Affairs Report: New Road Ahead

Instead of focusing on the political malaise caused by the collapse of its economy in 2008, Iceland’s close-knit and talented community – led by a new, grounded prime minister – is returning to old values, and reworking them into new opportunities.

Affairs Report: Wing and prayer

If your airport fails to meet US standards, then don’t expect flight connections to JFK or LAX. That’s what left Liberia facing isolation.

Americas Briefing: Electric Storm

President Hugo Chávez has declared an electricity emergency.

Americas Briefing: View from Washington

Obama is eschewing the presidential penchant for buddying up.

Americas Briefing: Richard H Solomon

Richard H Solomon has published a series of books on national negotiating styles, exploring major diplomatic powers (Russia, Japan, Germany) and Muslim countries (Iran, Pakistan, Egypt).

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Spearhead of fashion

Jacob Zuma supporters were not joking when they wore “100 per cent Zulu boy’’ T-shirts at the 2007 party conference, which ousted President Thabo Mbeki as head of the African National Congress and cleared the way for Zuma to become South Africa’s presiden

Asia Briefing: No longer in Floods

Every year, within hours of the monsoon rains coming, the centre of Phnom Penh fills with brown water and sewage.

Asia Briefing: Planet Rupee

India hopes to deploy its first astronauts as early as 2016, according to ISRO, the Indian space agency.

Oceania Briefing: Gold Fever Returns

As the price of gold tops US$1,000 an ounce, miners in the small town of Thames – on the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand – are eyeing up their mudflats.

Asia Briefing: Pink Pride

While London has embraced the concept of the slow and scenic cycle rickshaw in recent years, in India the traditional three-wheeler is rapidly going hi-tech.

Defence Briefing: Wrong-shaped soldiers

US soldiers and marines are known for working hard on their biceps and six-packs.

Oceania Briefing: Let's just try

Fiji’s military government and arch-critic New Zealand have resorted to “rugby diplomacy” as the best hope of repairing their fractious relationship.

Affairs Report: Separate Lives

In October the Dutch island of Curaçao will become a new semi-autonomous nation.

Defence Briefing: Slim Chance

Switzerland’s RUAG Land Systems has launched a new armour package that offers vehicles better protection against rocket-propelled grenades without adding as much bulk as existing systems.

Oceania Briefing: Grape Tragedy

Australia has a wine glut. Too many vineyards and falling exports mean wineries are closing and grapes are going to waste.

Affairs Report: Air Pressure

Every two years, the Singapore Air Show draws air force commanders from around the world keen to check out the latest hardware.

Affairs Report: Voice of a nation

One of the few unifying experiences in multi-lingual Switzerland is Rainer Maria Salzgeber’s TV coverage of the national football team’s matches.

Europe Briefing: Think about it

For years, trade unions and pressure groups with specific agendas have been the only really vocal challengers of established political thinking.

Europe Briefing: Next port of call

Latvia may have looked less like the Baltic Tiger of late – the economy slumped by 18 per cent in 2009, the worst contraction since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Europe Briefing: Trans-mission complete

France has become the first country in the world to declare that being a transsexual does not mean you are mentally ill.

Europe Briefing: Ashes to ashes

Posters featuring a diseased black lung have hit the streets of Moscow in a vague attempt to stop Russians smoking. But who is really kicking the habit?

Affairs Report: Bedroom renegade

Shobhaa De’s sex-filled novels and socialite lifestyle enthrall and infuriate Indians in equal measure.

Business Report: Balmy army

Guam’s population will increase by almost half in 2014 when the US military relocates to this tropical paradise from Japan’s Okinawa.

Business Report: Sugar rush

Business Briefing: Human charger

Finnish company Valkee has found a new way for Finns to stay cheerful even in the depths of their cold, dark winters.

Business Briefing: Very old gold

Egypt is planning to get rich.

Business Briefing: Open house

Lebanon has announced that from 2011 private companies can explore for oil and gas off its coast.

Business Briefing: The latest buzz

Rhode Island-based start-up Runa has worked out something the indigenous people of Ecuador have known for centuries.

Culture Report: Mixed signals - Global

New technology and tighter budgets mean TV news is downsizing from expensive satellite broadcasts to low-quality broadband clips.

Design Briefing: Starship trooper - Seoul

Hojun Song’s art is difficult to categorise.

My Working Life: Wicked way - Los Angeles

Joy King started out as an accountant and ended up as a script writer for an adult film company.

Culture comment: How to say sorry (and look like you mean it)

Performed impeccably, the public apology is an opportunity to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and, for the media, the devil’s in the detail.

Culture Briefing: Books

Books reviews

Culture Briefing: Film

Film reviews

Culture Briefing: Music

Music reviews

Q&A: François Curiel

In January, Christie’s announced it was posting one of its biggest character auctioneers, François Curiel, to head up the house’s Asian HQ in Hong Kong.

Culture Report: Urban legends - Philadelphia

'Next American City' magazine has succeeded in making urban planning a national debate since it was launched in 2003, but its founders' lofty ambitions mean they will not be satisfied until the ultimate goal has been achieved: changing the world.

Culture comment: Take your tablets

Media brands are getting animated about the possibilities of the iPad.

Culture Briefing: Music to our eyes - Manchester

When it comes to business cards, Monocle staff like to pack a decent wedge of 350gsm Colorplan Bright White into their trouser pockets.

Design Report: 25 Retail Stars - Global

Monocle presents a list of our favourite shops, the most attentive services, the best store designs and the most innovative concepts in the retail sector.

25 Retail Stars: The department store - New Zealand

25 Retail Stars: Athlonia - Tokyo

Best bike shop

25 Retail Stars: Kaffeküche - Vienna

Best coffee on the go

25 Retail Stars: Johanna Daimer - Munich

Best homeware specialist

25 Retail Stars: Panpan - Valencia

Best new bakery

25 Retail Stars: Kamawanu - Tokyo

Best in craft

25 Retail Stars: Bonnie Brooks - Toronto

Most awaited makeover

25 Retail Stars: Samedan Spa - Switzerland

Best new wellness concept

25 Retail Stars: Soup Stock - Tokyo

Best idea for export

25 Retail Stars: Vatnavinir - Iceland

Best tourism concept

25 Retail Stars: Over the counter - Tokyo

Best for gifts

25 Retail Stars: Cha no ma - London

Best cosy café

25 Retail Stars: Vitrahaus - Weil am Rhein

Best new showroom

25 Retail Stars: Mapharmacie - Paris

Best pharmacy

25 Retail Stars: Jenna Lyons - J. Crew US

Best retail guru

25 Retail Stars: Sky salon - Tokyo

25 Retail Stars: La Neta - Stockholm

Best import

25 Retail Stars: Rimowa x United Arrows - Tokyo

Best brand collaboration

25 Retail Stars: 192 Books - New York

Best bookstore

25 Retail Stars: Curry up - Tokyo

Best curry

25 Retail Stars: Pastificio - Turin

Best for heritage

25 Retail Stars: Wonderwall - Tokyo

Best retail designer

25 Retail Stars: Pop up flea - New York

Best pop-up concept

25 Retail Stars: Gunze - Tokyo

Best underwear concept

Design Report: Trad over rad - Stockholm

The prevailing mood at this year’s Stockholm Furniture Fair was one of optimism, but companies shunned daring, boundary-pushing concepts in favour of classic, well-crafted works.

Design Briefing: School reunion - Cádiz

This Julio Barreno Gutiérrez redesign of the Victor de la Serna y Espina school in Ubrique threw up a particular set of challenges for the Cádiz-based architect.

Design Briefing: Lakeside living - Zürich

These compact apartment blocks designed by Zürich-based e2a were inspired by the typology of lake homes in Scandinavia, which are part “pavilion and vacation home”, says e2a’s co-founder, Piet Eckert.

Design Briefing: The rattan pack - Copenhagen

Based on a 1950s design by Danish cane maker Bent Fischer, Copenhagen firm Liggestolen has produced this TivoliOne rattan chair.

Design Briefing: Down to a tea - Kaikado

Kaikado, founded in 1875, is Japan’s oldest maker of handmade chazutsu tin tea caddies.

Design Briefing: Top table - Saitama

You might expect a table to have four legs and a square top.

Fashion Briefing: Soaring higher - USA

Seattle’s Blackbird, established in 2004, is one of the West Coast’s premier retail destinations, bringing brands such as Comme des Garçons, APC, Gitman Vintage and Robert Geller to the area.

Fashion Briefing: Tuscan beauty - Italy

Designed on the French Riviera, produced in Tuscany and with a showroom in Milan, Jejia is a cosmopolitan label that pairs silks from Como with stretch canvas and jersey voile.

Fashion Briefing: Loose women - Japan

“I like fashionable but loose and relaxed fits and use natural materials including linens, cottons and silks,” says Masayo Shimeno, the designer behind Japanese womenswear brand Toujours.

Fashion Briefing: Simon Spurr

Designer

Fashion Briefing: Soaring higher - USA

In addition to the original Blackbird store, owner Nicole Miller set up an old-fashioned sweet shop next door and last autumn opened a general store around the corner, called The Field House.

Fashion Briefing: The next step - Italy

Based in the Italian town of Montecatini Terme, Maurizio Corrieri founded the shoe brand Corso Roma 9 in 2005 and is proud of the provenance of his footwear.

Fashion Briefing: Suede sensation - UK

Family-owned Loake is Europe’s largest producer of Goodyear welted men’s footwear, a strong and breathable construction that dates back 300 years.

Q&A: Enter the Wu

Since 2002, twin brothers Brian and Vincent Wu have paired under-represented overseas brands with fledgling local Australian labels.

Fashion Briefing: A little bit of soul - UK

Inspired by the blue-collar backdrop of his British Midlands hometown of Water Orton, David Keyte’s Universal Works is a nod to classic English workwear.

Fashion Briefing: Ernest occupation - USA

After a stint working in advertising on Madison Avenue, 31-year-old Ernest Alexander decided to move a few blocks over to New York’s Garment District and try his hand at making things rather than selling them.

Women's Fashion: Spring clean - London

It’s time to throw out the old stuff at the back of your wardrobe and herald in this year’s warmer weather with some bright dresses, pastel colours and smart, fitted trench coats.