Numbers

$40 billion Amount of debt owed by 18 of the world's poorest nations that the Group of Eight industrialized nations has agreed to write off

$1.5 billion Total the debtor countries will save each year in repayments to the World Bank, IMF and other lenders

25,000 Number of jobs General Motors announced it plans to cut by 2008, to reverse its plunging profitability in the face of growing competition from overseas automakers

4.2% Percentage increase in the share price of General Motors' stock on the day following the announcement

76 John Kerry's cumulative grade average during his four years at Yale

77 George W. Bush's cumulative grade average during his first three years at Yale; he earned a similar nonnumeric average his senior year

$996,000 Winning bid of Peter Siegel, a memorabilia collector, for the contract that sent Babe Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees in 1919

$100,000 Price the Yankees paid the Red Sox to acquire Ruth

Sources: Associated Press (2); New York Times (2); Associated Press (2); Reuters (2)