999

$70 Non-split-adjusted price of Mercury on Dec. 31, 1999. Executives got their cars last week

Sources: New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, AP