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Vape juice has a toxin problem

It may be less harmful than smoking a cigarette, but new research shows that vapes are pretty unhealthy in their own right. 

Driving the news: A new study has found that flavoured vape liquids (which is pretty much all of them) can produce more than 100 toxic chemicals when inhaled, all of which can cause serious physical harm. 

Solar storm exposes risks for farmers

A powerful solar storm over the weekend created more than a brilliant light show for people across the country — it also caused technological headaches for farmers.

What happened: The unusually powerful geomagnetic storm that sparked colourful aurora borealis across North America and Europe also disrupted the GPS systems used in modern farming equipment.

Eric Morrow on how banks are using AI

 On this week’s episode of Free Lunch, we sat down with Eric Morrow, managing director of BMO's enterprise data science and AI group, to discuss the use cases of AI in banking.

What to do this weekend

Pro women’s basketball is coming to T.O.

After selling out an exhibition game last year, Toronto has nabbed its very own pro women’s basketball team.

What happened: Toronto is set to be awarded Canada’s first Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) team, sources told CBC Sports.

Panama’s accidental prez renews Canadian mining hopes

In an inspiring story for last-minute planners everywhere, José Raúl Mulino won the Panamanian presidential election despite being on the ballot for only two months.

Driving the news: Originally the running mate of Ricardo Martinelli — Panama’s president from 2009 to 2014 — Mulino stepped up after Martinelli was barred from running due to a money laundering conviction. Despite this, Mulino won the race with ~34% of the vote. 

Explain It Like I'm Five: U.S.-China technology restrictions

Both countries have been putting limits on the other’s technology, mostly through import and export restrictions that dictate what U.S. tech companies can send to or accept from China (and vice versa). But it’s also starting to play out on the software front, like a U.S. bill to potentially ban TikTok, or China forcing Apple to pull WhatsApp, Threads, and Signal from the App Store.

Shopify is on shaky ground with investors

Shopify’s president said they are “building a 100-year company,” but investors don’t seem willing to wait that long.

El Niño is (probably) coming to an end

On the docket for this summer: worship the sun, rediscover that you have a personality, and… the weather pattern change you learned about in Grade 8?

Driving the news: After bringing a warmer and drier winter to much of Canada, the El Niño weather event is bidding farewell.

The business of international students

Despite glaring labour shortages in sectors like healthcare, education, and skilled trades, Canada has long favoured business students when granting international student visas. 

Driving the news: A new CBC report details the severity of the mismatch, a problem that the country’s immigration agency has known about since 2018 and was flagged to the feds a year before a cap on student study permits was introduced. This has left large volumes of students coming to Canada to pursue programs with poor labour market outcomes. 
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