BIG Scoop

I have seen the PowerPoint slide too many times. Another perfect circle adorned with cheerful arrows. "Take-Make-Dispose becomes Take-Make-Use-Return,” the chief sustainability officer explains to nodding heads – mostly the same nodding heads on the same conference circuit. The room smells of expensive coffee and cheap promises. The circular economy has become the corporate world's favourite bedtime story, replete with a soothing narrative that lets us sleep peacefully while the world falls apart. Eventually, you outgrow the pacifiers...

A law meant to correct historical injustice in South Africa became a subject of misinformation earning Africa’s biggest economy a damning indictment from the United States’ highest office. With the two countries’ biggest trade agreement having expired last month, will South Africa be able to explain its way out of the predicament? Will the Trump administration reverse its position? On May 21, President Donald Trump held an hour-long press conference with South African President Cyril...

The United States government’s withdrawal of President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) funding earlier this year has left budget deficits in countries across the Sub-Sahara. The program has been crucial in the fight against human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) on the African continent. Since its inception in 2003, the U.S. government has invested over $100 billion in HIV/AIDS response globally, reportedly saving over 25 million lives, preventing new infections, and supporting countries with...

Sometimes when one dives into the data, there are assumptions about anticipated findings that are completely overturned by the raw numbers. On other occasions – as is the case on this project – the data confirms the original assumptions, but provides clarification and deeper understanding. It is unlikely to surprise anyone to learn that house prices in larger cities are typically more expensive than in smaller cities. It is widely known that your average homebuyer...

As much of the western world anxiously awaits the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 8, political rhetoric and irresponsible media coverage are amping up. While ill-informed (or ill-intentioned) media reporters and editors continue to use phrasing such as "baseless", "bogus" and "false claims" – and perhaps the favourite: "conspiracy theories" – to describe any insinuation that it is possible that a U.S. election could be tampered with significantly, sensible humans are simply hoping for a fair...