You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
2 resignations
Boris Johnson, Britain’s foreign secretary, resigned on Monday, joining David Davis, the Brexit secretary, who’d resigned hours earlier. The moves came amid a national reckoning on how to disengage from the European Union. [NPR]
$80 in takeout sushi
Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to President Trump, bought $80 in takeout sushi. A bartender followed him outside, shouted his name and flipped him two birds. An “outraged” Miller reportedly threw the sushi away — to own the libs, apparently. Miller is the latest in a string of prominent Washingtonians who have had a hard time in and outside of restaurants. See also: Kirstjen Nielsen, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Mitch McConnell. [The Washington Post]
90 percent of smokers
Electronic cigarettes and other vaping devices are often marketed as smoking cessation aids, but a new study suggests that they haven’t helped much. More than 90 percent of people who were vaping and smoking cigarettes at the start of the study were still smoking cigarettes a year later. “These products have not been fulfilling the public health promise of helping people in the U.S. quit smoking,” the study’s lead author said. [The Wall Street Journal]
2 million people
In western Japan, at least 100 people are believed to be dead and dozens more are missing after record levels of rainfall led to flooding and landslides. In only a few days, parts of the country experienced three times the normal rainfall totals for the entire month of July. Two million people were ordered to evacuate. [BBC]
1,700 meters
The nearly miraculous rescue of the 12 boys trapped in a cave in Thailand involves, in part, delivering air and communications across 1,700 meters (just over a mile) between a cavern called Chamber Three and the group’s location deeper in the cave. As of Monday afternoon, eight boys had been taken safely out of the cave. [The New York Times]
70 million accounts
Twitter suspended more than 70 million accounts in May and June and continued the suspensions apace into July, in an escalation of its fight against fake and suspicious accounts. The company’s stock fell as much as 9 percent following the news. Given the amount of time I waste on the site, it might be for the best if the company just went ahead and suspended mine, too, tbh. [The Washington Post, CNN]
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