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A Mirage 2000 fighter jet of the French Air Force takes off.
Hard Numbers: France sends jets to Ukraine, Black women suffer higher maternal mortality, Ismailis get new Aga Khan, Football fans get ready to rumble
6 of 26: The French Air Force delivered the first batch of Mirage 2000 fighter jets promised to Ukraine. According to a budget report, France was to transfer six of its 26 Mirage 2000-5 aircraft, but the Elysee will neither confirm nor deny the number “for security reasons.” France also reportedly trained Ukrainian pilots and mechanics to operate the planes.
3.5: Black women in the US died at a rate nearly 3.5 times higher than white women during childbirth in 2023, according to new data released this week. While maternal mortality overall fell below pre-pandemic levels, racial gaps widened. The maternal death rate for Hispanic and Asian American women fell from 17 to 12 and 13 to 11 (deaths per 100,000 live births), respectively, and the rate for white women dropped from 19 to 14.5, but the rate of Black maternal death rose from 49.5 to just above 50.
50: Following the death of the Aga Khan on Tuesday, his eldest son, Prince Rahim Al-Hussaini, has been named the 50th hereditary spiritual leader of the world’s 15 million Shia Ismaili Muslims. Like his father, Prince Rahim is considered a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
116.8 million: Are you ready for some football? A whopping 116.8 million viewers are expected to tune in to Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9 to watch the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles. But the big numbers aren’t just on the screen: Locally, the event is expected to generate $76.3 million in spending in New Orleans: $66.1 million for accommodations, $8.6 million in restaurants, and $1.6 million on transportation. That’s a lot of beer and chicken wings.
Taylor Swift poses on the red carpet for the 2022 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) at the PSD Bank Dome in Duesseldorf, Germany, November 13, 2022.
Is an 'invisible string' tying Taylor Swift to a secret Pentagon psychological operation?
Some conservative commentators likeJesse Watters, Laura Loomer, Benny Johnson — and even former presidential candidateVivek Ramaswamy — are peddling theories that Taylor Swift is the mastermind behind Joe Biden’s reelection campaign and is helping rig the results of Super Bowl LVIII.
Long story short: Across the political spectrum, some would rather worship outlandish theories like a False God than believe their politicized narrative is wrong.
What’s true: Thousands of articles are written about Swift every day. A recent Newsweek poll found that almost a fifth of respondents were likely to vote for a candidate Swift endorsed – and she endorsed Joe Biden in 2020. Plus, Swift says Scooter Braun’s infamous 2019 deal to buy her back catalog of music was funded partially by the Soros family, which provided additional fodder for the alt-right crowd, even though she opposed the deal.
What’s not true: The Pentagon and NATO planned to use her to battle online disinformation, as Fox News’ Jesse Watters suggested. The video used as evidence (and subsequently seen by millions across social media) was from a conference organized by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence, and it merely used her as an example of how powerful celebrity status can influence the flow of information online. The presentation was given by an academic with no known ties to the US military.
What’s inconclusive: Whether her and Travis Kelce’s love story is genuine. All signs point to legitimate happiness between the two, but haters gonna hate, and speculators gonna speculate.
What to watch: Algorithmically promoted clickbait (nefariously edited videos as well as AI-generated content) taking on a life of its own after being regurgitated and distorted by millions online — and having legitimate real-world consequences. Trust in American institutions is at an all-time low, which ensures The Great War of 2024 won’t be between Biden and Trump but between what combatting narratives can prevail online in the battle for truth.