Hard Numbers

Ukrainian Olympian disqualified for political helmet, Falling cocoa prices hit Ghana, US troops to deploy to Nigeria, and Lufthansa goes on strike

PA via Reuters Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych, with his helmet, which features pictures of people killed in the war with Russia. Heraskevych was ruled out of the Men's Skeleton event by the International Olympic Committee just over an hour before competition began, pictured at the Cortina Sliding Centre, on day six of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Italy. Picture date: Thursday February 12, 2026.
PA via Reuters Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych, with his helmet, which features pictures of people killed in the war with Russia. Heraskevych was ruled out of the Men's Skeleton event by the International Olympic Committee just over an hour before competition began, pictured at the Cortina Sliding Centre, on day six of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Italy. Picture date: Thursday February 12, 2026.

20: The number of fallen Ukrainian athletes and coaches depicted on a Ukrainian skeleton racer’s helmet at the Winter Olympics, which prompted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to disqualify him on Thursday. The IOC said the helmet violated Olympic rules, which prohibit political messaging during games. Critics of the disqualification said it highlighted the IOC’s shifting stance on Moscow.

150,000: The tons of spare cocoa stock left on farmers in Ghana’s hands after the government stopped buying the chocolate-making ingredient amid falling international prices over the last few weeks. Cocoa is among the country's top three export earners, and the industry employs 800,000 farmers.

200: The number of troops the US will deploy to Nigeria, an American military official said on Tuesday. They will help train the Nigerian military to fight Islamist militants, but won’t be involved in combat. For more on the US response to the widespread security crisis in the West African country, read here.

800: The approximate number of Lufthansa flights that were canceled on Thursday after its pilots and flight attendants went on strike, disrupting travel plans for roughly 100,000 passengers. The walkout at Germany’s largest airline comes the same week as the Munich Security Conference and the Berlinale Film Festival.

GZERO Media, thankfully, made it to Munich and will host our premiere Global Stage livestream at the conference on Saturday, February 14, at 12pm ET / 6pm CET. Make sure to tune in!

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