Europe Briefing: All bets are off

From 1 July, gambling is outlawed everywhere in Russia except for four specially designated zones.

Asia Briefing: On track

The landlocked, mountainous nation of Laos now has its first railway.

Asia Briefing: Lightening Up

Asian men are the heaviest smokers in the world.

Asia Briefing: Metro force

Bleary-eyed commuters in Tokyo were recently surprised to discover that their Yamanote line train had been taken over by the police.

Asia Briefing: Soaring Seoul

The recession has hit the construction industry hard across the whole of Asia, but Seoul still seems to be reaching for the sky.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Petrol Head

Just as comfortable in a sports car as he is straddling a Harley, Joseph Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, likes to be in the driving seat.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: False Economy

US think-tank Rand Corporation's new report reveals how Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Islamic fundamentalist group, gets its funding.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Q&A - Michel Hajji-Georgiou

On 7 June, Lebanon has parliamentary elections with the two main political blocks offering drastically different visions for the country.

Oceania Briefing: Wired Australia

Australians are traditionally believed, not least by themselves, to be outdoorsy, sporting types, more comfortable wrestling crocodiles than spreadsheets.

Affairs Report: Instant Protection

UK-based HESCO Bastion revolutionised base protection for soldiers when it revealed its Concertainer concept in 1989, relegating the soldier’s old friend, the sandbag, to history.

Affairs Report: France homes in

France’s new military base in the United Arab Emirates capital, Abu Dhabi, will open for business on 27 May.

Affairs Report: River God

Slovenian hero Martin Strel has swum solo the entire lengths of the Danube, Mississippi, Yangtze and Amazon, winning Guinness World Records for the first three.

Affairs Report: New world order

We are living in a revolutionary age and the old order is being destroyed.

: High noon for Sharif

The new president of Somalia, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, has a lot to contend with: pirates, a humanitarian disaster and deadly rivals.

Affairs Report: Coming home

Thousands of Spaniards lost their citizenship as they fled Spain's Civil War and Franco. Now Spain is offering its descendents the right to be Spanish.

Affairs Report: Fresh Minsk

Often referred to as the last dictatorship in Europe, Belarus has woken up to its image problem and has embarked on a PR mission. But, with its strong_armed leadership still in place, are the changes anything more than cosmetic?

Affairs Report: Tasmanian Angel

Hobart, capital of Tasmania, is the nearest inhabited landmass to Antarctica and that's why scientists flock to the city that is at the frontline of environmental research.

Americas Briefing: View from Washington

Branding helped Obama become president, now it's selling the nation his recovery deal

Americas Briefing: Drug Dilemma

That's why the US government's Mérida Initiative to counter narcotics trafficking and crime has recently signed agreements with several Central American and Caribbean countries to head off Mexican cartels seeking new trafficking routes.

Americas Briefing: Holes to fill

Jokes about Brits with bad teeth won't make Americans smile much longer.

Europe Briefing: Fashion Dictator

Princess, minister, businesswoman, fashion guru and pop singer - Gulnara Karimova comes in many guises.

Europe Briefing: Minority Report

As anti-Roma prejudice rises in Hungary, positive role models are more vital than ever.

Europe Briefing: Just the ticket

Russia is attempting to bring its people closer together.

: Maid in Sweden

Hiring a maid used to be a definite no-no in Sweden, considered elitist in this country of equality.

Q&A: Q&A - Jorma Olilla

Finland is rethinking how it presents itself to the world for the first time in 20 years.

Europe Briefing: Jumping the gun

Switzerland is to vote on whether it's time, after over 100 years, to abolish a law that says the country's unique militia army and former army members can keep their weapons at home.

Business Briefing: On the mend

With the recent drop in passenger and cargo numbers, some airlines are looking for a lift from business on the ground.

Business Briefing: Not giving up

As smoking bans become pervasive in the US and abroad, cigarette makers must get creative to survive.

Business Briefing: Station Master

Colourful names such as yildirim (lightning bolt) and turkuaz (turquoise) were suggested for Turkey’s new Yüksek Hizli Tren (high-speed train) which on 13 March began service from the capital, Ankara, to Eskisehir...

Business Briefing: Address Book - Chicago

01 The James - A downtown design-conscious hotel with penthouse suites.

Business Report: New in town

A decade ago, Japan’s home-grown five-star hotels had Tokyo largely to themselves but the big brands are moving in.

: Friends in the North

Preface Occupying a strategic post at the tip of North Africa, the Mediterranean capital of Tunisia is a short hop from Sicily.

: Track record

Switzerland's reputation for being the most efficient country in the world is not undeserved: SBB, the state-ontrolled railways, has a 96 per cent punctuality rate and slick service.

: Flating a new idea

Consigned to the history books as a non-viable form of transport and now more commonly seen used by film baddies, the airship is finally being reinvented for the eco generation.

: Move into digs

Across the world, people are heading back to college in their thousands as the job market tightens, but there are simply not enough decent places for those in higher education to live in.

Business Briefing: Cash in a flash

Few businesses are flourishing right now, but those that resell designer jewellery and high-end watches are doing a roaring trade as customers exchange their beloved luxuries for much-needed cash.

My Working Life: Writing wrongs - Mexico

Paco Ignacio Taibo II is Mexico’s foremost detective novelist, as well as a professor, journalist and political activist.

Culture Report: Just so hot right now

Next to its glittering sister Dubai, Sharjah is often overlooked.

Q&A: Magnus Renfrew

Following last year's $20m success at the inaugural Hong Kong Fair, we speak to its director on his plans for this year's show, including 110 galleries from 24 countries.

Culture Briefing: Contemporary Art Season - New York

This May, New York hosts its contemporary sale season at the three main houses.

: Changing Scene

Soon to be snuggled under the armpit of Seoul's 16th-century Gyeonghui Palace is the Prada Transformer, Rem Koolhaas' multi-disciplinary culture structure.

: Coining it

Journalists at The Wall Street Journal's Washington bureau were surprised in early March to step on to their Connecticut Avenue sidewalk and find that they could now use a credit card to buy their own paper.

: Open to ideas

Italian publisher Corraini takes a creative approach to outsourcing.

: Q&A - Chintamani Rao

ET Now will be the India Times Group's second 24-hour venture, becoming the business brother of the Times Now news channel, which launched in 2006.

: How convenient - Paris

France, a country often asleep at the wheel when it comes to retail innovation, is burning rubber with Chez Jean, a food'n'news concept that launched early this year.

: What time do I wish it were?

The American avant-garde composer John Cage is best remembered for 4'33". This three-movement composition was premiered by the pianist David Tudor in Woodstock in 1952.

: Art

Borrowing the title Praxis: Art in Times of Uncertainty from Terry Eagleton's tome After Theory, this is the second time Thessaloniki's State Museum of Contemporary Art has played host to a biennale.

Culture Briefing: Music

Joakim Haugland's in-case-you-missed-em round-up of acts from the reliably surprising Norwegian label throws a bearish, lumberjack arm around a wide array of high-jinks and bliss.

: Books

A clever idea that appeals to the voyeur in all of us.

: Films

Having cut his teeth with a documentary on the mini-golf world championships, Jamie Johnson has made an amusing, absorbing and moving masterpiece with this study of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

: Design for life?

It's approaching graduation time in design schools around the globe.

: Bath time

The most anticipated date on the bathroom industry calendar is the ISH (International Sanitation Heating) fair in Frankfurt. Monocle was there to seek out the latest and the best in taps, sinks, baths and toilets.

: Rolf Hay

Hay is known for its experimental manufacturing.

: Cutting Edge

Güde handcrafts its knives from a small workshop in Solingen.

: Simple remedy

Icelandic pharmaceutical chain Apótekarinn could be a good export for the country's troubled economy.

: A kinder approach

This kindergarten (right), designed by Munich-based architecture firm Allmann Sattler Wappner, is in Aying 50km from the Austrian border.

: Outside the box

Portuguese architect Carvalho Araújo has designed this unusual home (above), built on a farm near the historic town of Ponte de Lima in the north of Portugal.

: Time Warp

With sales of timepieces falling by 20 per cent in the first few months of this year, watchmakers are remaining confident by looking to their archives either to relaunch or emphasise classic, sober designs that are long-term investments for customers.

: Q&A - Brandon Svarc

Naked & Famous Denim was set up last year by denim nerd Brandon Svarc, 26, who uses the finest Japanese denim for Made in Canada jeans.

: Tailored turn

Master-tailor Renzo Tonello has been designing top-notch suits since the 1960s.

: Coastal is clear

"Moving back to Yorkshire has really inspired us," says Stephen Banks, creative director of new British menswear line Nörsea Industries, that consists mainly of utility blazers, shirts and Gansey sweaters.

: Water tight

Brittany-based Guy Cotten has been keeping fishermen and sailors dry since 1964.

: Brits abroad

Hackett has just unveiled its first Japanese flagship store in Tokyo.

: Heads up

From sporty fedoras to formal homburgs, the Chicago-based Optimo Hat Company, founded 13 years ago by Graham Thompson, makes all of its custom-made men's headwear by hand.

: Home brew- Oslo

A café unchanged since the 1960s has become a great place to indulge in good coffee and the best of Norwegian design.

: 10 season's best - Spring/summer

From Paris Fashion Week to Pitti Immagine Uomo Monocle's fashion team bring you their favourite made-to-last looks for this spring.