The United Nations on Friday voted for a shift away from the 16th-century Mercator global map towards one more accurately reflecting countries’ true size, a resolution sponsored by African states to counter perceptions that the continent is peripheral. Togo led the initiative to further the African Union campaign to limit use of the Mercator map, which distorts the relative size of land…

The Iran war is showing why the Philippines can’t afford to neglect its farmers
A war thousands of kilometers away is beginning to ripple through something as basic as the Filipino dining table. The conflict involving Iran has pushed oil prices higher, disrupted key shipping routes, and strained global supply chains—especially for fertilizer, a critical input for food production. Farmers are already feeling the pressure. Fertilizer prices have surged by as much as 30% to 40%,…