You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the telling numbers tucked inside the news.
60 percent
Probability Serena Williams wins the U.S. Open, according FiveThirtyEight’s U.S. Open predictions, sponsored by Chase. Williams has an 80 percent chance of defeating Simona Halep in the quarterfinals today. Still, don’t count competitors like Angelique Kerber out: The German has a 74 percent chance of winning her semifinal match and a 22 percent of winning the final. On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic is the heavy favorite, with a 90 percent chance of advancing to the final over Gael Monfils and a 70 percent chance of winning it all. [FiveThirtyEight]
80 percent
More than 80 percent of India is reached by a new 4G mobile network called Jio — bankrolled by India’s richest man — which will be free to use until the end of the year. The price will jump to at least $2.25 per month next year, but the rock bottom price is a play to undercut competitors for the market. [CNN Money]
520,000 metric tons
Do you like pistachios? Then it’s time to PANIC! World pistachio production will drop 86,000 metric tons in 2016 compared to last year, to 520,000 metric tons, according to the USDA. This is largely due to droughts in California, cutting U.S. production by half. [USDA, Gizmodo]
$20 million
21st Century Fox, which owns Fox News, paid $20 million to settle Gretchen Carlson’s sexual harassment lawsuit against the network’s former chairman, Roger Ailes. Moments after the announcement of that settlement, Greta Van Susteren, another Fox News host, left the company. [The New York Times]
$153 million
ITT Technical Institute, a for-profit college, shut down more than 130 campuses and laid off the “overwhelming majority” of its employees. The Department of Education had ruled that ITT would need to produce $153 million in additional collateral — on top of the $78 million it had on hand — to cover losses if it failed (the government feared being left on the hook). ITT is facing a suite of lawsuits, from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Massachusetts attorney general, regarding allegations it misled students. [Bloomberg]
$90 million
President Obama pledged $90 million to help Laos clear unexploded bombs the U.S. dropped on the country during the Vietnam War. [The Washington Post]
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