BIG Exclusives

Ken Dryden, superstar goalie of the Montreal Canadiens and Team Canada in the 1970s, passed away last month at age 78. Far too young, but cancer does that with distressing regularity. Dryden was a childhood hero for me. Standing tall in his crease, staring down the big bad Boston Bruins and guiding the fleet and elegant Habs to victory, he won six Stanley Cups in his short eight-year NHL career. He also backstopped Team Canada...

Vaccines to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection were widely regarded as the best means for controlling COVID-19. Since their emergency authorization, billions of doses have been administered worldwide, accompanied by declarations of safety and efficacy. However, no studies on either medium- or long-term risks were conducted prior to the rollout, leaving significant gaps in our understanding of potential harms. Population-wide vaccination programs began swiftly, but concerns soon emerged about the lack of comprehensive, published clinical trial reports....

After exploring AI's limitations – from hallucinations and context blindness to black box opacity – it is time to examine where AI actually delivers results. Despite significant challenges, AI has achieved remarkable successes across industries, delivering genuine value and transforming operations. Understanding these successes reveals patterns that help organizations deploy AI more effectively. The key to AI's success stories is not overcoming fundamental constraints. Rather, these victories share common characteristics: well-defined problems, abundant high-quality data,...

Key takeaways Angola imports 70% of its fuel due to a mismatch between refinery output and domestic consumption. Fuel subsidies became fiscally unsustainable as rising demand, a weaker kwanza, and higher global oil prices pushed Angola’s fuel import bill above $3 billion annually. Declining oil reserves and production threaten fiscal stability – reserves have shrunk, and output has fallen nearly 40% from peak levels, undermining revenues. Subsidy removal is economically necessary but politically...

Since 2020, Haiti has not had a functioning parliament or elected officials, and leader after failed leader, no lasting solution has been found. The most populous country in the Caribbean (11.4 million), Haiti has been disintegrating to anarchy, a failed state where criminal gangs reign. The last holder of the prime minister office was ousted while in Kenya on a mission to secure assistance to fight raging gangs in Port-Au-Prince. With over 7,000 deaths reported...

Measles outbreaks in late 2024 and early 2025 have reignited media-driven panic. Infectious disease experts are back in the spotlight, warning of a public health crisis. Are we losing control of measles? Is vaccine coverage across the world irreversibly trending away from public health goals? How terrified should we be? The requests for interviews have likely spurred a lot of discussions on how to handle the measles “situation”. Public health spokespeople are thrilled to be...

Picture a vast wheat field under a clear sky, where a farmer in a tractor cabin releases from a large herbicide sprayer implement a fine mist of Roundup. It is harvesting time, and glyphosate – the active ingredient in Bayer's (formerly Monsanto’s) blockbuster herbicide –doesn't just kill weeds; it forces the crop to ripen uniformly and according to a schedule that works best for the farmer, reducing losses and increasing yield. This scene, repeated across...

Key takeaways Angola spends more on fuel subsidies than on health or education, with $3.8 billion in 2022 alone. The government has compressed IMF’s six-year plan into just two years, heightening social and political risks. Despite being Africa’s second-largest oil producer, Angola imports 70% of its fuel consumption due to weak refining capacity. Fuel subsidy removal is tied to Angola’s refining expansion plans – new refineries must operate profitably without state support. Angola’s shrinking...

The world is starting to recognize the tremendous impact that drones and robots are having on the modern battlefield. Whether they fly, walk, wheel, or float, they are quickly becoming a necessity in warfare of today and tomorrow. Science-fiction films have shown us what is possible to imagine, and once imagined, humans have the extraordinary ability to create and make it real. It is no different in the field of war. Numbers matter when it comes...

When you doomscroll on your phone, use the washing machine, fly in an airplane, activate the anti-lock brakes in your car, switch on the air-conditioner or watch television – you are using semiconductors. So, what the heck is a semiconductor? It is the material used as building blocks to create the chips that act as the “brains” inside almost all of our modern devices and electronics across consumer, military, and industrial sectors. These elements can...