Welcome to Significant Digits, a daily digest of the telling numbers tucked inside the news.
3 percent
Percentage of California’s 17.2 million registered voters who are members of the super conservative American Independent Party. But, see, that “independent” part seems to be confusing people. A poll of 500 AIP members found 73 percent identified as having no party affiliation. [The Los Angeles Times]
12 refugees
Pope Francis brought 12 Syrian refugees to Vatican City, that country he runs, following a visit to Lesbos, Greece, “a waypoint for hundreds of thousands of refugees escaping violence across the Middle East.” The three Muslim families will now be in the care of the Vatican. [National Catholic Reporter]
70 years
President Raul Castro, who is 84, thinks Cuba’s government is too old and future party officials should retire at age 70 to make room for younger people. The new age limits — following a referendum approving the reforms — would be introduced by 2021, and, in addition to the forcing-out-to-pasture part, 60 would become the top age allowed to get on the party’s central committee. [Reuters]
828+ meters
Minimum height of a new tower planned for Dubai by Emaar Properties PJSC. The new skyscraper would be “a notch taller” than the current tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, which stands at 828 meters. Emaar Properties PJSC wants to have this undertaking finished by 2020. [Bloomberg]
Donor 9623
Donor 9623, whose sperm helped create at least 36 children, is not a model donor with an IQ of 160 on a Ph.D. track, as Xytex, a sperm bank based in Georgia, described him. He lied on his application and is, in fact, a college dropout “who has been diagnosed with bipolar and narcissistic personality disorders and schizophrenia and has spent time in prison for burglary.” [KTLA]
43,066th schedule
The NFL released its schedule Friday, the 43,066th one generated by the league’s schedule-making computers after 13 weeks of churning. The team behind the schedule tries to optimize for all sorts of various requests and demands, including stadium sharing, desired home openers, teams that want to have a bye after a London game and concerts. [MMBQ]
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