Having overcome cultural preconceptions, competitive figure skater Zahra Lari is sharpening her skates as she trains in advance of 2018 to become the first athlete from the Gulf to compete in the Winter Olympics.
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. So before it can cater for an expected one million…
The desire to be the best and enjoy people’s cheers set Tina Maze on the slopes to become a world-champion skier and Slovenia’s top athlete.
She tells Monocle about her long journey to the top.
2012 offered many architectural talking points, from Renzo Piano’s pointy Shard in London to K2S’s small but perfectly formed wooden Chapel of Silence in Helsinki; 2013 promises even more. Here are seven projects completing…
Monocle's third annual Soft Power Survey is an attempt to push the debate on where soft power comes from and how to use it. With current shifts in the global power balance, never has it been more relevant.
Conceived of only 21 years ago, already most nations want a “soft power” strategy – a way of winning the world over without resorting to military-industrial might. Monocle has indexed the top 30 soft power nations, which…
Xi Jinping may remain popular but with a worsening economy, dangerous pollution levels and a newly unpredictable relationship with the US, how strong is the president’s grip on his country?