You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news. Oliver Roeder is out, so the politics intern, Erin Doherty, is back with the digits.
17 spies
Tensions have been escalating between the U.S. and Iran after the U.S. said it downed an Iranian drone last week. On Monday, a senior Iranian intelligence officer said Iran has captured 17 American spies. But President Trump called the claim “totally false” in a tweet, adding that the announcement was “more lies and propaganda (like their shot down drone).” [NPR]
$650 million
In 2017, a data breach at Equifax exposed the sensitive information of more than 147 million people. On Monday, a judge gave preliminary approval to an agreement that will see the credit bureau pay at least $650 million to settle state, federal and consumer claims over the breach. A portion of the settlement (at least $300 million) will go directly to the victims, and the company will pay $275 million in fines. [The New York Times]
13 rejected states
Would the results of the 2016 presidential election have been different had 13 once-proposed-but-rejected states actually become states? Probably not, according to FiveThirtyEight visual journalist Ella Koeze’s latest project. She tested 13 states — including my personal favorite, Westsylvania — and found that the “new maps did shift the Electoral College vote margin by as much as 38 votes,” but that’s still less than what Hillary Clinton needed to beat President Trump in 2016. [FiveThirtyEight]
Tens of thousands of protesters
Puerto Ricans took to the streets in protest on Monday to demand the resignation of the island’s governor, Ricardo Rosselló. Leaked messages revealed that the governor and top aides disparaged political opponents with vulgar and homophobic language and made flippant comments about the victims of Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island in 2017. The governor had previously announced that he would not seek reelection at the end of his term next year, but the protesters are insisting that he step down immediately. [BBC News]
$5 billion
How ’bout them Cowboys? Well, apparently they’re the most valuable sports team in the world, for the fourth year in a row. Per Forbes’s calculations, they’re worth a whopping $5 billion, a 4 percent increase from last year. The franchise generates twice as much in sponsorship and seating revenue than any other team. [Forbes]
90 percent
That’s about how much Chinese investment in the U.S. dropped during President Trump’s first two years in office. In 2016, investment from China reached $46.5 billion, an all-time high. But investment fell to $5.4 billion in 2018, the lowest it’s been in nine years, according to the research firm Rhodium Group. Some of the decline in investment could be evidence of Chinese retaliation against U.S. tariffs, according to the firm’s report. [The Hill]
From ABC News:
SigDigs: July 23, 2019
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