The Inquiry

If you spend time scrolling through social media, you may notice that many influencers sound remarkably similar. Whether promoting skincare, vitamins or home renovation products, their speech often shares the same urgency, emphasis and enthusiastic claims. This distinctive style, known as ‘influencer speak’ or the ‘TikTok accent’, is designed to connect with audiences and keep viewers engaged. But...

The concept of the national museum which developed during the 18th and 19th Centuries coincided with the age of exploration, emerging science and empire building. The grand stone structures of these museums reflected a sense of national pride. They were places where members of the public could see specimens and artefacts representing other cultures from around the world. But since those early days...

In January 2027, a new Secretary-General will take the helm of the United Nations, an organisation founded on the principle of international cooperation. The role will involve navigating tensions between its most powerful members, while ensuring the UN can respond to global crises. The organisation has struggled to influence negotiations in major conflicts, including in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan. Me...

For decades Russia and Japan have been locked in a dispute over the Kuril Islands, which sit between Hokkaido in Northern Japan and Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. At the end of World War Two, the island chain was annexed by the Soviet Union, who deported around 17,000 Japanese residents. Japan claims four of the southernmost islands and refers to them as the Northern Territories. Attempts to resolv...

The balance of power in the world is changing. The United States and China continue to be the dominant forces in international affairs, but other countries are looking for new ways to protect their interests and shape events on the global stage. Countries often described as middle powers are seeking new ways to work together and exert influence. Canada is one example. Prime Minister Mark Carney ha...

Nepal is still reeling from the devastation caused by recent flash floods. More than a thousand people are reported to have lost their lives and thousands more are still missing. The physical impact is extensive with many hydropower stations, providing the country’s main source of energy, either damaged or destroyed. The floods have also severely impacted Nepal’s other major industries including t...

Italy has long been associated with political instability, with governments on average lasting just over a year. Current Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has broken that pattern. Her government has become the longest continuously serving administration in post-war Italian history, surpassing the previous record for a single uninterrupted period in office. Meloni has presented the stability of her own...

Conflict in the Middle East continues to disrupt global shipping routes including the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Malacca. China is now turning to Russia for support in developing an alternative trade path: the Northern Sea Route. On 15 August, China sent its first ship on its newly commercialised, regular shipping route, navigating north around Russia’s coastline. The maritime trade path c...

Just under 20 years ago Kenya pioneered the use of mobile money. Since then, other countries in Africa have carved out a share of the digital market for themselves, from gaming in Morocco to artificial intelligence in Tunisia. But the picture is not the same across the whole continent. A lot of governments face too many socio-economic challenges and limited resources to spend money on digital infr...

River systems around the world are under stress from various factors ranging from pollution, to agriculture, to extractive industries. In some parts of the world there are regulations to help protect rivers, but in a lot of cases these are just preventative measures for a system already seriously degraded. Another way to protect rivers which has been receiving attention is to give them legal right...

In July 2026, tens of thousands of students took to the streets in India’s capital, demanding reforms to education. The protests followed the leak of medical entrance exam papers but quickly grew to reflect wider concerns about job opportunities for graduates. The movement became known as the Cockroach Janta Party. What began as an online campaign developed into a youth-led protest movement, attra...

In September, Morocco’s citizens will go to the polls for the country’s general election. Morocco is a constitutional monarchy, with a multi-party-political system. A new head of government will be appointed by King Mohammed VI, from the winning party, to form a ruling coalition. But whilst these elections may be seen as an opportunity for Moroccans to shape the next phase of their country’s polit...

The House of Representatives has voted to make daylight saving time permanent in the United States. If the measure is approved by the Senate and becomes law, most Americans would no longer spring forward in March or fall back in November. For more than a century, changing the clocks has been used to make better use of daylight, but the practice has long divided opinion. Supporters of the bill argu...

New Zealand’s government is making big changes to its education system. The aim is to reverse declining student achievement and give more opportunities to disadvantaged children. The subjects of reading, writing, maths and science form the core of the new curriculum. But there are concerns particularly among the Indigenous community that the Māori language, culture and identity have not been consi...

Extreme heatwaves are becoming more frequent across the globe, not only in countries used to cooler climates, but also in those already familiar with significantly hotter temperatures. Intense heat can have an impact on the human body, from heat stroke to dehydration to skin damage. Economies can suffer as drought conditions impact farming communities. Built up urban areas can exacerbate the tempe...

Gold has been prized throughout history for its value and its beauty, which has also made it attractive to those prepared to exploit this precious metal for their own ends. The European Union recently banned the purchase, import and transfer of gold from Sudan, one of Africa’s largest gold producers, saying it had become a key source of financing for the country’s civil war. And in other parts of...

Gene therapy has changed what is possible for people living with sickle cell disease. New treatments have shown that the condition can be successfully treated. But the therapy is costly and available to only a small number of patients. Millions of people around the world still rely on early diagnosis and preventative medicines, with access to basic care remaining a challenge in many places, includ...

Last year Kenya’s President William Ruto established a task force to investigate the escalating cases of gender-based violence including femicide. The task force travelled around the country gathering information and at the beginning of this year published its recommendations, which are now being debated in parliament. One of those recommendations is the legal recognition of femicide as a standalo...

Flesh-eating parasitic flies have been found in the US state of Texas for the first time in decades. Known as the New World Screwworm, officials have now put plans in place to try and contain its spread. The fly feeds off warm-blooded animals, like cattle, dogs and horses, but if detected early enough, with treatment, the animals can make a full recovery. It can also infest humans, but human death...

This year, technology has more influence in officiating sports than ever before. At the men's World Cup, the role of virtual assistant referee technology (VAR) has been extended to include two more on-pitch scenarios while in tennis, umpires use electric line calling systems (ELC) to make final decisions. Both bits of kit aim to improve the accuracy. It’s become easier to consider match-defining m...

A new directive strives to narrow the 11% hourly wage gap between men and women in the EU. Around the world, the gender pay gap has been shrinking as women gain access to higher education and better employment opportunities. Though varied hours, industries and care responsibilities make this inequality a difficult problem to tackle with one universal policy. Member states have just passed their de...

In May 2026, the World Health Organization declared an Ebola outbreak in western Africa a public health emergency of international concern. Within days, hundreds of cases had been recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo, raising fears that the virus could spread further across the region. Ebola has been causing outbreaks for nearly 50 years, but despite advances in vaccines and treatments, th...

In 2001, Portugal decriminalised the possession and use of all illicit drugs. It was a move designed to mitigate the country’s public health crisis, which at the time meant Portugal had one of the worst rates of overdose deaths in Europe, as well as the highest rate of HIV among drug users. Whilst drugs remained illegal, users did not receive a criminal record but were instead referred to rehabili...

At the beginning of this year Bulgaria, considered as one of the poorest countries in the European Union, became the latest to officially join the eurozone. Bulgaria’s legal tender since 1881 had been the lev, but since the mid-1990s it had been pegged to other European currencies, first to the German deutschmark and now to the euro. But it remains to be seen if the country’s economic policy can t...

The Himalayan glaciers are melting more rapidly as global temperatures rise, raising concerns about the future of ecosystems and communities across the Himalayan mountain range. Glaciers store more than two thirds of the world’s freshwater and help regulate global temperatures by reflecting the sun’s rays. Across South Asia, melting ice is contributing to the formation of unstable glacial lakes an...