Opener: Attention seeking - UK

Everybody knows at least one – a relative, colleague, friend or partner who has no idea how to market his or her best assets.

Affairs Report: Rebrand Britannia - UK

Great Britain hasn't seemed quite so great in recent years, its image damaged by unpopular wars and the banking crisis.

Affairs Report: Did they do well? - Global

In the world of politics, it's soon the start of a new term in many countries.

Affairs Report: Bouncing back - Maputo

Solid economic growth and foreign investment have transformed Mozambique's fortunes since the end of the civil war.

Europe Briefing: Soap buds - Bulgaria

"Turkophobia" is waning in Bulgaria sociologists claim.

Europe Briefing: Walking the talk - UK

Though Britain is popularly associated with official pomp and pageantry, this tends to be attached to its royal family.

Europe Briefing: Big tops are back - Russia

The Russian circus does not meet everyone's standards of animal rights or political correctness.

Americas Briefing: Powder drift - Peru

Peru could soon eclipse its neighbour Colombia as the world's biggest producer of coca, the raw ingredient for cocaine.

Americas Briefing: Chile con carne - Chile

Chile is now the second fattest in the region after tubby Mexico.

Americas Briefing: View from Washington

When Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrived in Washington nearly three years ago, the former French finance minister seemed to be a spent political force.

Asia Briefing: Monk magic - UK

The Dalai Lama is one of the more contradictory figures to adorn the geopolitical stage.

Americas Briefing: Life after Lula - Brazil

Dilma Rousseff, the favourite to win Brazil's presidential election on 3 October, couldn't be more different from her political mentor.

Asia Briefing: Holy cow - India

India's desire to protect its sacred cows has trumped the protein needs of athletes heading to New Delhi for the Commonwealth Games next month.

Affairs Report: A hard sell - Kabul

The brief: to persuade Afghanis to shun terrorism and to give up the narcotics trade.

Oceania Briefing: Fighting censors - Fiji

Fiji's military government has issued an ultimatum to Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd, giving the global media giant just months to sell its Fijian newspaper.

Oceania Briefing: Humour is key - New Zealand

Thanks to his common touch, New Zealand prime minister John Key has had record-high approval ratings since his election in November 2008.

Oceania Briefing: Mirror, mirror - Australia

Opera House be damned: there’s a new iconic project in town.

Defence Briefing: Spy in the sky - UK

Defence Briefing: Nowhere to hide - USA

Two US defence firms – Northrop Grumman and Black Diamond Advanced Technology – have begun production of the new BioTRAC.

Defence Briefing: Ship shape - Japan

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries began construction of the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force's (JMSDF's) second 19DD destroyer during Monocle's summer break.

Defence Briefing: Hip hooray - Afghanistan

Spain is setting up a training facility to certify aircrews from the fledgling Afghan National Army Air Corps (ANAAC).

Affairs Report: Portal combat - Tallinn

Warfare in the 21st century is as likely to be fought on computer screens as it is on battlefields.

National icon: Face maker - Rio de Janeiro

Plastic surgeon Ivo Pitanguy has earned legendary status in Brazil with his philosophy that good looks should be available to all.

Business Report: Spin city - Macau

It's the endless tables at the casinos that are attracting millions of Chinese to the former Portuguese colony.

Business Report: Eat and be wary - Jakarta

Business Briefing: Good prognosis - USA

In late September, the dominant trade group for handlers of computerised medical records will gather in Orlando for its first annual convention since Obama's health bill became law.

Business Briefing: New best friends - Kenya

For decades, Kenya's biggest trading partner has been the UK.

Business Briefing: Power hungry - Japan

Rivals? What rivals? Six of Japan's biggest technology firms have joined forces to create a single company producing nuclear power plants in developing countries.

Business Briefing: Taiwan catches the millennium bug

Taiwan is facing its own version of the Y2K bug.

Business Briefing: Breaking the ice - Russia

Why it works: Top of the glass - Germany

Business Report: Your new local - UK

In the first of a new series of benchmark reports, Monocle puts the UK's latest convenience store concept through its paces.

Culture Report: New media circus - London

It seems that every news presenter has a blog or Twitter feed - but post personal opinions at your peril.

Media Briefing: Top-drawer title

With more than 500 photos spread over 368 pages, the first issue of Cabinet sets the bar high, surpassing the general conception of biannual magazines.

Media Briefing: News from the pumps

US road trips are becoming even more American - now there's no need ever to leave our beloved televisions.

Media Briefing: HD Hero

Toshiba's Camileo S20 high-definition camcorder is proof of the growing convergence, in design terms at least, between digital cameras and mobile phones.

Media Briefing: Rough edit

Iceland's former prime minister and central bank director Davíd Oddsson (pictured), who had refused to leave his post at the bank after the country's financial collapse, now edits the daily newspaper Morgunbladid. He uses the op-ed page to air his views a

Media Briefing: Vinyl Frontier

Australia's vinyl resurgence - what do you mean you haven't heard of it? - has been helped by The Vinyl Factory UK's (see issue 29) new plant in Marrickville, Sydney.

Culture Briefing: Bottom half of the internet

The newspaper letters page has a proud tradition - its online equivalent is the home of loons.

Culture Briefing: Music

Monocle Music

Culture Briefing: Film

Monocle Film

Culture Briefing: Books

Monocle Books

Culture Briefing: Art

Monocle Art

Art Market: Well hung: Regina Gallery

The first foreign outpost of the renowned Muscovite institution, the Regina Gallery leapt into London's Fitzrovia in April - a confident step, considering many gallerists opt to start in London's more forgiving east.

Art Market: Sale: Sotheby's

With the fifth edition of Beyond Limits, Sotheby's private sales division will once again transform the genteel gardens of Chatsworth House into a big game sculpture safari park.

Art Market: Q&A: Nick Lambourn

Australian Art Sales

Design Report: Been there, done that - Michigan & Copenhagen

Instead of investing in new designs and manufacturing processes, increasing numbers of design firms are raiding their archives.

Fashion Briefing: Don't get tied down

Although handmade in the UK with traditional materials and techniques, Jonathan Lloyd-Platt's year-old tie label strives to step away from orthodox styles.

Fashion Briefing: Spreading the net

Brian Cousins and Hicham Benmira run four Brooklyn shops: two Hollander & Lexer menswear stores and two furniture and found-object emporiums called Darr.

Fashion Briefing: Changing sides

Two of Japan's most influential designers, Takahiro Miyashita and Kazuki Kuraishi, have collaborated on the Levi's Lefty Jean.

Fashion Briefing: Crystal clear

With Moroccan origins, a Parisian upbringing and now a Beirut-based business, it's no surprise that Dalila Barkache cites multi-culturalism as an influence for her jewellery line, launched in 2006.

Q&A: Greg Chapman

At almost a century old, Schott NYC is launching a new men's brand for spring 2011.

Fashion Briefing: Keeping it casual

Andreas Feldenkirchen's mix of established European brands and younger American casual wear and denim labels has proved a retail success.

Fashion Briefing: Good match

"We've made a line of sportswear stylish enough to be worn on the street," says Masaru Kondo, owner of Japanese fashion brand Tools.

Fashion Briefing: Material girl

Focusing on structure and innovation, Joaquin Trias mixes high-quality Italian fabrics with state-of-the-art materials from Switzerland for his Madrid-based womenswear line.

Fashion Briefing: Little brown bag

Loewe's paper bag-inspired Papelle was previewed in last season's women's line as a stylish alternative to the eco-friendly canvas tote.

Fashion Briefing: Plant one on me

An alternative to environmentally damaging dry-cleaning, this Fine Fabric Care cleanser is by Australian grooming company Aesop in collaboration with APC.

Fashion Briefing: Shoe on the other foot

After launching a much-lauded men's line in 2004, New York-based designers Prathan Poopat and Flavio Girolami introduced a women's collection this spring.

Fashion Briefing: New recruit

Starting out as a distributor in 1988 and moving into retail a year later, Japanese company Nepenthes (the firm behind brands such as Engineered Garments and Needles) opened the womenswear shop Lyla in Tokyo's Shibuya in February.

Design Report: Boon shop

The first multi-brand fashion store in Seoul, Boon The Shop is the guiding light for a generation of affluent, trend-conscious Koreans.

Design Briefing: Better by design

Seoul's design makeover continues apace: this month sees the official opening of a second aA design museum in traditional Samchung-dong.

Briefing Architecture: Body and spirit

When architect Tomohiro Hata was commissioned to build a family home in Kyoto, he had to comply with strict building regulations.

Design Briefing: Hot seat

Orginally from Seoul, but now based in Helsinki, Park Hyun-sun debuted her Folding Chair at ICFF in New York.

Q&A: Mark McDonald

Mid-century collector and dealer Mark McDonald is closing his Hudson gallery this month – we find out what's next.

Design Briefing: Old school, new blood

Two exercises in simplicity, 50 years apart.

Briefing Architecture: Perfect circle

Designed by NORD Architects from Copenhagen, the Natural Science Centre in Bjerringbro is Denmark's new science lab and education outpost.

Design Briefing: Super fans

These non-folding fans, or uchiwa, are handmade by the 300-year-old company Aiba in Kyoto.

Design Briefing: Concrete art

Cement packaging isn't often beautiful but Croatia's Cemex-Dalmacijacement has launched two packets that belie their drab contents.

Design Briefing: Multiple personality

Canadian artist Micah Lexier has for 30 years created design and artworks in editions, exploring the grey area where manufacturing meets handcraft.

Design Briefing: Unsung hero

In the village of Schwarzenberg in Austria's Vorarlberg region, Schmidinger is a little-known wooden furniture producer.

The Bureau: Office hottie

Ethical investment firm IJ Partners in Geneva based the design of its office on grand old banks.

Fashion: Blazers of glory

Make a triumphant return to the office after your summer break by combining classic British and Italian tailoring with some modern flourishes.