On 24 October, Marine Cpl David O'Connor, of 40 Commando, and Army medic Cpl Channing Day, of 3 Medical Regiment, were shot in Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province in a suspected insider attack by an off-duty Afghan policeman.

BBC: UK soldier killed in Afghanistan 'insider attack'

The 100th British soldier to die this year was shot in the Nad-e Ali area in the afternoon.

BBC: UK soldier becomes 100th to die in Afghanistan in 2009

Following the introduction of America's anti-spam CAN-SPAM Act in January 2004, junk e-mailing fell briefly but then shot up again (see chart).

ECONOMIST: Opening Pandora’s inbox | The