We get an update on an overnight collision between a commercial airliner and a Black Hawk helicopter above Washington before turning to the new alliance between military-ruled Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali. We discuss what this new bloc means and which international actors stand to benefit from it. Then: we investigate the global importance of the US’s National Institutes of Health. Plus: Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 jet breaks the sound barrier and we head to Copenhagen Fashion Week.