How Samsung Became the World’s Number-One Smartphone Maker

We all know the story of Steve Jobs and Apple, Akio Morita and Sony. But Samsung and Lee Kun Hee? People may bring up the South Korean government’s support of local champions and access to easy capital, but within the company it all goes back to Chairman Lee and the Frankfurt Room.

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(Photo: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images)

Full Streams, Parched Nations

Over one-fifth of the world’s population goes thirsty due to economic water scarcity, in which pollution, inadequate infrastructure, and poverty conspire to keep them dry—even as their basins overflow. Explore which nations are hit hardest by clicking the tabs below.

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(Graphic by 731)

Europe’s Cyprus Crisis Has a Familiar Look

The bailout mess roiling the capital of Nicosia and the financial hub of Limassol has plenty of only-in-Cyprus color: Russian oligarchs doing biznes in the sunny Mediterranean, a simmering conflict with Turkey, a former president who was educated in Soviet-era Moscow. Underneath the details, though, is a frustratingly familiar pattern. A small country cleans up its act and joins the international financial community. Money pours in from abroad. The cash is spent or lent unwisely under the noses of inattentive or ineffectual regulators. When losses mount, the money flows out as quickly as it came in. In the end, it’s the little guys who lose the most.

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(Illustration by 731)

Chipotle Pulls Out of Boy Scouts Event

There won’t be any burrito bowls at the Boy Scouts’ annual Scout-O-Rama fundraiser near Salt Lake City. On Wednesday, Chipotle told Thinkprogress.org that it decided to withdraw its $4,250 sponsorship of the May 4 event—which “gives Scouts the opportunity to demonstrate their Scout skills” with such activities as zip lines and knot-tying because it doesn’t support organizations that discriminate based on sexual orientation.

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(Photograph by Ana Venegas/The Orange County Register)

The Libyan Who Brought Sriracha to Benghazi

Less than a decade ago, Huy Fong’s sriracha, a hot sauce made in suburban Los Angeles, was available only in a few Asian supermarkets and restaurants on the West Coast. Today it can be found in shops all over the U.S., in the makeshift kitchen of the International Space Station, and, in perhaps the least likely place imaginable, on store shelves in Benghazi, Libya.

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(Photograph by Minneapolis Star Tribune/ZUMA Press)

Animal Planet

Americans love their pets, but we own a quarter fewer dogs and cats than do Romanians and spend almost half as much feeding them as Singaporeans. Check out this interactive graphic to see which countries own more cats or dogs — who’s treating them to the priciest meals.

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(Graphic by Dorothy Gambrell)

Silicon Valley Tech Giants Plan Super-Green Campuses

It seems Apple’s design-obsessed co-founder may have another enduring legacy besides the trendsetting gadgets his company produces. Since Jobs presented plans for new headquarters shaped like a giant spaceship to the Cupertino City Council two years ago, several other cash-flush tech companies, including Facebook, Google, Samsung Electronics, and Nvidia have released blueprints for monumental new campuses.

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(Photo: Skanska USA Building)

Global Demographics: Where Will the Babies Be Born?

The absolute number of children on the planet will change only slightly between 2010 and 2025, Unicef predicts, but where they’ll be born and grow up will change dramatically. By 2025, 90 percent of the world’s children will be born in less developed regions. By 2050, one in three children will be born in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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(Graphic by Bloomberg Businessweek)

The NRA’s Corporate Donors

The majority of NRA donors are individuals. Since 2005, roughly three out of four of its corporate supporters have come from the firearms industry.

Read the full story on why gun makers fear the NRA.

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(Graphic by Jennifer Daniel and Allison McCann)

Will China Change Its One-Child Policy?

Since the one-child policy was enacted three decades ago, the number of children born to the average Chinese family has dropped well below the generational “replacement level” of 2.1 children (two children to replace two parents). Meanwhile the average lifespan has continued to climb, transforming China into a rapidly aging society. By 2050, one in three people in China is expected to be age 60 or over.

Read more at Bloomberg Businessweek

(Photograph by Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images)