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Hard Numbers: Swift rocks the vote, ICC targets Russian commanders, Subianto eyes growth, Big Apple’s cash splash

March 05, 2024
Willis Sparks
​American singer songwriter Taylor Swift performing during the first night of the The Eras Tour in Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Friday, February 16, 2024.
American singer songwriter Taylor Swift performing during the first night of the The Eras Tour in Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Friday, February 16, 2024.
(AAP Image/Joel Carrett)
282 million: Ahead of the Super Tuesday primaries, Taylor Swift called on her 282 million Instagram followers to “make a plan to vote today.” No endorsements yet for specific candidates, but Republicans are bracing for the risk that Swift will use that giant megaphone to boost Joe Biden’s reelection campaign.

2: The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for two senior Russian commanders, Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov, over alleged crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

8: Indonesia’s newly elected president, Prabowo Subianto, said Tuesday that within five years, his country can grow at 8% per year … without a government spending spree that unbalances the government’s books. That’s what Willis Sparks’ grandfather used to call a “good trick if you can do it.”

70: High interest rates continue to take a toll as nearly 70% of homes in New York City purchased in the final three months of 2023 were bought without a mortgage. (Some folks have apparently saved up their cash). It’s a record high and a jump from 55% in the same period of 2022.

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