BIG Exclusives

Humanity is in the midst of profound change, transition and crisis. Not really news, you might say; this has been the case for Homo sapiens ever since they appeared on Earth hundreds of thousands of years ago. But the pace and magnitude of our transitions and crises have greatly increased with more than 8 billion people alive today, all of them striving to live comfortable, energy-intensive modern lifestyles. Rapidly advancing technologies supported by cheap and...

From the First Gulf War until present, we have witnessed what seems like perpetual war in the Middle East and West Asia. The rapid escalation of conflict across the greater Middle East, from Syria to India, since the October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel by Hamas-controlled Palestinian forces has set the stage for widespread and largely undeclared war. Nothing speaks to the ambiguity of this state of war better than the fact that United States...

Measles outbreaks in Canada, the United States, and elsewhere have been the subject of numerous recent reports. Although these outbreaks are limited in size, measles is a serious disease – especially for children – and outbreaks are taken seriously by health officials and afforded significant attention and surveillance. It is natural and reasonable to ask why these outbreaks have occurred. We explore the issue and accountability for measles outbreaks by considering both technical and...

Key takeaways South Africa has overtaken Nigeria as Africa’s largest importer of refined petroleum products, driven by idled local refining capacity and surging demand. Nigeria’s fuel imports have declined due to the startup of the Dangote Refinery and the removal of gasoline subsidies, but its refining capacity utilization can still improve. Egypt quietly leads in refinery efficiency, maintaining the highest utilization rate among Africa’s top three economies despite rising import dependence. Across Nigeria, South...

The 2025 India-Pakistan conflict, a brief but intense escalation between two nuclear-armed rivals, unfolded from April 22 to May 7. Triggered by a terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, the conflict saw diplomatic breakdowns, border skirmishes, and a significant Indian Air Force (IAF) incursion into Pakistan, code-named Operation Sindoor. This article outlines the chronology of events and highlights the largest aerial battle since WWII that occurred on May 7. We will discuss the fact that neither...

The idea that a small language model (SLM) can perform better than a large language model (LLM) for generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications is counterintuitive. Larger is better in many disciplines and products. More information technology capacity is better for search, data analytics, and transaction processing. However, while LLMs are more effective for large, general-purpose AI applications, SLMs offer many advantages for small, specialized AI applications. Language models are AI computational models that can generate natural...

India’s military skirmishes with neighbour Pakistan have dominated regional headlines of late, but today we take a look at the energy future of the world’s most populous country. The Indian government’s National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog collaborated with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay to update the India Energy Security Scenario (IESS) 2047 model. This amendment was accompanied by the release of the IESS 2047 Outlook, which explores future scenarios of plausible...

The spectre of large-scale conflict between three great nations – United States, China, and Russia – looms larger than at any time since the Cold War ended. The post-9/11 era, described initially as the War on Terror, has morphed into a complex web of escalating military tensions, regional proxy wars, and unprecedented arms races, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. The War on Terror, launched after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S., saw the U.S....

Nigeria, a major oil and gas producer that in 1971 became the 11th member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has committed to every climate change agreement since 1992. The oil and gas industry is important to the African country as a source of substantial revenue, domestic energy supply, sociocultural identity, and geopolitical leverage. However, as proponents of the energy transition look to minimize the share of oil and gas in the global...

Earlier this month, the United States and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) engaged in talks about a deal that would see the U.S. invest billions of dollars to explore minerals while helping to end years of conflict in the central African nation. The potential deal is seen by some as exploitative and retrogressive to the Congo, and it is important to know why. In a perfect world, the DRC would be on your...