Cuba’s rare firefight with a Florida-registered speedboat that left four exiles dead, six wounded and a Cuban coast-guard commander injured off Villa Clara on 25 February marks the sharpest kinetic clash in U.S.–Cuba waters since the 1996 “Brothers to the Rescue” shoot-down. (apnews.com)

Beyond the gunfire lies a numbers game: Washington’s sanctions have cut Venezuelan oil flows by 80 % since 2024, driving black-outs of up to 20 hours a day in Cuba and triggering a 43 % surge in maritime exits last year. A single interception therefore resonates far beyond Havana, tightening the feedback loop between economic asphyxiation and migratory pressure that now rattles Florida politics and Caribbean security alike.

The incident exposes the contradiction of a U.S. strategy that seeks stability at home while courting instability abroad; coercion without dialogue leaves both coasts hostage to chance encounters at sea. As political theorist Ivan Krastev warns, “In interdependent worlds, walls create as many crises as they prevent.” The Gist AI Editor

AI Accelerates Drug Discovery

In a significant leap for pharmaceutical development, researchers are increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to dramatically shorten the timeline for creating new medicines. AI-driven platforms can now predict the structure of complex proteins from genetic data and design novel molecules, slashing development timelines from an average of five years to as little as 12 to 18 months (Coherent Solutions). This AI-powered approach is projected to reduce drug discovery costs by up to 40%. One notable success involves an AI-designed cancer drug that entered clinical trials within a year of its conception, a process that traditionally takes much longer (Coherent Solutions). The global market for AI in drug discovery is forecast to exceed $8.5 billion by 2030, reflecting the technology’s growing impact on the biotech industry (GlobeNewswire).

Advanced Materials for Space Exploration

The next generation of spacecraft and orbital habitats will rely on a new class of resilient and lightweight materials. Carbon fiber reinforced composites, which are engineered at the nanoscale for enhanced toughness and thermal stability, are at the forefront of this innovation. These materials are designed to withstand the extreme temperature fluctuations of space, from -150°C to +120°C, as well as radiation and impacts from space debris. Other promising materials include graphene, which is exceptionally strong, lightweight, and conductive, and could be used for radiation shielding or in-space solar panels. Self-healing and bio-inspired materials are also under development, aiming to reduce maintenance needs on long-duration missions.

Physics-Informed AI Enhances Modeling

Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa have developed a new algorithm that integrates the laws of physics directly into machine learning models. Announced on February 19, 2026, this “physics-informed” approach ensures that AI-generated predictions in fields like fluid dynamics and climate modeling remain physically plausible, even with limited data. Unlike conventional “black box” AI, which can produce nonsensical results, this new method constrains the AI’s output to align with fundamental scientific principles. This breakthrough is expected to improve the accuracy and reliability of models used in engineering, meteorology, and renewable energy planning (University of Hawaiʻi News).

Stay tuned for the next Gist—your edge in a shifting world.

Cuba’s Border Guard Kills Four on U.S. Speedboat in Alleged Infiltration Attempt
— Wall Street Journal

Washington Post Losses Topped $100 Million in 2025
— Wall Street Journal

Paramount Streaming Revenue Rises, but TV Segment Faces Headwinds
— Wall Street Journal

Satellite Images Expose Trump’s Claim of ‘Easy’ Victory in Iran
— Bloomberg

AMD to Buy $150 Million of Nutanix Stock in New Partnership
— Bloomberg

Australian Capex Powered by Renewables, Backing RBA Stance
— Bloomberg

Mediterranean’s ‘Bigger Bullets’

The recent wave of devastating storms across the Western Mediterranean offers a stark lesson in atmospheric physics. While scientists hesitate to directly attribute any single event like the flooding in Grazalema, Spain, to climate change, the evidence suggests a clear intensification effect (The Guardian). My read is that the debate over direct causation misses the larger point; research indicates that climate breakdown is effectively loading the “chamber with bigger bullets,” amplifying the destructive power of these weather systems. We are observing the practical impact of increased energy in the climate, a trend that demands a more robust and adaptive infrastructure strategy rather than a purely preventative one, which may already be a foregone conclusion.

Germany’s Heating Pivot

Berlin has executed a notable policy reversal on domestic heating, favouring technological flexibility over a direct mandate. The new heating law scraps a proposed de facto ban on new oil and gas systems in favour of a “green gas quota” (ZDF). This model requires that, from 2029, new installations must use at least 10% of greener fuels like biomethane or synthetic alternatives. This pragmatic pivot away from a “heat pump-or-bust” approach is significant. It acknowledges the immense practical and financial challenges of a rapid, top-down energy transition, instead creating a market-oriented path for lower-carbon fuels to compete and innovate—a far more libertarian-friendly solution to decarbonisation.

Catch the next Gist for the continent’s moving pieces.

Cuba, ‘i 10 cubani su imbarcazione Usa avevano fini terroristici’
— Ansa

Plant-based steaks: A strategic threat to the union?
— Politico Europe

‘A devastating force’: how recent Mediterranean storms turned to tragedies
— The Guardian

Der Ukraine-Krieg im Zeitraffer
— ZDF

Die Rückspiele der Playoff-Runde
— ZDF

Grüngasquote statt Wärmepumpen-Zwang
— ZDF