Affairs Report: Get it together - Beirut & Nicosia

In the Mediterranean two cities are having very different political debates.

Affairs Report: Faroe tales - Torshavn

The Faroe Islands, an autonomous Danish province with barely 50,000 locals, is known for hunting, homophobia and knitwear.

Asia Briefing: Bang on track - Thailand

You might want to avoid Bangkok until at least 2012, as builders will be tearing the city apart to install 404km of mass transit. Work will begin on six lines this year and three more in 2009, vowed the finance minister, Surapong Suebwonglee, who oversees

Asia Briefing: Toon army - China

No longer can Chinese adolescents watch global animated superstars such as SpongeBob Squarepants or Pokémon after school.

Asia Briefing: Michelin tired - Japan

No sooner had the Michelin Guide awarded Tokyo more stars than any other city in the world than the backlash began.

Asia Briefing: Question time - Japan

In Japan, there have long been question marks over the uncomfortably close ties between journalists and the establishment, but things could be about to change.

Americas Briefing: Primary concerns - Puerto Rico

As presidential primaries go, this year's Democratic contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has been as unpredictable as it has been historic.

Americas Briefing: Cable vision - Colombia

Cable cars are normally used by skiers and tourists, but in Colombia they are used to transport the masses.

Americas Briefing: Faith dealing - USA

The Bossert Hotel, once considered the Waldorf Astoria of Brooklyn, is the latest property to be sold off by the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society - the business arm of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Europe Briefing: Art attack - France

Not even a year into his presidency and Nicolas Sarkozy is already making his bid to create a lasting cultural legacy.

Europe Briefing: Put out the light - Sweden

Swedes are known for their healthy lifestyle - a lifestyle that now has a surprising, new recipe.

Style Leaders: Furs lady - Svetlana Medvedev

The wife of new Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has got people talking like no first lady since Raisa Gorbachev.

Europe Briefing: Current affairs - Finland

Something has happened in Finland, a country where the press used to keep a respectful distance to power and treat news about a president's illness or a minister's extra-marital affair as a private matter.

Affairs Report: Uphill struggle - Sochi

Sochi, a Black Sea beach resort popular with Putin and Siberian retirees, was the surprise choice to host the 2014 Winter Olympics - it lacks proper sewers for a start.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Border games - Benin and Burkina Faso

Colonial borders between African countries have caused dozens of conflicts over the past 50 years.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Out of space - Kenya

Nairobi is full to bursting. Its slums, such as Kibera and Mathare, have grown uncontrollably as hundreds of thousands of people leave their rural homes for a new life in the capital.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Trading place - Africa

Rwanda has launched its first stock exchange, the Rwanda Capital Market, a sign of the growing economy post-genocide (see Monocle issue 07).

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Chilling statistics - Iran

According to Amnesty International figures, Iran hanged 298 people in 2007, compared to 177 in 2006.

Oceania Briefing: Sun city - Australia & New Zealand

Cloncurry is small, but has big ambitions.

Oceania Briefing: Mauls for its money - Australia & New Zealand

Australian rugby is leading a southern hemisphere charge into the lucrative Asian market.

Oceania Briefing: Train of thought - Australia

Any commuter can tell you that Sydney's trains are a wreck (it is why the city lost points in Monocle's Most Liveable Cities Index, see issue 5).

Q&A: Cyprus heal - Nicosia

After decades of Greek-Turkish conflict and division, could the island of Cyprus be nearing a reunification settlement?

Affairs Report: Theatre of war - Nevada

Since the War in Afghanistan began in 2001, Nato, US and Afghan troops have attempted to restore order in the country.

Affairs Report: Above the water - Italy

In the second part of our series on Europe's borders, we report from the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Business Report: Park life - Santa Catarina

The state of Santa Catarina in Brazil is booming, luring firms with its fortuitous location and skilled labour force.

Perfect Company: Signs of the times - Udine

You may not know its name but chances are you use its designs every week.

Business Briefing: Gulliver's travels - USA

Gulliver, Japan's leading used-car dealer, is stealthily making its way into the US market.

Business Briefing: Cell your soul - India

Indians are crazy both about mobile phones (eight million people sign up for mobile subscriptions every month) and self-help books.

Business Briefing: Let us prey - USA

Miami property is in the middle of the great American stare-down, says Ron Shuffield, president of EWM Realtors.

Business Briefing: Flat-pack forest - Russia

If you go down to the Russian woods today, you could find a lot of loggers from Ikea.

Brands Explained: Cabin fever - Singapore

On 18 March Singapore Airlines (SIA) introduced a second scheduled route to fly the new Airbus A380, this time from Singapore to London Heathrow.

Business Report: Under growth - Germany

With roads gridlocked, delivering goods in the world’s cities is a growing problem.

Fairplay: Up for sail - Yokohama

No sailing royals, an antipathy to ostentation and an unwillingness to take holidays has left Japan's recreational boat market in the doldrums for years.

Q&A: A head for flights - Istanbul

Turkey's aviation market is growing faster than China's, and Turkish Airlines is helping turn Istanbul into a hub that could soon rival Dubai. CEO Temel Kotil explains how traditional Turkish hospitality has been key to his success.

Business Briefing: Up in the air - Italy

Pity the residents of Italy's Piemonte and Lombardia regions.

Business Briefing: Flying low - Taiwan

These are desperate days for Taiwan's domestic airlines.

Business Briefing: Night and bay - Singapore

The Fullerton Hotel has joined Raffles as one of Singapore's premium stays.

Business Briefing: Return to form - Japan

The regional aircraft market is about to get a bit more interesting now Japan has decided to re-enter the ring with the MRJ - Mitsubishi Regional Jet.

Culture Report: Oil painting - Dubai

Dubai and its neighbours have come to believe that even seven-star luxury and tax-free sunshine can seem stale without culture. Monocle visits Art Dubai.

My Working Life: Bridging the gulf - Washington

Qatar's Al-Jazeera Arabic news network has enjoyed as rocky a relationship with the US as the region from which it hails.

Culture Briefing: Graphic retail - Barcelona

Disillusioned by Spain's throwaway attitude to visual culture, David Cabrera and Txaro Garcia opened Ciclic in 2004.

Culture Briefing: Online révolution - France

Answering only to itself, rue89.com satisfies a strident radical attitude to the Elysée Palace, the news agenda and alleged suppression of the French press.

Culture Briefing: Plastic Prozac - Geneva

Unsurprisingly, the Swiss buy their funnies at the pharmacy.

Culture Briefing: Monocle art

Public hangings

Culture Report: Press for change - Köln

Publishing dynasty MDS is growing faster than at any time in its 205-year history. Konstantin Neven DuMont is leading its charge into the digital arena.

Culture Briefing: Monocle movies

Film (and DVD) nuts in May

Culture Briefing: Monocle music

Triple pleasure

Culture Briefing: Monocle books

Mellow pages

Design Report: Upper class - Norway

School architecture needn't be grey, dull and uniform. Monocle visits the Oslo International School.

Design Report: Fast finnish

Sis has created a new retail concept that combines fresh, healthy fare with well-thought-out design.

Design Briefing: Milan: the buyer's view

It is the buyers that transform I Saloni into Europe's leading furniture fair. Daniel Schindler, CEO of Swiss-based furniture retailer Wohnbedarf, is a regular attendee.

Design Briefing: Fuelling desire - Spain

Renewable energy firm Acciona Biocombustibles has built one of Spain's first gas stations for bio-diesel and bio-ethanol fuel.

Fashion Briefing: Blazer trail

Fashion Briefing: Battle dress

Israeli-born Nili Lotan started her own fashion brand in 2003. She insists that this delicate silk dress with Palestinian keffiyeh print "is related to conflict. But it's not a political statement."

Design Report: Zip drive

Quick quiz: what links a Louis Vuitton handbag, a North Face parka and an Astroturf pitch?

Fashion Briefing: Korea progression

After teaming up with Korean textiles magnate Samsung Cheil, Carla Sozzani's legendary 10 Corso Como concept store and fashion emporium has now opened in Seoul.

Fashion Briefing: Hold on to the past

Only a limited edition of 100 SHIB bags have been produced by Tokyo-based gallery-cum-shop Hitomonokoto.

Design Briefing: A new direction - Canada

LeftRight Designs is a furniture business recently set up by Canadian designers, Pablo Pineda Willis and Joel Dunkley.

Fashion Briefing: White fantastic

Gram is designed by Anna Stenvi, a graduate of London College of Fashion, and Alexis Holm, who started making shoes while working as a buyer for Tiger of Sweden.

Design Briefing: Fair trading - New York

More than 25,000 of North America's design-obsessed will storm the 20th International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York, which takes place 17 to 20 May.

Q&A: Cathal McAteer - Designer and founder of Folk Clothing

Cathal McAteer's understated, classic and very wearable clothes used to be solely for Japan. Now with a shop on Lamb's Conduit Street, he has just rolled out a shop-in-shop at Liberty, the first label ever to do so.

Fashion Briefing: Life and sole

To commemorate the anniversary of the Japanese influx into Brazil, Havaianas has brought out these flip-flops that will look just as good on Copacabana beach as with a pair of tabi in Tokyo.

Q&A: Daisaku Choh - Furniture designer, Japan

Monocle talks to Daisaku Choh, 87, one of Japan's most respected furniture designers.

Design Briefing: Night light - Italy

The new building for the museum of modern and contemporary art in Bolzano, South Tyrol, with its soaring glass façade was designed by Berlin-based KSV Krüger Schuberth Vandreike.

Design Briefing: Magic box - Switzerland

Home extension projects can often become complicated affairs, so we're pleased to see Swiss architects Markus Wespi and Jérôme de Meuron keeping it simple.

Fashion: Divine office - Denmark

The occasional open-neck shirt, a wool/linen suit, an almost-sexy belt, a retro satchel: sartorial details to get you seen but not heard.

Design Report: Fitting the bill - Kamakura

Our favourite Australian chef Bill Granger has opened his first beach-side hangout - and it's in Japan.

Fashion: Stockists, issue 13

Stockists details for issue 13 of Monocle magazine.