Politics
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Expo 28: Space awareness
Japan's cosmic focus is not vain flag-planting but research and exploration. This strategy has led to them developing a rocket vastly superior to the American model, despite politics and cost preventing a manned mission.
Oceania
Is Australia the new South Korea? Why the Polynesians want their own passport, Pacific islanders bail out of the atolls and how Aussie men rate as good partners.
Europe
How Greenland's prime minister travels and Swedes grow vegetables vertically. Switzerland debates minarets, while Ukraine's Yulia Tymoshenko's hairstyle holds political power. A look at current European affairs.
Happy now?
Famous for its Gross National Happiness index, Bhutan has been a democracy for just over a year. Monocle talks to its prime minister about how times are changing in the Himalayan nation.
Americas
Colombian president Álvaro Uribe’s motorcade. Plus, the US launches its first national tourism organisation, Uruguay gears up for elections and São Paulo’s drivers get a respite from traffic jams.
In the hot seat
Chile’s first female president, Michelle Bachelet, lived in exile for five years after being tortured under Pinochet. Monocle talks to the leader about her term, male chauvinism and the financial crisis.
Lakeland revival
Bujumbura has the substance to become an African success story. The country’s upcoming elections are a chance to create lasting peace after 15 years of civil war, but corruption could derail the dream.
Should we force it?
As Sweden ends compulsory national service, Finland carries on. We consider the way forward for conscription in modern social democracies as a way to recruit citizens, not just soldiers.
Burundi
Bujumbura has got all the substance - and architecture - required to turn Burundi's backwater capital into an African success story, and the country's upcoming elections are a chance to create lasting peace after…
Africa/Middle East
Ouagadougou is spruced up by an army of low-cost cleaners, Congo's governor gets to work on a failing region, plus Abu Dhabi's new transport system.
