How the UN Security Council works, and why one “no” can stop it
Fifteen countries sit at the table, but five of them can block any decision on their own. Here is how the world’s most powerful diplomatic body really operates.
Articles by Maya Lindqvist
Why two narrow canals hold up a large share of world trade
The Suez and Panama canals save ships weeks at sea. When either one is disrupted, the effects reach supermarket shelves thousands of miles away.
What a time zone map reveals about the countries on it
Time zones look like a tidy science. In reality they are political decisions, and some of them are surprising.
The world speaks about 7,000 languages. Many are at risk
A small number of languages dominate, while thousands are spoken by small communities. Here is what linguists track, and why it matters.