Affairs
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No. 1 lady detective
Forensic scientist Porntip Rojanasunan is loved by the Thai public for her fearless exposing of corruption in high places – and also for her unconventional dress sense.
Retail therapy
As banks and carmakers get bail-outs, should retail be next? We argue a complete re-think is what’s really needed to keep the high street healthy, not government handouts.
Mine field
Wars and volcanoes have made Goma a dangerous place to call home. But with fragile peace in the DR Congo, traders and pilots are arriving, lured by the region’s vast mineral wealth.
Lords of the skies
Brazil's government launched a crack down on Rio’s drug gangs in 2007. Now the city’s police have a new weapon: the Huey II helicopter. Monocle examines the use of military hardware in civilian battles.
Deep freeze
Russia’s boom years raised the profiles of its ‘second cities’, nowhere more so than in Ekaterinburg. But as cranes fall silent, local entrepreneurs insist the good times are not over yet.
Asia
North Korea's election (no great surprises expected), Malaysia's big river clean-up, and mixed feelings over Tokyo's plans to spruce up the Kabukicho district
Good buy to Berlin
Stray off Berlin Mitte’s well-trodden tourist route to find the charming Gipsstrasse. Full of independent shops, ateliers, galleries and cafés, it should be a template for the rest of the capital.
The Full Monte
In Montevideo, Uruguay, multinational companies are setting up shop and property is cheap. But can the city attract a new generation of global entrepreneurs to secure its future as an investment hub?
The next Shanghai
Kunming is an unpolluted, diverse city offering a high quality of life. New infrastructure projects, including train routes and an international airport, are providing links with south Asia and boosting trade.
