You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
6 months
President Trump is considering ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that protects 800,000 people who were children when they came to the United States as undocumented immigrants. One plan under consideration gives Congress six months to replace DACA before ending legal protections for the group. [The New York Times]
28 deals
The New York Daily News has been purchased by Tronc Inc., the company with the third-dumbest name in the industry. Tronc owns the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun. Last year 50 newspapers changed ownership across 28 deals. [Bloomberg]
50 percent
Hurricane Irma, a category 4 storm in the Atlantic, has already led to warnings in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Island and an emergency declaration in Florida. Meteorologists say it has a higher than 50 percent chance of impacting Florida. [Buzzfeed]
3,000
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party was allegedly hit with 3,000 cyberattacks Sunday, some of which could be traced back to Russian IP addresses. Gosh, it would seem now would be a great time for any Western democracy who has endured Russian meddling in its election to stand up and give a clear reckoning of what happened. [The New York Daily News]
59 million
Number of people in the U.S. and Canada who play fantasy sports, according to a trade group. I am one of them, and given that I have two different drafts tonight, you can expect tomorrow’s Significant Digits to include overzealous cheerleading of Kareem Hunt’s limited statline in an attempt to overcompensate for my taking him early in the second round like the chump I truly am! [Quartz]
$1.2 billion
With steel prices at a high, U.S. Steel is embarking on a $1.2 billion upgrade to a number of its factories with the goal of reducing energy costs and improving reliability. [Bloomberg]
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