You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
3 judges
Three judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to overturn a ruling by a federal district judge halting several parts of President Trump’s “immigration ban.” Trump’s executive order temporarily blocked all refugees from entering the U.S., as well as any immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries. The case is likely heading for the Supreme Court. [FiveThirtyEight]
17 winters
The Northeast got a bunch of snow on Thursday. New York City has now had at least one snowfall of eight inches or more in 17 of the past 25 winters. [New York Metro Weather]
63 points
The BAFTA awards are on Sunday night, and they’re one of the final good indicators we have left of how the Oscar race is going. Keep an eye on who wins best actor and best actress. Historically, whoever wins those awards at the BAFTAs has tended to win them at the Oscars. If Casey Affleck takes home the BAFTA, he’ll go into the Academy Awards as the favorite for best actor. Same with Natalie Portman or frontrunner Emma Stone in best actress. A BAFTA win is worth 63 points in our Oscars tracker. [FiveThirtyEight]
98 percent
Percentage of the time the average House Republican has voted with the president, considerably higher than other rates of partisan voting since the Eisenhower administration. [FiveThirtyEight]
House Bill 638
As drugs required for lethal injection become more difficult to acquire, lawmakers in Mississippi are seeking to bring back the firing squad as a legal method of execution. [The Associated Press]
$21.6 billion
Estimated cost of a U.S.-Mexico border wall according to a Department of Homeland Security report obtained by Reuters. A ladder of equal height presumably costs substantially less, meaning that “asymmetric costs” is the word of the day. The more you know! [Reuters]
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